My parents are retired fire-fighters. They had an American pygmy goat named Bleve. Those goats commonly have very rotund stomachs[1] that look like they are about to explode.
A BLEVE does not need oxygen to become an explosion. The explosion occurs with the rupture of a tank (that has been heated, increasing the internal pressure and thus increasing the boiling point of the liquid inside, so that it remains liquid). This causes a loss of rapid loss of pressure, which in turn rapidly decreases the boiling point of the liquid, thus causing a sizable part of the liquid to almost immediately boil and cause an expanding "cloud" of gas.
When this occurs, you have an explosion that can propel parts of a steel propane tank up to 1/2 mile (at least).
My parents are retired fire-fighters. They had an American pygmy goat named Bleve. Those goats commonly have very rotund stomachs[1] that look like they are about to explode.
[1] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:American_Pygmy_G...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGWmONHipVo
MythBusters have a good BLEVE episode. Apparently Adam Savage's favourite explosion.
Typically BLEVE is used in a petrochemical context, where the hot "boiling liquid, expanding vapor" ignites on contact with oxygen.
A BLEVE does not need oxygen to become an explosion. The explosion occurs with the rupture of a tank (that has been heated, increasing the internal pressure and thus increasing the boiling point of the liquid inside, so that it remains liquid). This causes a loss of rapid loss of pressure, which in turn rapidly decreases the boiling point of the liquid, thus causing a sizable part of the liquid to almost immediately boil and cause an expanding "cloud" of gas.
When this occurs, you have an explosion that can propel parts of a steel propane tank up to 1/2 mile (at least).
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