An explosion rocked a gas bottle factory in southeastern Argentina Wednesday, killing at least four people and injuring others. Fireballs shot from the burning building and gas cylinders were hurled into the air, local media reported.
The explosion occurred at around 1 p.m. at the factory in Tortuguitas, about 40 kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires. It was accompanied by fireballs that leapt from the flames and caused widespread damage to the surrounding buildings, according to local reports.
This is not the first time that a gas bottle factory has been hit by an gas bottle factory explosion. A Western International tractor-trailer exploded in July 2007, sending acetylene canisters into the air and severely burning two workers, causing $2.3 million in property damage.
During the investigation of the accident, it was found that a number of wall tiles and window and door ejections were discovered near the gas cylinder room and refrigerated storage on the north side of the workshop. These ejections were large and had no smoke trace, which indicated that they were not produced by the ejection of dust.
Gas Bottle Factory Explosion in Argentina
Based on the examination and analysis of the impact factors, it is concluded that the accident was caused by the leakage of LPG. This was confirmed by the video footage of the accident and the survivors’ testimony. Also, there were a lot of LPG cylinders on the site at the time of the accident, and many workers smelled “gas” before the explosion.
In addition, the explosion was accompanied by a strong smell of tetrahydrothiophene, which is a warning agent that is added to the LPG to help detect leaks. The tetrahydrothiophene was dissolved in the gas, which made it more flammable.
The resulting explosion caused serious damage to the workshop. In particular, a perforated brick partition wall used in the inner side of the gas cylinder room and the south side of the raw material storage was completely collapsed and seriously damaged. The remaining parts of the building in this area were severely damaged, as shown in Figure 4.
On the other hand, the main explosion area was seriously affected by the collapse of the 240 mm thick perforated brick partition wall and the stainless steel polyurethane plate around the gas cylinder room. In addition, the roof and floor of the gas cylinder room were seriously damaged, as shown in Figure 6.
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At the same time, the reinforced concrete wall on the west side of the raw material storage was also heavily damaged. Its outer surface was cracked and the inner surface of the brick wall was fractured. The concrete floor was also badly damaged. In addition, there were several craters in the concrete wall and the concrete ceiling was damaged.
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This accident reflected the practical problems of the production enterprise, including the imperfect safety management system and inadequate emergency management measures. Moreover, the company’s lack of fire sprinkler system also posed a great danger.