Analysis of Propane Sphere BLEVE after the Earthquake in Japan

摘要

After huge earthquakes, several chemical and oil complexes faced to the Pacific Ocean were badly damaged. In Chiba, a refinery operated by Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd., 17 LPG storage tanks (Volumes of the tanks were 1000 to 5000 m~3, and fuel in the tanks at the earthquakes was estimated to about 400 to 5000 m3 for each tank) were totally burnt or heavily damaged in the refinery. Five BLEVEs (Boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions) of LPG occurred, resulting in fire balls measuring 400-500 meters in diameter. The boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion, or BLEVE, is defined as the explosive release of expanding vapor and boiling liquid when a container holding a pressure-liquefied gas fails catastrophically. Here, catastrophic failure means that the tank is fully opened to release its contents nearly instantaneously. If the pressure-liquefied vapor is flammable, the BLEVE leads to a fireball.