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SteamexplosionWikipedia

Steamexplosion
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Asteamexplosionisaviolentboilingorflashingofwater
intosteam,occurringwhenwateriseithersuperheated,
rapidlyheatedbyfinehotdebrisproducedwithinit,or
heatedbytheinteractionofmoltenmetals(asinafuel
coolantinteraction,orFCI,ofmoltennuclearreactorfuel
rodswithwaterinanuclearreactorcorefollowingacore
meltdown).Pressurevessels,suchaspressurizedwater
(nuclear)reactors,thatoperateaboveatmosphericpressure
canalsoprovidetheconditionsforasteamexplosion.The
waterchangesfromaliquidtoagaswithextremespeed,
increasingdramaticallyinvolume.Asteamexplosion
sprayssteamandboilinghotwaterandthehotmedium
thatheateditinalldirections(ifnototherwiseconfined,
e.g.bythewallsofacontainer),creatingadangerof
scaldingandburning.

LittoralexplosionatWaikupanahaoceanentryat
thebigislandofHawaiiwascausedbythelava
enteringtheocean

Steamexplosionsarenotnormallychemicalexplosions,
althoughanumberofsubstancesreactchemicallywith
steam(forexample,zirconiumandsuperheatedgraphitereactwithsteamandairrespectivelytogiveoff
hydrogen,whichburnsviolentlyinair)sothatchemicalexplosionsandfiresmayfollow.Somesteam
explosionsappeartobespecialkindsofboilingliquidexpandingvaporexplosion(BLEVE),andrelyonthe
releaseofstoredsuperheat.Butmanylargescaleevents,includingfoundryaccidents,showevidenceofan
energyreleasefrontpropagatingthroughthematerial(seedescriptionofFCIbelow),wheretheforcescreate
fragmentsandmixthehotphaseintothecoldvolatileoneandtherapidheattransferatthefrontsustainsthe
propagation.
Ifasteamexplosionoccursinaconfinedtankofwaterduetorapidheatingofthewater,thepressurewaveand
rapidlyexpandingsteamcancauseseverewaterhammer.Thiswasthemechanismthat,inIdaho,USA,in
1961,causedtheSL1nuclearreactorvesseltojumpover9feet(2.7m)intheairwhenitwasdestroyedbya
criticalityaccident.InthecaseofSL1,thefuelandfuelelementsvaporizedfrominstantaneousoverheating.
Eventsofthisgeneraltypearealsopossibleifthefuelandfuelelementsofaliquidcoolednuclearreactor
graduallymelt.Suchexplosionsareknownasfuelcoolantinteractions(FCI).Intheseeventsthepassageof
thepressurewavethroughthepredispersedmaterialcreatesflowforceswhichfurtherfragmentthemelt,
resultinginrapidheattransfer,andthussustainingthewave.MuchofthephysicaldestructionintheChernobyl
disaster,agraphitemoderated,lightwatercooledRBMK1000reactor,isthoughttohavebeenduetosucha
steamexplosion.
Inanuclearmeltdown,themostsevereoutcomeofasteamexplosionisearlycontainmentfailure.Two
possibilitiesaretheejectionathighpressureofmoltenfuelintothecontainment,causingrapidheatingoran
invesselsteamexplosioncausingejectionofamissile(suchastheupperhead)into,andthrough,the
containment.Lessdramaticbutstillsignificantisthatthemoltenmassoffuelandreactorcoremeltsthrough
thefloorofthereactorbuildingandreachesgroundwaterasteamexplosionmightoccur,butthedebriswould
probablybecontained,andwouldinfact,beingdispersed,probablybemoreeasilycooled.SeeWASH1400
fordetails.
Steamexplosionsareoftenencounteredwherehotlavameetsseawater.Suchanoccurrenceisalsocalleda
littoralexplosion.Adangeroussteamexplosioncanalsobecreatedwhenliquidwaterencountershot,molten
metal.Asthewaterexplodesintosteam,itsplashestheburninghotliquidmetalalongwithit,causingan
extremeriskofsevereburnstoanyonelocatednearbyandcreatingafirehazard.

Contents

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Contents

SteamexplosionWikipedia

1 Practicaluses
1.1 Steamturbines
1.2 Flashboilingincooking
2 Otherrapidboilingphenomena
3 Seealso
4 Bibliography

Practicaluses
Steamturbines
Awatervaporexplosioncreatesahighvolumeofgaswithoutproducingenvironmentallyharmfulleftovers.
Thecontrolledexplosionofwaterhasbeenusedforgeneratingsteaminpowerstationsandinmoderntypesof
steamturbines.Newersteamenginesuseheatedoiltoforcedropsofwatertoexplodeandcreatehighpressure
inacontrolledchamber.Thepressureisthenusedtorunaturbineoraconvertedcombustionengine.Hotoil
andwaterexplosionsarebecomingparticularlypopularinconcentratedsolargenerators,becausethewatercan
beseparatedfromtheoilinaclosedloopwithoutanyexternalenergy.Waterexplosionisconsideredtobe
environmentallyfriendlyiftheheatisgeneratedbyarenewableresource.

Flashboilingincooking
Acookingtechniquecalledflashboilingusesasmallamountofwatertoquickentheprocessofboiling.For
example,thistechniquecanbeusedtomeltasliceofcheeseontoahamburgerpatty.Thecheesesliceisplaced
ontopofthemeatonahotsurfacesuchasafryingpan,andasmallquantityofcoldwateristhrownontothe
surfacenearthepatty.Avessel(suchasapotorfryingpancover)isthenusedtoquicklysealthesteamflash
reaction,dispersingmuchofthesteamedwateronthecheeseandpatty.Thisresultsinalargereleaseofheat,
transferredviavaporizedwatercondensingbackintoaliquid(aprinciplealsoutilizedinrefrigeratorand
freezerproduction).

Otherrapidboilingphenomena
Highsteamgenerationratesarepossibleunderothercircumstances,suchasboilerdrumfailure,orataquench
front(forexamplewhenwaterreentersahotdryboiler).Thoughpotentiallydamaging,theyareusuallyless
energeticthaneventsinwhichthehot("fuel")phaseismoltenandsocanbefinelyfragmentedwithinthe
volatile("coolant")phase.Someexamplesfollow:
Steamexplosionsarenaturallyproducedbycertainvolcanosespeciallyastratovolcanoandareamajorcause
ofhumanfatalitiesinvolcaniceruptions.
The1986ChernobylnucleardisasterinSovietUnionwasfearedtocausemajorsteamexplosion(andresulting
Europewidefallout)uponmeltingthelavalikenuclearfuelthroughthereactor'sbasementtowardscontact
withresiduefirefightingwaterandgroundwater.Thethreatwasavertedbyfrantictunnelingunderneaththe
reactorinordertopumpoutwaterandreinforceunderlyingsoilwithconcrete.
Whenapressurizedcontainersuchasthewatersideofasteamboilerruptures,itisalwaysfollowedbysome
degreeofsteamexplosion.Acommonoperatingtemperatureandpressureforamarineboilerisaround950
P.S.I.(6.55MPa)and850F(454C)attheoutletofthesuperheater.Asteamboilerhasaninterfaceofsteam
andwaterinthesteamdrum,whichiswherethewaterisfinallyevaporatingduetotheheatinput,usuallyoil
firedburners.Whenawatertubefailsduetoanyofavarietyofreasons,itcausesthewaterintheboilerto
expandoutoftheopeningintothefurnaceareathatisonlyafewP.S.I.aboveatmosphericpressure.Thiswill
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likelyextinguishallfiresandexpandsoverthelargesurfaceareaonthesidesoftheboiler.Todecreasethe
likelihoodofadevastatingexplosion,boilershavegonefromthe"firetube"designs,wheretheheatwasadded
bypassinghotgasesthroughtubesinabodyofwater,to"watertube"boilersthathavethewaterinsideofthe
tubesandthefurnaceareaisaroundthetubes.Old"firetube"boilersoftenfailedduetopoorbuildqualityor
lackofmaintenance(suchascorrosionofthefiretubes,orfatigueoftheboilershellduetoconstantexpansion
andcontraction).Afailureoffiretubesforceslargevolumesofhighpressure,hightemperaturesteamback
downthefiretubesinafractionofasecondandoftenblowstheburnersoffthefrontoftheboiler,whereasa
failureofthepressurevesselsurroundingthewaterwouldleadtoafullandentireevacuationoftheboiler's
contentsinalargesteamexplosion.Onamarineboiler,thiswouldcertainlydestroytheship'spropulsionplant
andpossiblythecorrespondingendoftheship.
Inamoredomesticsetting,steamexplosionscanbearesultoftryingtoextinguishburningoilwithwater.
Whenoilinapanisonfire,thenaturalimpulsemaybetoextinguishitwithwater.However,doingsowill
causethewatertobecomesuperheatedbythehotoil.Uponturningtosteam,itwilldisperseupwardsand
outwardsrapidlyandviolentlyinasprayalsocontainingtheignitedoil.Itisforthisreasonthatthecorrect
courseofactionfordealingwithsuchfiresistoeitheruseadampclothoratightlidonthepanbothhelp
deprivethefireofoxygen,andtheclothalsoservestocoolitdown.Alternatively,anonvolatilepurpose
designedfireretardantagentorsimplyafireblanketcanbeusedinstead.

Seealso
BLEVE
Boilerexplosion
Multiphaseflow
2007NewYorkCitysteamexplosion

Bibliography
TriggeredSteamExplosions(http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/pdf/fdm1230.pdf)byLloydS.Nelson,PaulW.
Brooks,RiccardoBonazzaandMichaelL.Corradini...KjetilHildal
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