Explosion Process of Extremely Flammable Methane Gas

Methane gas is rated as extremely flammable. In terms of scientific Risk Phrase coding it is known as an R12 gas and must be treated with the greatest care. This potential to explode is most likely when methane mixes with air to a level of just 5 – 15%. The actual combustion process then happens very quickly – in a few milliseconds.

Put simply, the reaction is as follows.

Methane Explosions in the Form of Natural Gas

Methane forms around 97% of the gases and chemicals in natural gas, a product that is distributed across the world to satisfy our demand for fuel. The risk of an explosion happening somewhere along the vast and complex distribution routes is significant. Obviously there are stringent safety measures in place, but the pipelines that are buried are subject to corrosion and excavation damage, and those that run across the earth are vulnerable to accidents and vandalism. Incidents will almost inevitably occur, and in the past ten years in the United States alone, there have been six major pipeline leaks and explosions, resulting in deaths and serious property damage.

For many years in houses, schools and businesses leaks were particularly hazardous because no-one could smell natural gas – it was odorless. Only after a series of dreadful explosions and appalling loss of life, as in the New London School disaster of 1937, did the gas companies introduce foul-smelling but harmless chemicals into the pipelines so that a leak could at least be recognized and a building evacuated.

Storage of natural gas has also proved to have serious problems. For example, leaking natural gas storage tanks caused the cataclysmic Cleveland incident of 1944 when a square mile of the city was devastated by explosions above and below ground.

Current methane detection procedures lower the risk of natural gas explosions.

Methane Found in Coal Beds

It’s unavoidable… methane gas in coal mines. The gas lies in underground seams, and as the miners tear the coal from the face of the rock, methane is released into the tunnels.

Hundreds of mining fatalities occur every year. According to official figures, the death rate in China among working miners in 2006 was 4,746; in the United States, where safety considerations are far more advanced than developing countries, the number of miners killed while underground was 47.

It is a terrible and sad fact that the history of coal mining is a story of lives lost through methane explosions or methane suffocation.

Present Danger and How to Limit Risk

The risk of methane gas explosions is not, unfortunately, confined to history. The facts described here relating to natural gas, garbage-produced methane and coal mining speak for themselves. . The technology for prevention is here. Those who do not use the tools available will be at fault for future explosions. The most advanced technology for reducing methane explosion risk is the BPA Laser Methane Gas Detector. Click on the orange button to receive a free video, price list, PowerPoint presentation and user’s manual. The hand held laser gun instantly analyzes methane levels as low as 10 ppm, and works from a distance of up to 500 feet. It is the latest advancement in methane detection that is widely available as an off the shelf product.