If you are putting pressure in a non pressure vessel, know an explosion is a matter of “when”, not “if”
The most common mistake I see in labs (and am guilty of myself) is purposefully or accidentally turning something never meant to hold pressure into a pressure vessel.
9/10 you will end up with an extremely difficult to clean up mess, hot oil explosions, and pissed off regulators.
Pic related is what happens when you go from vacuuming a reactor type vessel to closing all the valves. The pressure from hot volatile material building up happens fast, <5 seconds. Pop goes the vessel. Luckily no one was hurt in this case.
Damn bro glad you and your staff where not hurt and your equipment was not ruined. It’s all fun and games until someone one dies. This is definitely a needed reminder of how dangerous extraction/processing can be.
That could have been so much worse. Glad everyone is ok. Seeing this and hearing the horror stories of deaths from keg explosions in the brewing industry scares the shit out of me when dealing with positive pressure.
While on the subject, does there seem to be an issue with pressurizing a 4" spool to 55 psi? I’ll have a inline 60psi pressure relief valve, but I’m unsure if even that might be too high. Using single hinge clamps, if that makes a difference. I think I did adequate research, but it couldn’t hurt to mention it if someone sees something wrong here.
If you can afford it I’d replace every single hinge you have with quality high pressure clamps. Its really not worth the risk. I believe the high pressure clamps can take 300-600psi.
Yes, tri-clamp style fittings are good to 150 psi… but only if they are properly seated. If the tubing or piping isn’t aligned, you won’t get a seal good to the 150 psi.
