Wessex Water blast

[JohnD]

listening to the story, and looking at the pics, it reminds me very much of cases where metal tanks and gasholders, during demolition, have exploded due to a ignition of a mixture of air and flammable gases.

One oil tank did that, although it seemed clean and empty, when the cutting torch boiled out residue from the joints and crevices. There can be a moment of fierce flame at the cutting point before it runs inside the tank and ignites the whole thing.

This tank seems to have been some kind of methane digester.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-55183959

 

[Ihavenojob]

Methane would need a source of ignition to do that. My grandad used to drive petrol tankers, they were searched before coming onto site for anything that could create a danger, sadly, a lot of these incidents are due to human error.

 

[Trazor]

Many a petrol tank from a car has exploded, when a welded repair was tried, even though the tank was "empty".
Eventually they used to fill them with water, whilst welding, to remove the risk.

 

[JohnD]

later, steam hose to drive out the air without adding weight or chilling the metal.