OT During the pirating stories, one of them said gunfire on an oil
tanker could result in an explosion? Don't they only carry crude oil
and is it flammable?

In article , mm wrote:
OT During the pirating stories, one of them said gunfire on an oil
tanker could result in an explosion? Don't they only carry crude oil
and is it flammable?

Of course it's flammable. Haven't you ever seen photos of an oil rig fire?

And the vapors of any flammable liquid, in a confined area, can be explosive.

mm wrote:
OT During the pirating stories, one of them said gunfire on an oil
tanker could result in an explosion? Don't they only carry crude oil
and is it flammable?

ever see the movie "the hellfighters". That is kind of a ridiculous
question. Is crude oil flammable.....

mm wrote:
OT During the pirating stories, one of them said gunfire on an oil
tanker could result in an explosion? Don't they only carry crude oil
and is it flammable?

Yes, crude oil and its vapors are explosive/flammable. It is, however,
almost impossible for gunfire to ignite either. Unless, of course, you're
paddling around in the hold.

Likewise, a bullet will not cause explosive decompression of an airliner -
or bring down an airliner if fired from the ground, cause warts, or almost
any other evil that the anti-gunner's imagination can concoct.

Steve Barker wrote:
mm wrote:
OT During the pirating stories, one of them said gunfire on an oil
tanker could result in an explosion? Don't they only carry crude oil
and is it flammable?

ever see the movie "the hellfighters". That is kind of a ridiculous
question. Is crude oil flammable.....

Almost anything that's aerosolized will burn. I would
guess that an oil well blow out will burn because the
heavy oil is being turned into a mist because of the
high pressure. If I understand correctly, there may
also be natural gas mixed in with the oil. I can drop
a lit match into a pail of kerosene and it won't burn
but if I take that same kerosene and put it in a pump
sprayer, I can light the spray and make a nice fireball.

TDD

mm wrote:
OT During the pirating stories, one of them said gunfire on an oil
tanker could result in an explosion? Don't they only carry crude oil
and is it flammable?

Yes. With flash point lower than 100 deg. F it is considered flammable
by OSHA and DOT standards:

http://www.elpaso.com/msds/A0017-Crude%20Oil.pdf

I don't know but maybe the cargo is blanketed with inert gas like
nitrogen and air is necessary for combustion. There must be numerous
ignition sources on an oil tanker and I doubt they allow vapors to escape.

"mm" wrote in message
news
OT During the pirating stories, one of them said gunfire on an oil
tanker could result in an explosion? Don't they only carry crude oil
and is it flammable?

Crude oil IS flammable, but you have to get it going. Like diesel. You can
toss a burning piece of paper into a tank of diesel, and it won't light.
It's the vapors that light. Everything has a temperature of ignition.
Other things have IIRC, an explosive level, meaning that they produce enough
aromatic vapors that even an electrostatic spark will ignite them. A lot of
military shells especially, have tracers in them that have a high
temperature, and certainly the rocket propelled greneades the pirates are
fond of will cause a fire. Small arms gunfire is not LIKELY to cause an
explosion, but there's a small chance. The larger the bullets, or when you
get into explosives, YES, they are LIKELY to cause fire but then not always,
either. Crude comes in all types, from thin to thick, and with all sorts of
stuff mixed in there that is refined out. Most all of it will burn at one
temperature or another.

"Frank" wrote in message
...
mm wrote:
OT During the pirating stories, one of them said gunfire on an oil
tanker could result in an explosion? Don't they only carry crude oil
and is it flammable?

Yes. With flash point lower than 100 deg. F it is considered flammable by
OSHA and DOT standards:

http://www.elpaso.com/msds/A0017-Crude%20Oil.pdf

I don't know but maybe the cargo is blanketed with inert gas like nitrogen
and air is necessary for combustion. There must be numerous ignition
sources on an oil tanker and I doubt they allow vapors to escape.

Sometimes they are "flared off", or burned away from the rest of the load,
as on oil platforms and at refineries where there is a big flame going 24/7.
Although, now with all the tree and toad huggers, they may not flare as much
as they used to. Vapors are very dangerous, and can build up pressures. I
would think they would be exhausted, and not let to build up.

In article ,
"Pittman Pirate" wrote:

get into explosives, YES, they are LIKELY to cause fire but then not always,
either. Crude comes in all types, from thin to thick, and with all sorts of
stuff mixed in there that is refined out. Most all of it will burn at one
temperature or another.
Explosives themselves are not necessarily likely to cause a crude oil
fire. Often they are used to put out well fires because the shockwave
takes the oxygen out with it for a few seconds. It would be a random
occurrence for an explosion or even phosphorous bullet or RPG to set off
an explosion on an oil tanker. A shell or other projectile in the guts
of the ship would likely cause a leak unless they hit the real small
area where they might be vapors (they are kept FULL just to cut down on
this problem). Higher up, enclosed area, and the vapors might be too
concentrated to be set off.

--
If you¹re going to sin, sin against God,
not the bureaucracy; God will forgive you
but the bureaucracy won¹t.
‹Hyman G. Rickover

Kurt Ullman wrote in
:

In article ,
"Pittman Pirate" wrote:

get into explosives, YES, they are LIKELY to cause fire but then not
always, either. Crude comes in all types, from thin to thick, and
with all sorts of stuff mixed in there that is refined out. Most all
of it will burn at one temperature or another.

Explosives themselves are not necessarily likely to cause a crude
oil
fire. Often they are used to put out well fires because the shockwave
takes the oxygen out with it for a few seconds. It would be a random
occurrence for an explosion or even phosphorous bullet or RPG to set
off an explosion on an oil tanker. A shell or other projectile in the
guts of the ship would likely cause a leak unless they hit the real
small area where they might be vapors (they are kept FULL just to cut
down on this problem). Higher up, enclosed area, and the vapors might
be too concentrated to be set off.


RPGs ignite diesel tank fuel just fine.
They have a molten jet of copper,very high temperature,and the steel
splinters from the penetration are white hot.

Anyways,I believe they target their RPGs on the bridge and living
quarters,they want to keep the cargo intact for ransom or sale.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

In article ,
Jim Yanik wrote:


RPGs ignite diesel tank fuel just fine.
They have a molten jet of copper,very high temperature,and the steel
splinters from the penetration are white hot.

Diesel fuel isn't the same a crude and tanks are not designed like
oil tankers. But that is still dependent on where they penetrate. Again,
too far down and there is all diesel and little vapors. Too high, same
thing.


Anyways,I believe they target their RPGs on the bridge and living
quarters,they want to keep the cargo intact for ransom or sale.

--
If you¹re going to sin, sin against God,
not the bureaucracy; God will forgive you
but the bureaucracy won¹t.
‹Hyman G. Rickover

FYI: Although some crudes are heavier than others, crude oil is a mix of
all the petroleum products you can think of from naphtha to residual
components. In this regard it usually has very significant quantities of
"light ends" like naphtha (similar to lighter fluid). Because of these
light ends it has a high vapor pressure and vaporizes very easily. This
means that it is VERY combustible, more that gasoline, and far more
dangerous that Diesel.

Crude from the Saudi area is called LIGHT Crude because of these high
vapor pressure components. Other Crudes have somewhat lower vapor
pressure, but they are still very combustible.

Your remarks are more appropriate for bunker or residual oil than they
are for crude oil.

EJ in NJ




Pittman Pirate wrote:
"mm" wrote in message
news
OT During the pirating stories, one of them said gunfire on an oil
tanker could result in an explosion? Don't they only carry crude oil
and is it flammable?

Crude oil IS flammable, but you have to get it going. Like diesel. You can
toss a burning piece of paper into a tank of diesel, and it won't light.
It's the vapors that light. Everything has a temperature of ignition.
Other things have IIRC, an explosive level, meaning that they produce enough
aromatic vapors that even an electrostatic spark will ignite them. A lot of
military shells especially, have tracers in them that have a high
temperature, and certainly the rocket propelled greneades the pirates are
fond of will cause a fire. Small arms gunfire is not LIKELY to cause an
explosion, but there's a small chance. The larger the bullets, or when you
get into explosives, YES, they are LIKELY to cause fire but then not always,
either. Crude comes in all types, from thin to thick, and with all sorts of
stuff mixed in there that is refined out. Most all of it will burn at one
temperature or another.

When I took some fire safety courses, years ago. We learned
that flammable means flash point lower than 100F.
Combustible is higher than 100F.

Diesel fuel is combustible.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Pittman Pirate" wrote in message
...


Crude oil IS flammable, but you have to get it going. Like
diesel. You can
toss a burning piece of paper into a tank of diesel, and it
won't light.
It's the vapors that light. Everything has a temperature of
ignition.