Chen SN, Sun JH, Wang QS (2004) 'Mechanism research of boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion.' (Science Press Beijing: Beijing) 2154-2158

Web link:

Keywords:

LPG,BLEVE,burst pressure,liquid level,hazards,

Abstract: The boiling liquid expending vapor explosion (BLEVE) is a physical explosion that occurs in high pressure tank mostly filled with liquefied-pressure gas (LPG), and the most common form is that the tank is expo sed to fire. In this paper, water is used, instead of the liquefied-pressure gas for safety, to study the mechanism of the BLEVE by the small-scale experiments. The changing of the pressure in the vessel is measured, and then the movement of two-phase flow and its different influence on the vapor and liquid region during the BLEVE are analyzed. It is indicated that the movement of two-phase layer on the liquid surface is the key cause of the whole explosion process. The pressure changing with different liquid level is analyzed. By the comparisons of the impulses that the two-phase flow effect on the vessel top with different liquid level after the pressure increasing over the initial pressure, it can be concluded that different liquid level has different probability to cause the uncontrollable vessel failure in different phase.