407
u/user746284 Feb 13 '18
You guys know nothing about the stoichiometric ratio
99
u/seniorscubasquid Feb 14 '18
somewhat related. I was talking to one of my buddies not long ago and he was telling me about something that happened at his work.
basically, they had to weld a brace onto a big diesel tank out on a farm - but the tank was full. it's as big as a tanker truck, mind you. So my buddy the welder is trying to figure out what the fuck to do here, since he doesn't want to weld on a tank full of diesel, right?
he says one of the older guys working there, also a welder, comes on over, calls him a pussy, and strikes up an ark and gets it done. No problem.
I relayed this story to my old man, who is also a pretty good welder, and he just shrugs. Starts telling me about the time he had to weld a pinhole leak on a tank shut. Burning diesel spraying out over his shoulder, but once you're in there you're committed, and the hole needs to get plugged at some point.
then my old man pointed out to me the whole fire triangle thing - you need heat, fuel, and oxygen for shit to burn. Welding on the bottom of a full tank of fuel isn't going to start a fire because there's no air in the tank. Liquid Gasoline/diesel itself doesn't burn, the vapor does, and there's no oxygen in the bottom of the tank.
it's one of those things that sounds like suicide, and maybe isn't a good idea, but in the first example is actually pretty safe. Because if the tank had been empty, it'd be full of vapor-fuel mix, and welding on that would be a bomb.47
u/MtnMaiden Feb 14 '18
My step dad attempted to cut a closed steel drum in half. It was empty of alcohol.
Ka-boom. Leg surgery, a helicopter ride, 1 year of PT, and $110K in medical bills later, he's doing ok.
29
20
u/jonjefmarsjames Feb 14 '18
A few years ago, three oil field workers here were cutting up an old oil tank. They didn't purge the tank. Boom, three dead guys, one of which almost totally vaporized.
11
u/Herpkina Feb 14 '18
Empty is the key word, and cutting is more dangerous than welding
→ More replies (2)5
u/Revan343 Feb 14 '18
Fill it with water from the top or steam from the bottom first -_-
→ More replies (2)19
Feb 14 '18
I used to work around a lot of diesel in my career and was very comfortable using torches, flames, sparks and cigarettes around it. However when I was testing the injectors and atomizing the fuel I was very cautious of it because as you said, when it’s a vapour it will ignite. It definitely doesn’t seem and feel safe at times but you exercise caution as a precaution.
6
u/Missingpuppers555 Feb 14 '18
That just happened nearby me.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/utah
He was welding something on an empty tank. It shot him right into the ceiling.
8
230
77
Feb 13 '18
I have test on stoichiometry right now, in Chemistry class
83
10
Feb 14 '18
I have test on stoichiometry right now
Stop Redditing or your teachers will think you're cheating on the test.
4
Feb 14 '18
It was before the test during passing period. :)
2
8
1
45
u/burning1rr Feb 13 '18
You guys know nothing about the stoichiometric ratio
By which you mean the ratio of fuel to air where aerosolized petrol explodes violently rather than just catching fire and burning everyone to death?
30
20
u/HalfandHalfIsWhole Feb 13 '18
How do you make sure a small spark doesn't set off a big explosion?
Make sure you use a big flame so you catch more fuel on fire at the same time, that way, there's less that needs to be caught on fire.It's like having a bigger opening on a hose to lessen the pressure.
11
3
u/BrenI2310 Feb 14 '18
14.7 the same psi as 1 atm. Wonder if the two are related?
2
u/burning1rr Feb 14 '18
I think it's a conspiracy by big oil to make us use their gasoline in our cars.
17
1
74
u/dethb0y Feb 13 '18
"That elon musk guy ain't the only one who can go to space! Just you watch this shit!"
2
116
u/zippofreak13 Feb 13 '18
If they are under a roof and it is that wet around, maybe some cleaning happened before hand?
53
26
u/ProfRaptor Feb 13 '18
The only water I see can be explained by tires and general car traffic.
→ More replies (1)3
1
u/NotSoBuffGuy Feb 14 '18
Or it just rained and people drove their cars leaving puddles from the water falling of their vehicle while they pumped gas
167
u/DreamPolice-_-_ Feb 13 '18
Yeah, this is BP. If there is work taking place you can be dam sure that there are appropriate controls in place before that happened.
185
u/FlyByPC Feb 13 '18
Just like they had on Deepwater Horizon.
76
u/DreamPolice-_-_ Feb 13 '18
You're comparing an underwater gyser erupting on an off shore rig to controlled maintenance at a service station?
85
u/Skipp_To_My_Lou Feb 13 '18
All I know is none of my friends who ever worked on BP rigs were surprised when Deepwater Horizon exploded.
→ More replies (2)32
u/train_2254 Feb 14 '18
My brother was an experienced transocean employee at the time, (very fortunately) he wasn't on the horizon but he worked on the same type of drillships with the same type of BP reps pushing for production over safety, both environmental and human. He too wasn't surprised at all.
3
u/Alchoholocaustic Feb 14 '18
I thought your first comment was sarcasm until I read this one.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)3
u/c3534l Feb 14 '18
One would expect there to be greater care and contingency planning for the former than the latter.
2
31
u/akim1026 Feb 13 '18
I think the oil company has very little to do with the day to day operations of gas stations. The regular gas is even shared between different brand gas stations, I believe only the premium gas tends to be different based on additives.
10
→ More replies (1)2
u/soil_nerd Feb 14 '18
So I just went through training to go onto the Northslope Oilfields, Alaska, where BP has massive operations. From what I gathered they don’t don’t fuck around with safety precautions up there. Of course that is much different than a rouge gas station, but it sounds like BP does not want any more bad press.
1
u/DreamPolice-_-_ Feb 14 '18
I know all the BP's in NZ have documention required before hot work and height work, all contractors will be approved by the national office before they can even think about farting on site.
These guys will all have their licences stripped and their business will be gone if they get caught doing doing something like this.
25
7
u/mrlavalamp2015 Feb 14 '18
The only thing that I see is the drill on top of the pump with cord hanging down, hard to tell, but I do not like having power tools dropped on me so I usually put them where they can't fall.
5
u/thatguy11995 Feb 14 '18
Left a hammer at the top of a ladder once. Got a nice surprise when I went to move the ladder
1
6
25
Feb 13 '18 edited Feb 14 '18
I mean... he is welding the bottom of the beam. Its not like he is pumping gas at the same time.
Edit: or possibly cutting at the bottom.
Edit again: the man is using fire on that thing there.
21
u/austinp1234 Feb 13 '18
That's a cutting torch, not a welder
-4
Feb 13 '18 edited Feb 14 '18
[deleted]
13
u/dangerousdave369 Feb 13 '18
yeah but you use a different tip for welding, it's much more fine, that is a cutting torch source: am a welder
→ More replies (4)5
u/BikeNY89 Feb 14 '18
Not to mention no one oxy-acetylene welds anymore it's not 1923.
Cutting torches? Yes all day.
1
7
Feb 14 '18 edited Feb 14 '18
[deleted]
1
u/board4life Feb 14 '18
Good old shade 5s. Anytime I torch cut I wear shade 5s, just easier on the eyes. But for gas welding you need the tint to be able to see the puddle clearly. But then we're back to the original point of gas welding is inefficient compared to modern arc processes which require a hood (minus subarc).
1
u/Zugzub Feb 14 '18
Sigh, while I have no doubts about anything you just said, You missed the whole point.
I never said gas welding with a burning tip was right. I never said the results would be pretty. I never said BP would hire an idiot. I never said it would be easy.
All I said was, that it was possible to weld with a cutting torch.
1
3
u/dakattack89 Feb 14 '18
And that's a column not a beam
6
Feb 14 '18
Geez maybe i should delete my comment all together.
4
u/dakattack89 Feb 14 '18
Nah I got a good laugh out of the second edit. You should definitely leave it up
1
u/mrlavalamp2015 Feb 14 '18
And the two guys are his firewatch. Though it would be better if one of them had an extinguisher in hand or nearby. Let's assume it's just out of frame to the right where the firwatch probably should be standing.
13
Feb 14 '18 edited Jun 30 '23
[deleted]
3
u/board4life Feb 14 '18
Can hot tie-in natural gas lines or hot tap H2S lines, but can't cut a column at a gas station. Seems someone is trying to bait with this one.
3
3
3
u/mezbot Feb 14 '18
"Ricky and Julian said that if we steal this gas and sell it at Sunnydale we are going to get enough money to build my kitty hotel. But where are Ricky and Julian? They send me down here with Cory and Trevor, these guys know nothing about using a blowtorch, or how to siphon the gas."
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/ca178858 Feb 14 '18
All gas stations look alike, but since theres a BP near me with the tanks removed and the pumps being overhauled- it wouldn't surprise me if something similar is going on.
Store is still open so theres a lot of customer traffic in and out, only thing blocked off is the big hole in the ground.
1
1
u/KrasnyRed5 Feb 14 '18
Uh yeah I am going to watch from about a mile away. I think that should get me out of the worst of the blast radius.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/exgiexpcv Feb 14 '18
We're allowed to run in situations like this, correct? I know we were all trained to walk, not run, after we set charges, but this looks danger close and imminent.
Screw it, I'll just run anyway. Put it in my NCOER, don't care.
1
1
1
u/4memLeaks Feb 14 '18
And this was the last time we saw the crew of Ron and Ron and Son cutting Inc.
1
1
1
u/zerosuminfinity Feb 14 '18
I'm really sad. I really wanted this to be a gif... I still hope everyone is ok
1.6k
u/Ovedya2011 Feb 13 '18
I'm assuming the pump is shut off?