Hitch wrote:
(ERich10983) wrote in
:


I just heard on New Hampshire Public Radio that Rt 89 was closed down
because a tanker filled with liquid nitrogen had gone off the road.
The road was closed because of the danger of explosion!

Sigh.....

Earle Rich
Mont Vernon, NH



Maybe they're afraid the venting system was damaged and the tank might
explode as the nitrogen warms up?

Either that, or the laws of physics are a little different in New Hampshire
and elemental nitrogen is explosive?


You can't expect the vent system to work right if the tank is on its side.
When the regulator gets frozen, it could freeze open or closed.
I'm sure such a huge dewar has to have several safety releases,
but the activation of the safety release could still be quite messy.

While the release of tons of liquid Nitrogen onto a road would
not technically be an explosion, it could still release a HUGE
amount of gas pretty suddenly. I sure wouldn't want to be anywhere
near it if the tank cracked or if a safety relief valve that happend
to be under the liquid level was forced to open.

Still, not quite as exciting as a gasoline tanker blowing up.
I had the occasion to see one of THOSE a few years back. 5000 gallons
or so of gasoline poured down a storm drain, under a highway, and into
a drainage canal behind a subdivision. It looked like a preview of
hell, the air was black, the sky was orange, trees were burning, and
there were over 50 fire combo units all sitting there trying to contain
the fire.

Jon