Comments on: Driver In Fiery Mass.Tanker Crash Dies

Driver Of The Car That Collided With The Tanker Truck Will Face Charges

[newsterl]

if the tanker is punctured the hydrogen would escape through the hole, where it could ignite or not.
enlightenu

That''s if its ONLY PUNCTURED, with a head-on collision or a side impact crash at an intersection you will not get just a ''puncture'' this isnt a balloon we are talking about here!


" tanker carrying 25,000 lbs. of compressed hydrogen gas that crashed The crash resulted in no explosion.
Biostudent"

The article is on a pro hydrogen cars web site, so there is already a bias there towards ''safety'' and the article is just a commentary by someone, not the actual news story with photos.

He said this exactly;

"A large truck this week carrying 25,000 lbs. of compressed hydrogen gas, did in fact, cross a couple of lanes and crash. The crash caused by a sleepy driver in Middlebury, Connecticut, however resulted in no explosion."

Crossed a couple of lanes and crashed, in this case ''crashed'' after crossing a couple of lanes by a sleepy driver could mean he simply wound up in the DITCH and hit nothing, a gasoline truck could come out as well there.

(cont)

[iknowbest-2009]

Heck, I don''t own a gas station. I''m just smart enough to know that the whole hydrogen powered car fantasy is bone throne by the GOP and corporate Oil interests to lull the masses into thinking we''re working on alternatives. In the meantime, they get rich. Truth be told, I''d like to see them all rounded up and imprisoned for the rest of their lives - but that''s not to say I''m STUPID enough to buy the whole hydrogen powered acid trip. Do just a little research - google for rail accidents and do some digging. You''ll see explosions that will almost make you believe in God. csmith worked for a company that produced hydrogen fuel for NASA - any bell ring for you now? Something about NASA and explosions....get smart.

[missingamerica]

After reading the comments, am starting to think "I know" who owns a gas station...

[iknowbest-2009]

csmith1948 said it best. Brilliant idea to maximize the explosive potential of the incident. But don''t worry, Bio - it will go off like the sun exploding, but that means everybody dies much faster. Back to the books!

[enlightenu]

BioStudent is right, if the tanker is punctured the hydrogen would escape through the hole, where it could ignite or not. The rest of the H2 wouldn''t explode because it has not mixed with air yet and is still cold. But now if that hydrogen tanker were sitting in a pool of burning diesel, that would be a different story. It would expand and the pressure would go up until the tank ruptured, allowing all sorts of H2 and air to mix at once

[csmith1948]

As a former employee of Air Products (makers of liquid hydrogen for NASA), I have seen safety videos of gas tankers and hydrogen tankers exploding. Gasoline and diesel liquid burns until the liquid is consumed. The fumes that may have been ignited are long gone by then. Liquid Hydrogen on the otherhand ignites and explodes violently and consumes all the liquid within minutes. Compressed hydrogen would burn like a blow torch as no oxygen can get into the tank. Hydrogen burns with an almost invisible flame. People have actually walked into a h2 flame.

[biostudent-2009]

Okay. That should work. Sorry for all the posts.

http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/blog2/index.php/hydrogen-distribution/truck-carrying-compressed-hydrogen-crashes-no-explosion/

[biostudent-2009]

that link is giving me troubles.

http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/blog2/index.php/hydrogen-distribution/truck-carrying-compressed-hydrogen-crashes-no-explosion/

[biostudent-2009]

I just found a great article that refers to a tanker carrying 25,000 lbs. of compressed hydrogen gas that crashed in early February this year. The crash resulted in no explosion. http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/blog2/index.php/hydrogen-distribution/truck-carrying-compressed-hydrogen-crashes-no-explosion/

[biostudent-2009]

Hmmm well let''s see shall we.
On the Hindenburg, there were 36 passengers and 61 crew. Only 13 passengers and 22 crew died, and they were on the thing! Mind you, this was not compressed hydrogen, but it was still 7,100,000 cu ft of explosive gas.
Now the shrapnel does sound pretty dicey, but that would require the explosion to come from INSIDE of the the tanker. If punctured, any compressed hydrogen would be released to atmospheric pressure (very quickly if at 125psi mind you) and dissipate. If ignited after the puncture, I would assume the result would be something of a flame thrower until all the gas was released. That may present a problem of its own, but I still think its better than a pool burning liquid that''s really hard to put out. It just seems to me that a hydrogen tanker is more likely to burn or just leak than explode.
I''m not completely certain about my puncture/ignition theory here so please comment.

[sepa2]

newsterl, Where are guys like these today? We realy could use them.

[newsterl]

he tanker driver suffered third degree burns over 70 percent of his body,"

Not good...

"is is why I dont understand peoples fear of hydrogen fuel. If that tanker had been filled with hydrogen, it still would have exploded, but afterwards there would have been no remaining fuel to burn
BioStudent"

If it was filled with thousands of gallons of highly compressed hydrogen fuel and it exploded what do you THINK the force would have been like??? are you joking? it would have done serious damage to a considerable radius around it, probably blown out the overpass and hurled shrapnel from the pressure tank in every direction.
The driver certainly would be dead.

There was a case of terrorism in 1920 on Wall Street, where a horse drawn wagon full of dynamite was set off- the explosion decapitated and cut many people who were nearby in half, it blew out windows up and down the street and killed more in the bank and offices.
The horse was a blood spot on the pavement, and all that was ever found of the wagon was part of an axle that was hurled up and over about 2 blocks away- the wagon had an estimated 100 pounds of TNT packed into a gas pipe that was sealed at both ends, thats all it took.
Now try the packed pipe routine with a pressurized liquid hydrogen bomb truck and you define the word devestation right there. Ever see what happens when an air compressor tank explodes? that 125 PSI pressure turns the tank into shrapnel that can go through brick walls.

[iknowbest-2009]

Brilliant idea. Fill the highways with mini Hindenburgs. Yes, that''s real smart. We should see that implemented right away! Then perhaps we can actually use plastic explosive to form the interior fittings of vehicles - much less mess to clean up! I''m still waiting for my suggestion to convert to sulfuric acid in the cooling systems to be implemented. Maybe they''ll listen to us, someday!

[biostudent-2009]

This is why I don''t understand peoples fear of hydrogen fuel. If that tanker had been filled with hydrogen, it still would have exploded, but afterwards there would have been no remaining fuel to burn (except what powered the semi and other vehicles involved). Sounds like that diesel will burn a while. Gasoline and Diesel are MORE dangerous than hydrogen!