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The
Power of Vacuum
This
is from my previous metal working site and I thought it was
kind of interesting. These are pictures of a railroad tank
car collapsed by vacuum (for which it was not designed).
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Please share this visual with all of your employees in upcoming
meetings. It is a great reminder that though many of our vessels
are pressure-rated, many will not withstand significant vacuum.
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A vacuum
can be created by simply draining a vessel without venting,
or by steam cleaning and not venting --- the subsequent condensing
of the steam is an extremely strong vacuum.
The hotter
or higher pressure of the steam, the stronger vacuum.
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Even the condensing of a hot hydrocarbon, with low vapor pressure
can have similar results if the system is not gas/N2 blanketed or
equipped with a vacuum breaker.
The tank
car in these photos is not one of ours. It is a general purpose
PYGAS car that was being steam cleaned to prepare it for some
maintenance work.
The job
was still in progress at the end of the shift, so the employee
decided to block it in. Problem was there was no vacuum relief;
the car cooled, the steam condensed and the car imploded.
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Article
contributed by: Steve Stovner
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