31 March 2009

A Thought...

Penny Arcade reminds me of something.

There's nothing you can store in a steel 55 gallon drum that will burn for a few seconds and then explode after being hit with small arms.

There are a few things that will explode immediately. And 55 gallons of it going off will be an impressive blast. Far more impressive than a hand grenade, which has less than a half pound of high explosive; a barrel of explosives would have about 500 lbs of boom in it.

There are very few things that will burn after being hit with tracer or API. Even gasoline will not light after a tracer round goes through and an API will not light it if the barrel is full at impact. Look up vapor pressure. It's the same thing that keeps the in-tank electric fuel pump in your car from lighting it on fire.

The few things that will light don't often lead to explosions, but they can. 55 gallon barrels do not split at the sides and blast outward. The failure point is the crimp around the lid or base. If it's the lid, you get a flaming splash of the burning contents, and a low-pressure fireball. If it's the base you get a flying barrel and a small ring of flaming contents.

No comments:

Post a Comment

You are a guest here when you comment. This is my soapbox, not yours. Be polite. Inappropriate comments will be deleted without mention. Amnesty period is expired.

Do not go off on a tangent, stay with the topic of the post. If I can't tell what your point is in the first couple of sentences I'm flushing it.

If you're trying to comment anonymously: Sign your work. Try this link for an explanation: https://mcthag.blogspot.com/2023/04/lots-of-new-readers.html

Anonymous comments must pass a higher bar than others. Repeat offenders must pass an even higher bar.

If you can't comprehend this, don't comment; because I'm going to moderate and mock you for wasting your time.