Chemistry behind the Garden Grove chemical tank

(science.org)

68 points | by nooks 1 hour ago

4 comments

  • h335ian 7 minutes ago
    By the miraculous grace of God, a crack allowed pressure to bleed & enabled our engine company to prevent thermal runaway. A BLEVE was the projected outcome, a firefighters worst nightmare - see the Kingman BLEVE - https://www.cityofkingman.gov/government/departments-a-h/fir...
  • HoldOnAMinute 39 minutes ago
    When this is all over, when they peel the metal tank away, will they have a gigantic clear block of material?
  • robocat 32 minutes ago
    Why wouldn't there be passive protection systems designed in?

    After a big earthquake you don't want to have to also deal with other emergencies (à la Fukushima).

    Aside: One good side-effect of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake being so horrific is that it stopped the self-obsessed whinging in my city (Christchurch was still trying to recover from an earthquake).

    • largbae 27 minutes ago
      Based on the article, the inhibitor chemicals _are_ the passive protection system, they just can't be perfect because too much of that stuff ruins the purpose for having the chemical in the first place.
    • dan_sbl 7 minutes ago
      I believe they tried to inject some chemicals to slow the reaction, but the pump and/or valves failed and clogged.
  • ErroneousBosh 17 minutes ago
    What the...?!

    I was literally just this afternoon telling someone about TIWWW and posting them some favourites.