Boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion: Experimental research in the evolution of the two-phase flow and over-pressure

In a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE), the superheating and boiling of the liquefied gas inside the vessel as it fails is important information necessary to understand the mechanism of this type of disaster. In this paper, a small-scale experiment was developed to investigate the possible processes that could lead to a BLEVE. Water was used as the test fluid. High-speed video was utilized to observe the two-phase flow swelling which occurred immediately following the partial loss of containment through a simulated crack. The velocity of the two-phase swelling was measured along with pressure and temperature. It was observed that initially a mist-like two-phase layer was rapidly formed on the liquid surface (similar to 3-4 ms) after the vessel opened. The superheated liquid rapidly boiled and this accelerated upwards the two-phase layer, the whole liquid boiled after about 17 ms form opening. It was supposed that the swelling of the two-phase layer was the possible reason for the first over-pressure measured at the top and bottom of the vessel. From 38 ms to 168 ms, the boiling of the superheated liquid weakened. And from 170 ms, the original drop/mist-like two-phase flow turned into a chum-turbulent bubbly two-phase flow, rose quickly in the field of the camera and eventually impacted the vessel top wall. The force of its impact and "cavitation" and "choke" following with the two-phase ejection were maybe main reasons for the second obvious pressure increasing. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.