A leak in a propane storage sphere on 4 January 1966 at Feyzin, France led to one of the worst incidents involving LPG (liquefied petroleum gases) that has ever occurred, killing 18 people. The accident also was signifnificant because it was the first such accident in which the phenomonon now known as BLEVE was made clear. BLEVE, pronounced blevy, is an acronym for Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion. This is a type of explosion that can occur when a vessel containing a pressurized liquid is ruptured.

The facility was a LPG tank farm with eight spheres containing butane and propane. During a routine operation, some propane from one of the spheres leaked out. The propane leak soon formed a visible cloud of vapour, 1 meter deep. It spread for 150 meters and was ignited 25 minutes after the leak started by an automobile that had stopped on a nearby road. The fire flashed back to the sphere but there was no immediate explosion. The sphere was fitted with water sprays but the supply was inadequate to cool the vessel. When the fire brigade began using their hoses, the water supply to the spheres ran dry. Apparently, the firemen had used off the available water for cooling the neighboring spheres to prevent the fire from spreading, in the belief that the vessel on fire shall be protected by a relief valve that was not functional.

Ninety minutes after the fire started, the sphere went through a BLEVE. Ten out of 12 firemen within 50 meters were killed. Men 140 meters away were badly burned by a wave of propane which came over the compound wall. Altogether 15–18 men were killed and about 80 injured. Flying debris broke the legs of an adjacent sphere which fell over. Its relief valve discharged liquid which added to the fire, and 45 min later it also BLEVEd, leading to more BLEVEs. Altogether five spheres and two other pressure vessels burst and three were damaged. The fire spread to gasoline and fuel oil tanks. It took 48 hours to gain control of the fires.

Sources

• Abbasi, Tasneem and S.A. Abbasi, The boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion (BLEVE): Mechanism, consequence assessment, management, Journal of Hazardous MaterialsVolume 141, Issue 3, , 22 March 2007, Pages 489-519.

• Marshall, Victor Christopher and Steve Ruhemann, Fundamentals of Process Safety (Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), 2000), ISBN 085295431X, 9780852954317.

• Wells, Geoff, Major Hazards and Their Management, (Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), 1997).