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Ukraine Update — Fuel Tank Explosions [1]

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Date: 2022-08-12

I worked in the Forklift Industry for years. While I’m not sure about cratering, because the fuel amounts were smaller, one constant concern of insurance companies and fire departments was fuel container safety. The tanks were fitted with over-pressure valves to prevent BLEVES, but sometimes the valves would fail during fires with spectacular consequences. A single 33lb. LPG tank blew the roof off a warehouse about twenty years back. And took down several walls.

Fuel bowsers (tankers) for refuelling planes probably hold between a thousand to ten thousand times the amount of fuel of a single 33lb. propane tank. Big, big boom.

But…

What happened to the over-pressure valves? All fuel tanks, even the one in your car are fitted with over-pressure valves to prevent BLEVES. Venting fuel into a fire while dangerous, is far preferable to an explosion.

Over-pressure valves are relatively simple, and only fail for two reasons, damage, and/or bad maintenance. I would consider the odds that bad maintenance or damage causing all three fuel tanks to have bad valves at the same time as really low. Like a one in a billion chance.

The only answer is deliberate damage. By who? For all we know Japanese Ninjas have decided to join the fight. Or maybe Loki, the God of Mischief talked some Russian soldiers into taking up bad smoking habits.

Here’s a link to Kos’s post. It’s worth reading, lots of great information.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/12/2116147/-Ukraine-Update-Fuel-Tank-Explosions

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