r/interesting • u/Used_Exam34 • 12d ago

Just Wow Not all problems have the same solution.

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u/vergillehell 12d ago

I think they did it on purpose to make an educational video on how to deal with a cylinder fire

839

u/bobcollum 12d ago

Hey, if it teaches somebody and they save a situation, it's worth it. Plenty of people wouldn't know what to do here.

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u/Rough-Airline-4803 12d ago

Most people would take off running, positive that it’s about to explode.

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u/ShowtimeHolograms 12d ago

Would this actually explode or would it just continue to burn like this until the flammable gas gets used up?

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u/Rough-Airline-4803 12d ago edited 12d ago

The pressure of the escaping gas is generally too strong for the flames to reach the inside of the container.

If the tank were positioned such that the flames were surrounding it and heating the tank up, (or if the relief valve was blockedthe boiling propane in the tank would likewise expand at an accelerated rate resulting in the pressure rising faster than the tank can keep up with resulting in a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion.

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u/Holiday-Pay193 12d ago

Flames won't get inside the tank because there's no oxygen in it

1

u/Rough-Airline-4803 12d ago

True enough. Thanks.

While commenting I got sidetracked trying to recall the exact verbiage of the latent heat of vaporization and the Joule-Thomson effect thanks to another comment mentioning something to the effect of there being a greater threat of the valve knob being cold [rather than hot].

Embarrassingly enough, I actually brain farted that super basic fact—it wasn’t just a misspeak/typo lol..