EXPLOSION OF A DIESEL-OIL BARREL UNDER PRESSURE - A FATAL INCIDENT INA SIMPLE PROCESS

In this paper, it is discussed how a fatal incident took place in a si mple Diesel-oil discharge process due to poor design and violation of safety precautions. An explosion of a Diesel-oil barrel under pressure which killed the operator is analyzed and the main reasons causing th e pressurization are presented. The study covers all the possible caus es of explosion for this case and how violent each could be. It was sh own that the discharge method would tend to explode the barrel when it was nearly empty, the case where the explosion is more violent. A fin ite element analysis on the barrel was conducted and showed that not m uch pressure was required for failure. It is of the order of 5% of tha t which the compressor provides.