Acetylene explosion blew up garage

[bc]

Well about the time you think it will never happen, it did. A guy blew up his garage last night in Hutchinson Kansas. They believe it was an Acetylene explosion. Blew sheet metal all over and all the siding off the garage. He was lifewatched to the burn unit in Wichita. Some nearby houses were damaged as well. The explosion could be heard a mile away. Don't know any other particulars yet.

 

[Davy Fireball]

sorry to hear about that- i hope he makes it -i will pray for him-

 

[Anonymous-0]

I hope he makes a full recovery. It would be interesting to know the particulars for sure. Acetylene is generally pretty safe if used properly. Dave

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 13:59:13 09/03/10) I hope he makes a full recovery. It would be interesting to know the particulars for sure. Acetylene is generally pretty safe if used properly. Dave

If you look at the news stories, they say still under investigation.....who knows...may have been a gasoline, propane, natural gas explosion set off by welding sparks???
Guess time will tell...maybe.

 

[circus]

Maybe someone can set me straight. I vaguely recall that oxygen can flow into the acetylene tank if the regulators are set too high and the acetylene is almost empty. boom?

 

[RodinNS]

That shouldn't happen as there should be check valves or flashback valves to prevent that... ~Should~ being the operative word...
Still doubt that would happen.
Without knowing the story I'd say the most likely scenario is that someone either left the valves cracked on the torch body or there was a leak and the tanks were left on... fill the place with acetylene... and anything could set it off at the right mixture. Spark from a light switch is sufficient. Circuit breaker tripping out. Automatic door opener... you get the idea.

Rod

 

[Anonymous-0]

If there is a fire in the hose it can go back to either cylinder if there isn't back flow check valves or flashback arrestors. It's really hard to speculate what happened without knowing some more details. In could have been something unrelated to a torch set up. Dave

 

[redtom]

Where I work, someone "sneaked" into one of the shops and used one of the torches. Well, they left it lit clamped in vise, must've been doing alignement etc. It burned all weekend. The oxygen ran out first so it went to full acetylene soot fire then used that up and went out. It covered the whole interior of the shop with heavy black soot. Never did find out who did it.

 

[Goose]

A buddy of mine had two skylights in his shop. A carbide welder went through the roof, so he decided to put skylights in instead of fixing the roof back like it was.

 

[bc]

Latest news is that the acetylene canister has been ruled out in the explosion. The original tv report I heard mentioned the acetylene. He was using a grinder at the time creating sparks. The building was sized at 12"x15" which is really more of a shed than a garage. A small space for gas to collect though. He was burned bad and expected to be in an induced coma for at least a week.

 

[KYfarm]

you would have to be totally without the sense of smell to let your shop fill up with that amount of acetylene with you inside

 

[RodinNS]

Indeed. My thought is that it was left unattended...

Rod

 

[Anonymous-0]

There could have been a gas container or something else highly flammable in the shed too. If the torch didn't have check valves and there was a leak, acetylene can burn back through the hose. That is one reason why propane is a safer gas than acetylene and check valves or flashback arresters are recommended with acetylene. I think acetylene is the only fuel gas that will burn back. Propane and other gases only burn at the leak. Dave

 

[PJH]

In welding school, the instructer was always telling us industry related horror stories.

One story involved a crew working on a large tank. There was an access hole in the side of the tank, and at lunchtime one of the workers hung a torch over the lip of the tank opening, then went to a shade tree to eat with the crew. The acetelene valve must have been bumped open, and after lunch the first spark set off an explosion. Several people burned and one killed.

The post about smelling the acetelene: I've lost my sense of smell entirely (and a lot of my other senses, too, including common). I have learned to do a lot of looking to try to make up for it, but nothing beats a working nose when you're dealing with flammables.

I hope the guy recovers OK.

Paul

 

[MarkB_MI]

It seems like initial reports on the cause of explosions are wrong half the time. Doesn't take much gasoline fumes or propane in a confined area to make a big blast.

 

[bc]

Well the guy died yesterday so they won't know for sure what killed him except he was using a grinder. I have a friend who lives 5 miles out of town and he heard the explosion in his house. That doesn't sound like a gasoline explosion to me.

They sent some stuff to a lab for testing. Even though they said it wasn't acetylene, probably cause the tank survived, it is probably the best choice. I'd suspect a leaking regulator, valve, or hose and maybe a valve left open. Could be propane I suppose. Those gasoline explosions aren't that loud but the gas ones are.

On a related note, a guy was killed in the same town yesterday at woodwork manufacturing(they make doors and trim). He went up to clean out a plugged wood dust collector. When he opened it up, it exposed the highly combustible wood dust to oxygen and it ignited and the flash fire got him. He then either fell or jumped to the ground about 12 feet below. Another guy burned his hands trying to put him out.

 

[barn E]

Welding shop I used to deal with had signs recommending propane and oxygen instead of acetylene and oxygen. Good reason, they said. Acetylene is 50 times more dangerous. I believe em!