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Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

seawolf17 Apr 18 2013 07:56 AM

[youtube:1jgl4rvm]ROrpKx3aIjA[/youtube:1jgl4rvm] This is incredible. Flattened blocks around the plant.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 18 2013 08:09 AM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

Yowza.

metirish Apr 18 2013 08:14 AM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Yowza. Whoa is more appropriate I think :) harrowing to hear the kid shout "get out of here".

seawolf17 Apr 18 2013 08:25 AM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

The first thirty seconds, you're thinking "man, good thing they're far away from that." And then a blast and everything goes dark. Terrifying.

metsmarathon Apr 18 2013 12:00 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

yeah, fertilizer plants are one of those things where, if they're ever on fire, you just want to get as far away as possible. if you can shoot video of it on your iphone, you're simply too close. according to wikipedia, the facility stored about 24 tons of ammonium nitrate. also, according to wikipedia, the conversion rate from ammonium nitrate to TNT equivalency is about 0.35 to 1, meaning 24 tons is about equivalent to about 8 tons of TNT. the math may not be totally correct, but really, does it matter if it's 8 tons of TNT or 4 tons? its still many fucking tons of TNT. GTFO. also, i've gotta wonder... why is there a school 1000' from the equivalent of 4-8 tons of TNT?

Edgy MD Apr 18 2013 12:03 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

It's disturbing to think about, but we're in a world where we're most of us too close to something. Please get out of here.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 18 2013 12:09 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

I've never understood why something that is basically poop and is supposed to nurture plants is so volatile. Anyone able to explain the chemistry in easy words? Prayers for everyone hurt by that blast.

cooby Apr 18 2013 12:37 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

God love that little boy. I'll take it as a good sign that the video is online that they are safe.

Edgy MD Apr 18 2013 12:40 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

I didn't follow. I thought it was a woman in the passenger seat.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 18 2013 12:49 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

I heard "Boy, you okay?" followed by "Dad, I can't hear!" so I think it was a child, although maybe there's a woman in the car too.

seawolf17 Apr 18 2013 12:54 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

Guy and his daughter. They were on the Today show this morning, so they're okay.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 18 2013 01:02 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

How is their hearing?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 18 2013 01:17 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

What?

metirish Apr 18 2013 01:21 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

They had just come from a concert at Williamsburg Park so they had their earplugs in.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 18 2013 01:28 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

The father was saying "Khloey, are you okay?" http://www.today.com/news/witness-texas ... -1C9503042

metsmarathon Apr 18 2013 02:58 PM Re: Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

Mets – Willets Point wrote: I've never understood why something that is basically poop and is supposed to nurture plants is so volatile. Anyone able to explain the chemistry in easy words? while poop is fertilizer and ammonium nitrate is fertilizer, ammonium nitrate is most decidedly not poop. what it is is a product of a reaction between nitric acid and ammonium salts. ammonium nitrate, or NH4NO3, is an oxidizing agent, which means it has lots of menacing little oxygen atoms just looking to bond with something in an exothermic (heat making) fashion. when NH4NO3 is mixed with some other stuff (fuel oil, for instance), it makes an excellent explosive. or if you mix it with stuff that's already explosive, it can make it better. but even all by itself, it can go boom. this happens when it's heated to a certain high temperature (and often under some elevated pressure) where it begins to decompose (molecularly break apart). at that point, it begins to react so quickly that the reaction front in the material actually moves so fast it generates a shock wave, and that shock wave then becomes hte trigger for more reaction. the shock wave causes the blast wave that you would typically associate with an explosion (along with light and heat). the shock wave is _the_ defining characteristic of an explosion, btw, and in some materials can travel as fast as thousands of meters per second! and that blast wave is what blows apart factories and houses, and throws material and shrapnel all about. a tricky thing about ammonium nitrate is that since it's such a good oxidizer, and since so much heat is released when it does start to decompose, any time you've got a large amount of it, and it starts to burn, it will almost certainly generate enough heat to get it up to the explosive limit. like i said. if you see a fetilizer plant on fire, get hte fuck out. it's only a matter of time before it goes boom in a big way. so now you know. and knowing is half the battle.