...About those "imaginary" compressor explosions....

Righty Tighty said

Thanks for posting, Del. It blows my mind that so many people are doubtful that compressors can ever explode like this. I've gone 'round and 'round with the guys at work and they always say it'll never happen and that if a tank ever deteriorates to that point, that it'll start with pinhole leaks and gradually fail. I say that's horse puckey. If you're lucky, that's what will happen, but you can't depend on it. And this video proves it.

ALWAYS drain your tank at the end of the day and leave it open to let any condensation that didn't get blown out evaporate. Keep that tank dry and rust-free. There's even some folks who install coolers between the compressor and tank to minimize condensation in the tank, which I plan to do.

Click to expand...

In industry to test vessels and pipelines, they fill with water or water/methanol in freezing conditions. This is then pumped up to a much higher pressure than normal operating pressure. This is usually 5000 to 10000PSI. With a liquid fill, if a failure happens the energy is relieved quickly which vastly reduces the potential for injury. When a gas such as air is pressurized and a containment failure happens, that gas expands rapidly. Severe injury can happen.
I was at a compressor station during a "turn around" which is a scheduled repair. The engine oil.had been drained, engine covers removed and a welder had been doing some work. We went for coffee and came back. I was wor
king on the tailgate of my company truck outside. The welder moved to the other side of the engine and got set up. When he struck an arc, the place blew up. Fortunately the large shop door was open to let it escape. The wall bulged out about 4". I ran in to make sure everyone was OK. Work stopped immediately and an investigation began. What happened was when the oil was drained, the ball valve was left open. The side covers to the crankcase were off. Natural gas entrained in the engine oil travelled back up the drain line into the crankcase, out the sides where the covers were removed and built up around the engine. Now that is what I thought of when compressor blew up was in the description. Been to a couple of others that had blown up or burned. When all the aluminium covers on a Waukesha V12 are melted off and the valve covers are either on the floor around or dripped down through the oil drain holes into the oil sump, that sucker got hot.