VitalAccurateThinking

Baytown families evacuated after pipeline ruptured

Here is another story about the Houston chemical industry from the crack detective squad at the Chronicle. Wow. These guys did not miss their chemistry classes did they:

The pipeline carries isobutane, a highly flammable and heavy gas that could ignite

Isobutane is not heavy, it is very light. It will form a vapor cloud and explode. It is heavier than air, but that makes it more dangerous as it hugs the ground. More from the Pulitzer Prize winning journalists getting that money quote from the emergency responders:

"There are a lot of different chemicals used in the (refineries and chemical) plants around here," he said. "They have different uses for things."

Thirty seconds of googling yields this:

Normal butane and isobutane can serve various industrial uses. These two energy forms are present in most unrefined natural gas and in crude petroleum products. Normal butane is used for gasoline blending or as a feedstock to make plastic products. Isobutane is used as a propellant primarily in aerosol products, foam packaging, paints and synthetic rubber or as a petrochemical feedstock, serving as a key octane component of motor gasoline or in high octane-enhancing gasoline additives.

Man that was tough!!

posted by Jim VAT @ 8:48 AM