Jeff wrote:
A long time ago, PBS showed some Air Force films of an anti-personnel
gas bomb that was just a propane tank, a puncture device to spray
liquid propane into the air, and a timer that fired a little ignition
system with a Champion Spark Plug, which I found amusing.
The timer let the cloud of liquid gas evaporate and expand before
buzzing the spark plug to set it off. They tested it in
heavily-forested military land with a herd of sheep to see how it
worked. The sheep simply exploded at some amazing distance from the
blast. You could see the blast's shock wave expanding as the forest
trees near the blast were laid waste while trees further out were
simply waved really hard to and fro as it passed them. This test only
detonated ONE propane bomb....
Most impressive for such a simple device. The canister was about 100#
of propane. Wonder how big the shockwave would be from a whole LNG
carrier, say in a big harbor like Charleston or Norfolk.
How stupid we all are to let it dock.....
Propane is far more dangerous than LNG - its light weight means that it
will stay on the surface before igniting. A propane storage facility
was quietly removed from my area when it was realized that it was a
larger liability than the LNG.
Agreed (G 'cept for the "light weight" part).
I'm always amused at peoples perspectives ...... how many drive by gas
stations with big propane tanks for filling their RV's and barbecue
tanks and give it a second thought?
If you want to see what can happen if you have a total failure of an LNG
tank, look up "Cleveland Disaster, 1944".
otn
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