A gas explosion is the ignition of a mixture of air and flammable gas, typically from a gas leak. In household accidents, the principal explosive gases are those used for heating or cooking purposes such as natural gas, methane, propane, butane. In industrial explosions, many other gases, like hydrogen, as well as evaporated (gaseous) gasoline or ethanol play an important role. Industrial gas explosions can be prevented with the use of intrinsic safety barriers to prevent ignition, or use of alternative energy.
Lower and upper explosive limits Whether a mixture of air and gas is combustible depends on the air-to-fuel ratio. For each fuel, ignition occurs only within a certain range of concentration, known as the upper and lower flammability limits. For example, for methane and gasoline vapor, this range is 5-15% and 1.4-7.6% gas to air, respectively. An explosion can only occur when fuel concentration is within these limits.
List of gas explosions
1900–1950 Australian federal MP George Edwards and a gas mechanic were killed on February 4, 1911, when a gasometer exploded on Edwards' property in Turramurra, New South Wales. The Pittsburgh gasometer explosion occurred during the morning of November 14, 1927, in the north side of Pittsburgh. A large gasometer exploded, killing 28 people and injuring hundreds. The Mather Mine disaster occurred on May 19, 1928, in Mather, Pennsylvania. A methane gas and dust explosion resulted in the deaths of 195 men. The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion, destroying the New London School of the city of New London, Texas. The disaster killed three hundred students and teachers. On January 27, 1943, 43 people in the Sydney suburb of Chippendale inhaled fumes after a chlorine cylinder leaked. The Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion occurred on the afternoon of Friday, October 20, 1944. The resulting gas leak, explosion and fires killed 130 people and destroyed a one-square-mile area on Cleveland, Ohio’s east side.
1950–2000 On October 31, 1963, the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion (later known as the Indiana Farmers Coliseum) occurred during the opening night for the Holiday on Ice show, killing 81 and injuring nearly 400. The cause was an explosion following a propane tank leak. On March 1, 1965, the LaSalle Heights Disaster occurred when a gas line fractured in a low-cost residential neighborhood near Montreal, Quebec, killing 28 people and injuring dozens. On January 9, 1968, in Reading, Pennsylvania, an explosion killed nine people and demolished two houses. A gas company spokesman said Reading workmen digging in the street to repair a water main had hit a gas line shortly before the explosion. On Saturday, April 6, 1968, the Richmond, Indiana explosion occurred in the middle of downtown Richmond, Indiana. There were two explosions; the first was caused by a natural gas leak, while the second by gunpowder and ammunition inside a sporting goods store. 41 people were killed and more than 150 injured, and four squares of downtown Richmond, Indiana, were heavily damaged by the explosion or subsequent fire. Ronan Point was a 23-story council tower block in Newham, east London. On May 16, 1968, a gas explosion caused the collapse of a whole corner of the building. Four people were killed in the collapse. On April 8, 1970, a gas explosion during construction at the Osaka Metro's Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchōme Station in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan killed 79 people, injured 420 others, and damaged and destroyed 495 buildings. On October 21, 1971, Clarkston explosion on October 21, 1971; a build-up of gas under a shopping centre left 22 dead and around 100 injured. October 23, 1980, a propane explosion at Escuela Nacional de Marcelino Ugalde (Marcelino Ugalde Primary School), Ortuella, Vizcaya, Spain. According to the local government's official report, 50 schoolchildren and 3 adults were killed and an additional 128 people injured.:es:Ortuella#accidente de 1980 (Spanish language) Retrieved date on February 14, 2016. January 23, 1983, two people died in a gas explosion which destroyed the Golden Crown restaurant, Bye Street, Ledbury, England. May 23, 1984 Abbeystead disaster - an explosion resulting in 16 deaths and 22 injured from methane entering waterwork pipes. March 24, 1986 Loscoe gas explosion - no fatalities but extensive property destruction, this caused the UK Government to legislate on landfill sites and building practices with regard to landfill gas migration. In July 1988, 167 people died when Occidental Petroleum's Alpha offshore production platform, on the Piper field in the North Sea, exploded after a gas leak. On May 25, 1989, construction equipment clearing debris from the San Bernardino train disaster, which had killed four people and destroyed several houses, accidentally damaged a section of the Calnev Pipeline, which ruptured and exploded, killing two people and destroying 11 houses. The 1989 Ufa train disaster was caused by a gas explosion from a leaking pipeline as two trains went by, their sparks igniting the gas. 575 people died. On April 7, 1992, LPG leaking from a salt dome storage cavern near Brenham, Texas ignited and exploded, killing three and injuring 21. The blast was felt and heard as far away as Houston. On April 22, 1992, several explosions occurred in Guadalajara, Mexico. The explosions involved gas lines in the sewer systems beneath the downtown district of Analco that continued over four hours, killing 206 people, injuring nearly 500, leaving 15,000 homeless, and destroying several kilometers of streets. On April 29, 1995, gas lines a subway construction site in Sangin-dong, Daegu, South Korea exploded after a spark from construction equipment ignited gas from a damaged pipe, killing 101 people and injuring 202. The Humberto Vidal Explosion (sometimes also referred to as the Río Piedras Explosion) was a gas explosion that occurred on November 21, 1996, on the Humberto Vidal shoe store located in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, United States. The explosion killed 33 and wounded 69 others when the building collapsed. It is considered one of the deadliest disasters to have occurred on the island. On September 11, 1998, in Bucheon, South Korea, an LPG filling station for propane and butane caught fire, causing a massive fire and several very large explosions.:de:Gasunfall in Bucheon Two storage tanks and several vehicles were destroyed, killing 1 person and injuring 83. On December 11, 1998, there was a gas explosion in St. Cloud, Minnesota that killed four people. On February 1, 1999, six employees were killed and two dozen more were injured in a gas explosion at Ford's River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan. In December 1999, there was a natural gas explosion which completely destroyed one house and severely damaged four other houses in Larkhall, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It killed the family of four that lived in the house that exploded. Transco Gas was fined £15 million when the cause was found to be a severely corroded gas main directly outside the house.
2000s August 19, 2000, a natural gas transmission pipeline ruptured and a fire killed 12 campers near Carlsbad, New Mexico. On January 17, 2001, natural gas stored underground in Hutchinson, Kansas, leaked into empty brine caverns. Two explosions resulted from the leak. One destroyed two businesses and damaged 26 others. Another destroyed a trailer park killing two people. Sinkholes and gas leaks formed all around the city and the gas had to be slowly burned off. On March 16, 2004, a gas explosion in an apartment building in Arkhangelsk, Russia, killed 58 people. Reportedly, a former gas technician caused the explosion due to a dispute with his former employers. On May 11, 2004, the Stockline Plastics Factory in the Maryhill area of Glasgow was destroyed by a gas explosion. The cause was found by a Health and Safety Executive report to be the ignition of gas from a ruptured pipe. Nine people were killed and 37 were injured, 15 seriously. On July 30, 2004, a natural gas pipeline exploded in Ghislenghien, Belgium. The leak was a result of the damage from a previous construction work. The explosion and fire killed 24 people and injured 132. The 2009 Viareggio train derailment, in Versilia, Italy, killed 33 people with the explosion of LPG that was contained in one of the train cars.
2010s September 9, 2010: In San Bruno, California, a suburb of San Francisco, a gas leak and explosion killed eight people. 53 homes were burned down and over 120 homes were damaged. On February 10, 2011, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a gas explosion killed 5 people and levels a city block. On February 5, 2012, in the state of Washington, Josh Powell killed himself and two sons in a gas explosion at their home. August 14, 2012, Brentwood, New York (Suffolk County, New York; Long Island): A suspected gas explosion levels a house, killing a toddler and wounding up to 17 others. August 29, 2012, New Milford, Connecticut: An online Associated Press August 29 news article from the Boston Herald stated that, according to the Danbury News-Times, a propane leak explosion killed one man (a friend of the family who lived in the home who was a plumber and had come over to assist), and severely injured the homeowner and the older child of the deceased friend. Richmond Hill explosion: a natural gas explosion in the Richmond Hill neighborhood of southern Indianapolis took place on Saturday, November 10, 2012. Two people were killed and about 20 people were injured. The blast caused $4.4 million in damage and 33 homes were damaged severely enough that they needed to be demolished. The explosion was large enough that it registered on IUPUI seismic detectors and was felt for miles. Four people, including the home owner, were charged with felony murder. Prosecutors allege they intentionally caused the explosion for insurance money. On November 23, 2012, in Springfield, Massachusetts, a natural gas explosion destroyed two buildings, including one housing a strip club, damaging a total of 42 buildings. Firefighters, police officers and gas company workers were in the area because of an earlier gas leak. The explosion injured a total of 21 people, including 12 of the firefighters that responded to the gas leak. There were no deaths relating to the explosion. The 2013 Rosario gas explosion in Argentina on August 6, 2013, left 21 dead. On March 12, 2014, the East Harlem apartment explosion occurred within two buildings in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City. Eight people were killed and more than 70 were injured. On July 31, 2014, the Kaohsiung gas explosions occurred due to gas leak on the gas pipeline beneath the public roads in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. 2015 East Village gas explosion: On March 26, 2015, an illegal tap into a gas main triggered an explosion and fire that killed two, injured nineteen and destroyed three buildings.