BLEVE

BOILING LIQUID EXPANDING VAPOR

EXPLOSION

NUGRAHANTO WIDAGDO
SHE-Q DEPT.
PT BADAK NGL
2007
SHE-Q MOMENT
 AGENDA
1. Definition and Characteristic of
BLEVE
2. Significant BLEVE Accidents
3. Type of BLEVE
4. BLEVE Hazards
5. How to Prevent BLEVE
6. BLEVE Mitigation
7. BLEVE Simulation Result
 DEFINITION
BLEVE or Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor
Explosion can be defined as a major failure of a
container at a moment in time when the
contained liquid is at a temperature well above
its atmospheric pressure boiling point.
A type of explosion that can occur when a vessel
containing a pressurized liquid is ruptured.
A BLEVE is what happens, for instance, when a
closed container of flammable liquid is exposed
to strong heating.
 CHARACTERISTIC
If you have:
Pressurized and isolated vessel
Flammable liquid
Heating sources nearby

You have the chance to experience the

BLEVE within 14 minutes* in average.

* H.R. Wesson & J.R. Lott, Effectiveness of fire resistant

coatings applied to structural steels exposed to direct
flames contact, radiant heat fluxes, and mechanical and
cryogenic thermal shock, AGA Transmission Conference,
St. Lois, 1977.
 SIGNIFICANT BLEVE
ACCIDENTS
Several significant BLEVE accidents are
as follows:
1.Feyzin, France in 1966
2.Kingman, Arizona in 1973
3.San Juan Ixhuatepec, Mexico in 1984
4.Others:
Waverly, Tennessee in 1978
San Carlos, Spain in 1978
Quebec, Canada in 1993
Burnside, Illinois in 1997
Albert City, Iowa in 1998
FEYZIN, FRANCE - 1966
 FEYZIN, FRANCE - 1966
On January 4, 1966
Leak in 1200 M3 Propane sphere
18 killed, 81 injured
BLEVE causes:
Further sphere toppled
Adjacent Petrol Tank caught fire
48 Hours to gain control
KINGMAN, ARIZONA - 1973
 MEXICO - 1984
Before the Incidents
MEXICO - 1984
MEXICO - 1984
MEXICO - 1984
 MEXICO - 1984
On November 19, 1984
Leak in LPG Storage Facility, ignition
from flare pit
Estimated total inventory: 12000 m3
500 killed, approx. 7000 injured
Loss US$ 100 Millions, including:
4 spheres destroyed, 44 cylindrical
tanks damaged
Several buildings on site completely
destroyed
 OTHERS BLEVE ACCIDENTS
1. Waverly, Tennessee on Feb 24, 1978
A tank car containing liquefied petroleum gas
(LPG) exploded
16 killed, 43 injured to various degrees
16 structures were destroyed, another 20
were seriously damaged
2. San Carlos, Spain in July 1978
A road tanker carrying about 22 tonnes of
propylene ruptured
Over 200 killed
 OTHERS BLEVE ACCIDENTS
3. Quebec, Canada on June 27, 1993
A 1,055 gallon (4,000 L) propane tank was
exposed to barn fire
4 killed, 8 injured
4. Burnside, Illinois on October 2, 1997
A 1,000 gallon (3,785 L) LP-Gas tank exposed
to a fire in a nearby grain dryer
2 killed, 2 injured
5. Albert City, Iowa on April 9, 1998
An 18,000 gallon LP-Gas tank exposed to a
turkey farm fire
2 killed, 7 injured
 TYPE OF BLEVE
There are 3 common types of
BLEVE:
1. Thermally Induced BLEVE
2. Mechanically Induced BLEVE
3. Pressure Induced BLEVE
 THERMALLY INDUCED BLEVE
When a pressure vessel that is partially
filled with liquid is exposed to a fire.

SHELL STRENGTH (LOCALIZED

TANK
INTERNAL PRESSURE

FULL OPEN PRESSURE FAILURE

START TO DISCHARGE
PRESSURE

DURATION OF FIRE EXPOSURE

 THERMALLY INDUCED BLEVE
The scenario generally
is as follows:
1. A partially filled pressure
vessel is subjected to high
heat flux from a fire.
2. The liquid temperature
starts to increase, causing OPEN
pressure increase also
within vessel. When the
relief valve pressure P
setting is reached, starting
to vent vapor. T

3. Temperature on tank shell

that is not in contact with OPEN
the liquid increase
dramatically.
P
T
THERMALLY INDUCED BLEVE
4. The heat weakens the OPEN

tank shell and

Thermally Induced Heat weakens the Ullage Space

Area
Stress are created
near the vapor/liquid
interface.

5. The heat, stress, and

high internal pressure
combine to cause a
sudden violent tank
rupture.
THERMALLY INDUCED BLEVE
6. Tank fragments are propelled away to some distance
at great force.
7. Most of the remaining liquid vaporizes rapidly and the
rest is mechanically atomized to small drops. A
fireball is created by the burning vapor and liquid.

Fireball

propel to great distance

 MECHANICALLY INDUCED
BLEVE
When a pressure vessel that is partially
filled with liquid is mechanically damaged.
This type of BLEVE is very rare for storage
tanks, but is not uncommon in
transportation accidents.
One good example is the tank car incident
at Kali Krasak Bridge near Magelang,
Indonesia in 1992. When the tank car had
an accident, rolled and the imposed stresses
damaged the tank and failed
catastrophically. Then the great explosion
destroyed the bridge.
 PRESSURE INDUCED BLEVE
When a pressure vessel is allowed to
become completely filled with liquid. The
temperature rises and there is no
pressure relief valve or the pressure relief
capacity is insufficient from exceeding the
strength of the tank.
This type of BLEVE have occurred in
several accident involving small, portable
LPG cylinders for domestic use.
However this BLEVE is rarely happened on
a vessel with pressure relief valves.
 BLEVE HAZARDS
BLEVE poses 4 main types of
hazards:
1. Overpressure
2. Flying Shrapnel Object
3. Rocketing Tank Parts
4. Fireball
 OVERPRESSURE
There are 2 sources of overpressure:
1. Expansion of the vapor that was
present in the tank
2. Flashing rapid change from liquid
to vapor
A BLEVE can cause neighboring vessels, if
within few meters, to shift from their
supports, resulting in failure of connected
piping, thus causing accident to propagate.
Overpressure wave can also cause serious
injuries, especially those who do not wear
protective clothing.
 FLYING SHRAPNEL OBJECTS
Hazards posed by pieces of metal tank that are
scattered when a tank ruptures are difficult to quantify.
The hazards will depend on energy that is transmitted
to:
Pieces of the fragments
Sizes of the fragments
Weight of the fragments
Actual data gathered on the distances show that larger
fragments of 125 m3 (33,000 gal) tank can reach as
long as 460 m (1,500 ft). Smaller fragments could be
thrown to several thousand feet.
NFPA course, Handling Hazardous Materials
Transportation Emergencies, recommends an
evacuation distance of 760 m (2,500 ft).
 ROCKETING TANK PARTS
The end tubes of several bullet tank
could travel in greater distance. For
instance, a large segment of a 36 m3
(9,500 gal) tank could reach
approximately 1,200 m (3,900 ft).
 FIREBALL
Fireball created by combustion of the mixture
of vapor and liquid that is explosively
dispersed by the sudden rupture of the tank.
Sudden expansion of compressed vapor and
large quantity vapor from liquid flashing
create a large ball of liquid droplets and vapor.
The heat of burning dispersed liquid and vapor
causes a powerful thermal updraft which
interacts with the burning fuel/air mixture to
create toroidal shaped ball of fire.
BLEVE PARAMETERS
BLEVE PARAMETERS
 HOW TO PREVENT BLEVE
Proper design is applied
Prevent the fire
Prevent the heat of the fire
Avoid overpressure
 PROPER DESIGN
Pressure vessel and its associated
piping system
Sufficient relief valve capacity
Material strength
Siting of major hazards installation
Fire protection system design
 PREVENT THE FIRE
Head shields and shelf couplers on
railroad tank cars. This type of
modification would be beneficial to
prevent spill and fire following the
derailments.
Proper diking and drainage would be
very useful for preventing liquid
pools in case of accidental release.
 PREVENT THE HEAT OF THE

FIRE
Insulation. Ordinary type of insulation and
jacketed with a steel skin demonstrate the
effectiveness of insulation as a preventive
measure. Other type of insulation is epoxy
intumescent coatings.
Advantage of the coatings:
Low moisture permeability
High adhesion to the substrate
Low differential expansion at steel interface
Bonded fixings not necessary
High mechanical strength
Low corrosivity
Good surface finish
 PREVENT THE HEAT OF THE
FIRE
Water. With sufficient water sprayed into
the tank, it is possible to keep the tank
and its contents below 100C (212F).
Type of application are such as a fixed
water spray nozzles, deluge systems and
monitor nozzles.
 AVOID OVERPRESSURE
Keep the tank shell full with liquid
throughout entire time of fire
exposure
Admit water into the tank
De-pressurization system
 BLEVE MITIGATION
Since BLEVE has uncertain and very
short time to occur, NFPA
recommended to evacuate the area
and allow the impinging fire to burn
itself out .
Other alternative could be to remove
the vessel from the impinging flame
(for the mobile tank).
And also to keep vessels cool and
evacuate the area.
 COULD LNG TANKS BLEVE?
LNG tanks are not designed for pressure, and even if
subjected to external fire, cannot be over pressurize to a
level that would cause a BLEVE event. LNG tanks won't
BLEVE because:
tanks are doubled walled (outer concrete wall up to 2 ft thick)
outer shell will prevent direct flame impingement on the inner
tank
insulation between the outer and inner wall will greatly slow
heat transfer to the LNG.
The tanks are also spaced sufficiently that the radiant heat
from a fire on one tank would not cause a cascading failure
of the other tanks. The outer concrete tank will be designed
to withstand heat from an adjacent tank fire. Fire water
systems will be stationed around the tanks and operating
areas and would be used to keep surrounding equipment
and facilities cool in case of a fire.
 BLEVE SIMULATION
Software used in PT Badak NGL: Canary 4.2 by Quest
Inc.
Case types covered in the software:
Vapor Dispersion/VCE
Explosions
Pool Fire
Flare/Torch Fire
Fireball (BLEVE)
Fireball (BLEVE) model takes inputs from the user
concerning the amount, type, and properties of
flammable fluid involved. The model makes dynamic
(time-varying) calculations to describe the size of the
fireball, location of the fireball, and the expected heat
exposure to the surrounding area.
 BLEVE SIMULATION
Scenario of Emergency Drill E4C-1 in 2007
On 30 April 2007, there was a contractor crew
installing a fire-proofing for 4C-1 Propane
Accumulator. Then they struck and ruptured a
downstream block valve flange, resulting a
big flammable gas leak in 4C-1 Train E and
spread over quickly downwards wind direction
If this condition is uncontrolled and there is
heat source nearby, it will lead to the
catastrophic failure of the vessel and create
BLEVE.
 BLEVE SIMULATION
Hazard Analysis Result
BLEVE SIMULATION
BLEVE SIMULATION
 BLEVE SIMULATION
Example from the Canarys Manual
One of the products produced by the petrochemical
company you work for is propylene. Due to changes in
the demand for propylene, the Projects Group is
considering installing a rail tank car loading rack on
the railroad spur that enters your plant. You have been
asked to provide assistance to the Projects Group by
analyzing the potential consequences of major
accidents at the proposed rail tank car loading facility.
One area of particular concern is a school yard that, at
its closest point, is 755 feet from the proposed location
for the loading rack. The Projects Group specifically
wants to know if children playing outside the school
could be fatally injured by the radiant heat effects of a
rail tank car BLEVE.
 BLEVE SIMULATION
The type of rail tank car that will be loaded at the
new facility has a nominal capacity of 33,000 gallons,
and one pressure relief valve (PRV) set to open at
308 psig. In order to be conservative, you decide to
do a worstcase analysis by modeling the BLEVE of a
fully-loaded tank car, assuming the tank ruptures
catastrophically when the pressure inside the tank is
120% of the PRV set point. This scenario is assumed
to occur when there is a fire impinging on the railcar,
heating it such that the propylene is just below the
boiling point at the maximum pressure.

Note: The tank car is assumed to be loaded to 85% of

its nominal capacity.
 BLEVE SIMULATION
Hazard Analysis Result
BLEVE SIMULATION
 BLEVE RESEARCH

The graph shows that peak liquid energy is reached when liquid temperature
stratification is dissipated by pressure relief valve action. If the tank fails at
peak energy then a BLEVE is most likely. Note that in this case the tank
failed well after the peak energy was reached. This tank did BLEVE.
 BLEVE RESEARCH

This graph shows how engulfment fraction affects the time to peak
energy. For a given tank there may be an engulfment fraction that
causes a tank to fail just as its peak energy is reached. This would give
the worst hazard for this given tank.
 BLEVE RESEARCH

This plot shows how projectile range depends on tank orientation. Note
that most projectiles landed within 50 m on either side of the line drawn
through the tank axis. This 50 m represents approximately 3 fireball
radii for this tank and fill level. However, note that some projectiles did
go well out of this zone.
 BLEVE RESEARCH

This plot shows range distribution as a function of distance (normalized in fireball radii) for a
range of tank scales. Note that when approaching from the side nearly 90% of projectiles fall
within 4 fireball radii
 BLEVE RESEARCH

Blast can also be normalized to fireball radius units. As can be seen

from the figure at a distance of 4 fireball radii the hazard from the blast
is small. It should be noted that this blast is the that associated with the
expansion of the vapour and liquid energy and does not include the
blast from vapour cloud explosions.
 BLEVE RESEARCH

This graph shows how time to tank failure depends on the tank scale and
the fire type. In this case the tanks are not equipped with thermal barriers
or water spray systems.
THANK YOU