Toronto Propane Depot Explodes!

Question

What are the toronto Gas pipes connected to?

wouldnt they be connected to these kinds of depots to draw gas?

If so, then couldnt the pipe lines blow up along with the depot?

the entire city would be in a crisis,

just how is our pipe lines marked out?

here is the link to recent news,

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2008/08/10/explosion-rocks-west-end-photos-reports.aspx

thanks in advance,

cheers

Answer 1

The gas that comes into your home is Natural Gas. It is a similar fuel but is also quite different! Natural gas is a vapour that is pushed through a vast network of underground piping from the refineries to homes and businesses throughout the country. There is no air in these lines to support combustion, so it's not possible for the flames to go back up the lines. If there is a leak and a source of ignition, the fuel will burn at that spot.

Propane is stored as a liquid and burnt as a vapour. When your BBQ is sitting there turned off, you have static liquid and vapour in the cylinder. When you open the valve and turn on the bbq, you are drawing vapour from the cylinder. This lowers the pressure in the tank which causes the liquid in the tank to boil and replace the vapour. When propane boils and changes state from a liquid to a vapour it expands 277 times! So the small amount of liquid in that cylinder makes a large amount of vapour!

Propane is used mostly because of it's portability. You can take small containers with you to places were there is no natural gas and operate appliances. It is also widely used in rural areas where the Natural Gas pipelines don't run.

Answer 2

I'm from Toronto and that depot was a fuel loading station for tankers.

Someone screwed up royally. A fire fighter and a mystery man lost their lives. It was like a mushroom cloud of fire. 12,500 people evacuated.

We have a good fire dept. the boys were right on it and did a great job.

Salute to the fire fighter that lost his life. God rest his soul.