The application of the high-speed photography in the experiments of boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions

Sining Chen; Jinhua Sun; Dongliang Chen

doi:10.1117/12.725224

11 January 2007 The application of the high-speed photography in the experiments of boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions

Sining Chen, Jinhua Sun, Dongliang Chen

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6279, 27th International Congress on High-Speed Photography and Photonics; 62791R (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.725224
Event: 27th International congress on High-Speed Photography and Photonics, 2006, Xi'an, China

Abstract

The liquefied-petroleum gas tank in some failure situations may release its contents, and then a series of hazards with different degrees of severity may occur. The most dangerous accident is the boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE). In this paper, a small-scale experiment was established to experimentally investigate the possible processes that could lead to a BLEVE. As there is some danger in using LPG in the experiments, water was used as the test fluid. The change of pressure and temperature was measured during the experiment. The ejection of the vapor and the sequent two-phase flow were recorded by a high-speed video camera. It was observed that two pressure peaks result after the pressure is released. The vapor was first ejected at a high speed; there was a sudden pressure drop which made the liquid superheated. The superheated liquid then boiled violently causing the liquid contents to swell, and also, the vapor pressure in the tank increased rapidly. The second pressure peak was possibly due to the swell of this two-phase flow which was likely to violently impact the wall of the tank with high speed. The whole evolution of the two-phase flow was recorded through photos captured by the high-speed video camera, and the "two step" BLEVE process was confirmed.

Citation Download Citation

Sining Chen, Jinhua Sun, and Dongliang Chen "The application of the high-speed photography in the experiments of boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions", Proc. SPIE 6279, 27th International Congress on High-Speed Photography and Photonics, 62791R (11 January 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.725224

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