Natural Gas Containers Blowing up?

Question

ok so i live by a natural gas container (and i mean like a huge dome) and its been there for like ever but i just found out that if it blows up every one with in 35miles of it would be dead with in 1sec. so i was just wondring has one ever blown up???and what are the chances of it blowing up? sorry im just a bit paranoid

btw i know theres thousands of these across the US but again im super paranoid.

Answer 1

there must be the presence of a spark of the flash point must be met which is really high like thousands of degrees F

Answer 2

Mandy, I live in Oregon, here we have propane containers every where, and as you might know, propane is man made natural gas.

in many of the gas stations here, they have huge tanks, that are used to sell propane to people with smaller tanks.

and no they will not blow up, unless there is an explosion to set them off.

In California, Natural gas in piped into almost every household, there is more danger of fire from the fumes than from the fuel exploding.

Answer 3

35 miles come on that would only happen if it was nuked.

You may hear it go if your out side 35 miles away but not even close to killed.

Answer 4

Don't believe everything (or even most of what) you here.   I worked on a natural gas tanker for 5 years and learned a little about them and the product.    First, it is not that explosive to do any damage at all 35 miles away.   Not even a nuclear blast travels that fast.   The burn rate of NG is like 800 feet per second.   It uses air to burn also, so it could only get so large before the center where the gas is runs out of oxygen and cannot burn or create vapors for any other part to burn; its self contained kinda.   No matter how much fuel there is, it won't get bigger than a certain size.   Unlike gasoline, LNG evaporates at a very low temperature.   Most of the fireball would be up in the air instead of spreading along the ground.    There is probably an earthen wall around the tank which will hold the liquid in one place if the tank were to burst, so it would just burn there.   If you see it break I'd still get out of the area quickly though.   If you smell something sweet and get a headache, run, don't drive.    Much of what you see of the tank is insulation.   The liquid has to be kept at around -200' F.   It does this just by its mass.    When some of the liquid evaporates it cools off the rest.    The evaporated liquid is drawn off and sent down the pipeline to customers or power plants.    There has only been one large accident in the US, and that was in the 1930's due to faulty design of a tank.   If your's hasn't collapsed yet, it probably won't.

Answer 5

Don't worry.  If they have been there for like ever, I doubt they would blow up.

I really wouldn't worry.  It's a slim/no chance it will blow up.

You need some kind of fire or spark to set it off.

But if it will put you on ease, you should just move away.  If you have the money and opportunity.

Seriously, DON'T WORRY.  Obviously who ever built it knew what they were doing.

Ha if that was here, my town would be wiped out the easiest since my town is only 1 square mile, not even.

Answer 6

The impact radius of an exploding natural gas pipeline can be calculated with the following formula:

r  = 0.69 * d* √p

Where p is pressure in psi, d is diameter in inches, and r is the radius of the impact circle in feet.

The container would have a similar impact radius, but the good news is that it is protected from overpressure by relief valves and it is inspected and maintained regularly.

[edit]  Assuming a pressure of 500psi and a diameter of 100ft, you're looking at a 3.5 mile radius of exposure - not 35 miles.  It is extremely unlikely that it would be sufficient diameter or pressure to have an impact radius of 35 miles.

Answer 7

a small spark, h**l even a cell phone could set it off...

good luck