Picture of the Day: Camp Carroll Gas Explosion
A firefighter battles a fire that engulfed a building inside a U.S. military base, Camp Carroll, in the southeastern city of Chilgok on May 19, 2016, after multiple gas explosions took place at the base. No casualties were reported, although the explosions caused debris to fly and hit other buildings inside the base. Firefighting authorities said the incident was caused by the combustion of nitrogen and oxygen. (Yonhap)
“Firefighting authorities said the incident was caused by the combustion of nitrogen and oxygen.”
Authorities expressed concern that the local combustion of nitrogen and oxygen would spred to the rest of earth’s atmosphere which is composed of 79% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, making the entire planet covered in a nitrous oxide environment which would not only contribute to global climate change but would also make everyone laugh uncontrollably at their obvious lack of basic chemistry knowledge.
Considering the tendency of buildings catching on fire just before an investigation team arrives, was anything shady going on here?
CH beat me to it. Nitrogen is inert, and used to preserve materials. Not flammable at all. Maybe they meant hydrogen?
“Nitrogen is inert”
I have a bottle of inert nitroglycerin sitying on a pile of inert ammonium nitrate you can hit with a mallet to further that concept.
What are all those metal canisters in the photo?
“What are all those metal canisters in the photo?”
Accelerant.
No. That’s a joke. Another picture on the internet clearly shows unburned tanks to be green… meaning it is oxygen.
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/32a7d6449afd46e1ef19880fc1b9cba55a9d2971/r=x483&c=640×480/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/4d50d915b4ee685288cbcf6fc208c919fc871fe2/c=405-0-4595-3150/local/-/media/2016/05/19/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635992381944465640-Fire.jpg
One kinda wonders how a fire such as this could start. Storage regulations for oxygen don’t allow combustable materials to be around… meaning concrete and metal are all that should be there… and no flammable gas is allowed.
Maybe a tank fell over? While they are designed not to have issues with this, rapid pressure release of oxygen can generate frictional heat that can start a fire with anything which will oxidize… such as lubricant.
Looking at the two available pictures doesn’t show anthing unusual… concrete pad with a well-ventilated area enclosed with steel screens and a metal roof.