LNG Barges Explode in Mobile, AL

A number of folks have asked me about the LNG barges that blew up in Mobile last Wednesday. I was called to look them over today to see about removing them and took a bunch of pictures. They both were new barges measuring 300' x 56' x 12", double bottomed with a center-line bulkhead separating the tanks down the middle into a total of 8 storage tanks each. Every tank exploded, some simultaneously with others so that there were reported on 7 individual explosions. The force was sufficient to send a 40 ton piece of the top over 300 yards across a completely separate barge channel. the bulkheads were z-patterned, similar to sheet-piling and most were blown completly straight. Tops that were not blown completely away were peeled open like oranges. It was very fortunate that only four people were seriously injured and no fatalities as yet, though it is still not looking good for a couple of the survivors.

 

More then one incident sounds like terrorism to me...

 

http://www.pnj.com/videonetwork/2327422988001/Raw-Video-Alabama-barge-explosion

 

impressive. I'm surprised anyone lived through that.

 

got some friends that responded to the the job ...
said the explosions were pretty impressive to see and here ..
The explosion was so big it was setting airbags off in the parking lot...

 

have you read his sig line???


lol

 

so...my questions are these
-did the temperature difference between where the load was shipped from and where the load blew up change drastically
- would a temperature change like that cause a huge pressurization change in the gas
- if the gas changed ( increased) pressure drastically, would a rupture in the metal cause enough of a spark to ignite it
-would said ignition and resultant heat increase cause the other tanks to burst and explode

I'm not an engineer and know very little about this topic, so...just wondering

 

Wonder if we can expect more "accidents" like this and the fertilizer plant. Seems a bit more than a coincidence.

 

they barges were being gas freed ..
nothing is susposed to come within a 100 ft of the barges .
a boat pulled up near the barges and a spark from something set it off...
barges are still floating just the top blew off...

 

yes gas freed meens cleaned very well to allow "hot work " or entrance with out respetory protection ...
or make it able to use the barge for a different product...

 

articles on gogle call them fuel barges ... but what kind of fuel im not sure

 

As with the pressurized liquid fuel tanks on ships, the ones I have seen go into the Port of YVR (Vancouver BC) up to reed point , have four huge balls ,built on a deep sea ship . NOTHING MOVES (water or air ) wise as it moves up the inlet.
Seabus (water passenger ferry) stops two runs as it passes .
It has an escort or two tugs ..

So I agree "I've never seen rectangular tanks used on pressurized tanks " Even my gas bottles look like torpedo's..

Something is wrong with the story, they close down the water way from entering from the pacific ocean around Victoria into the reed point fuelling docks while this vessel is in travel. I was told by the marine pilots that it could remove Vancouver if the cargo leaked and exploded.

Sloth

 

the tanks were not pressurized, I just talked with Jim Elliot, T and T Marine Salvage, they contained Liquid natural gasoline. @KAS, Jim said to say howdy.
Natural gasoline is a natural gas liquid with a vapor pressure intermediate between natural gas condensate(drip gas) and liquefied petroleum gas and has a boiling point within the range of gasoline. The typical gravity of natural gasoline is around 80 API.
This hydrocarbon mixture is liquid at ambient pressure and temperature. It is volatile and unstable but can be blended with other hydrocarbons to produce commercial gasoline.
The natural gas hydrocarbons mixture is mostly pentanes and heavier (smaller amounts of C6 and C6+), extracted from natural gas, that meets vapor pressure, end-point, and other specifications for natural gasoline set by the Gas Processors Association.[1] Includes isopentane which is a saturated branch-chain hydrocarbon, (C5H12), obtained by fractionation of natural gasoline or isomerization of normal pentane.[2]
Natural gasoline is often used to denature ethanol produced for E85 "flexible fuel". Natural gasoline has a lower octane content than conventional commercial distilled gasoline, so it cannot normally be used by itself for fuel for modern automobiles. However, when mixed with high concentrations of ethanol such as mid-level blends, like E50 or E85, the octane content is raised high enough to be used easily in flex-fuel vehicles. It may be sourced from production of natural gas wells (See "drip gas") or may be produced by extraction processes [3] in the field, as opposed to refinery cracking of conventional gasoline.

 

Boat's Length 300.0 ft
Boat's Gross Tons 1632.0
Boat's Net Tons 1632.0
Vessel Build Year 2012