Pipeline Explosion at Henderson, NVPipe Crushing & Rupture
Presented by:T. Kim Parnell, PhD, PE
Parnell Engineering & Consulting (PEC)www.parnell-eng.com
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Reference:“Analysis of the Dynamic Response of a Buried Pipeline due to a Surface Explosion,” Computational Aspects of Impact and Penetration, L. E. Schwer and R. F. Kulak, eds., Elme Press International, 1991 (with R. D. Caligiuri).
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• Introduction• Overview of Incident• Natural Gas Pipeline Details• Finite Element Analysis of Pipe Crushing• Summary
Outline of Presentation
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T. Kim Parnell, PhD,PE - Biography• T. Kim Parnell, Ph.D.,P.E. is Principal & Founder of Parnell Engineering & Consulting (PEC).
Kim holds Ph.D. and MSME degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, a BES from Georgia Tech, and is a registered Professional Mechanical Engineer in the State of California. Kim is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Fellow of ASME, and SAE Member. Kim was 2011 Chair of the IEEE Santa Clara Valley Section (IEEE-SCV) with over 12,000 members and Past-Chair of the IEEE Consultants' Network of Silicon Valley (IEEE-CNSV).
• Dr. Parnell served on the Mechanical Engineering faculty at Santa Clara University teaching materials, design, and manufacturing applications. He currently participates as a Lecturer in the Stanford Composites Design Program. He works extensively in Composite material issues including Damage, Delamination, and Failure. Dr. Parnell is active in areas such as alternative energy, finite element analysis, robust design, and the use of computer simulation to achieve better designs in shorter time. He frequently works in medical devices and is an expert in the areas of failure analysis and accident investigation, and uses this expertise to help develop more reliable product designs. He has extensive experience in the analysis and simulation of structures, heat transfer, and fluid flow using finite elements and other numerical procedures..
• Dr. Parnell was recently at MSC.Software Corporation as Senior Manager in the Product Management group. He was the MSC Product Manager for Fatigue and Wind Energy. Before starting PEC, Kim was at Exponent Failure Analysis Associates (Senior Manager), Rubicor Medical (R&D Director), SST Systems, ATT Bell Laboratories, Stanford University and General Motors. He also was appointed as a Visiting Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Stanford University, teaching graduate courses in Mechanics.
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The PEPCON Incident• Fire and massive explosions at the
PEPCON plant in Henderson, NV on May 4, 1988.
• PEPCON produced Ammonium Perchlorate (AP) – an oxidizer
• Combination of events: Large quantity of AP on site due to
Challenger disaster 16” natural gas line running under the plant
(with leaking stitch welds)
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PEPCON Explosions• Two large explosions equivalent to 200 Tons
and 500 Tons of TNT (3.0 and 3.5 on the Richter scale)
• Over $70M property damage; windows broken up to 30 miles away
• 16” Natural Gas Pipeline Ruptured 40 foot section Crushed more than 260 feet Long-term leakage prior to blast from poor stitch
welds
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Fire & Brimstone
• Rapid spread of fire; catastrophic explosion
• Most of event captured on video
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Massive Explosion & Shockwave• Stills from video shot from Black Mountain – over 10
miles away
See link to separate video of blast
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Aerial View - Before & AfterBefore After
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16” Natural Gas Pipeline• Ran near the plant property boundary • Ruptured 40 foot section• Crushed more than 260 feet• Long-term leakage prior to blast from poor stitch welds
• Big Question: Did the pipe rupture occur before or after the explosions??
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Pipeline Section Identification
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Ruptured Gas Pipe – Initial View
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Pipe After Some Digging
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Pipe After Complete Excavation
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Gas PipeRuptured & Crushed Sections
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Pipe – Crushed Sections
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Plant Buildings
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Production Equipment
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Transient Finite Element Analysis of Pipe Crush due to Blast
• To Address the Big Questions: Did the pipe rupture occur before or after the
explosions?? Was the natural gas pipeline leaking and
depressurized prior to the blast?
Pipe Crushing Due to BlastResponse Sequence #1
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Pipe Crushing Due to BlastResponse Sequence #2
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Pipe Crushing Due to BlastResponse Sequence #3
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Pipe Crushing Due to BlastResponse Sequence #4
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Pipe Crushing Due to BlastResponse Sequence #5
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Pipe Crushing Due to BlastResponse Comparison
Pressurized: Pi=300psi Unpressurized: Pi=0psi
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Pepcon Site: Aerial View Pre-Incident
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Pepcon Site: Aerial View Post-Incident
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Pipeline-Unstable Crack Growth• 16-inch underground natural gas line• 300 psi internal pressure• Poor quality welds (ERW pipe)• Fast fracture of a 40-ft. section after initial weld
defects grew through fatigue to critical size• Resulting fire & explosions demolished the plant
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Natural Gas Pipeline
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• 16” Natural Gas Pipeline• 40’ Ruptured Section• Electric Resistance Weld
(ERW) showed stitching and lack of fusion
Natural Gas Pipeline
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• 16” Natural Gas Pipeline• 40’ Ruptured Section• Electric Resistance Weld
(ERW) showed stitching and lack of fusion
Natural Gas Pipeline
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• 16” Natural Gas Pipeline• Crushed Section
Natural Gas Pipeline
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• 16” Natural Gas Pipeline• 260’ Crushed Section
Natural Gas Pipeline
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• 16” Natural Gas Pipeline• End 260’ Crushed
Section