Analysis of tank deformation from fire induced ruptures and BLEVEs of 400 l propane tanks

Book · Sun Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:404320

Kielec, D J; Birk, A M ^[1]

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1. Queen`s Univ., Kingston, Ontario (Canada). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

A series of fire tests were conducted to study the thermal rupture of propane tanks. The tests involved 400 liter ASME automotive propane tanks filled to 80% capacity with commercial propane. The tanks were brought to failure using torches and pool fires. the resulting thermal ruptures varied in severity from minor fissures, measuring a few centimeters in length, to catastrophic failures where the tank was flattened on the ground. The catastrophic failures would typically be called Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosions (BLEVE). The objective of this work was to develop a correlation between the failure severity and the tank condition at failure. The deformed propane tanks were measured in detail and the extent of deformation was quantified. The tank failure severity was found to be a complex function of a number of tank and lading properties at failure. this paper presents the measured data from the tanks and a step by step description of how the correlation was determined.

• OSTI ID: 404320
• Report Number(s): CONF-960706--; ISBN 0-7918-1780-6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS
DATA ANALYSIS
DEPRESSURIZATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GAS SPILLS
LIQUEFIED GASES
PROPANE
RUPTURES
STORAGE
TANKS
TRANSPORT