I would love to see a tank explode

[PlatypusMan]

This is the kind of thing that almost always is preceeded by "Here--hold my beer, and watch THIS!"

PPM

[Geoff_T]

Originally Posted by PlatypusMan

This is the kind of thing that almost always is preceeded by "Here--hold my beer, and what THIS!"

PPM

seriously this is starting to sound like a darwin award.

[Geoff_T]

Though if you really want to see what happens here are a few examples.

in a car

Scuba Tank Safety - The Scuba Guide

Valve cut/failure

YouTube - Scuba Tank - Valve Cut

and on a sadder note what hapens if there is a catastrophic failure during fill photos at bottem.
About the Scuba Tank that Exploded

[elijahb]

I have seen one start freeflowing around the valve in a pool... I let a dive con deal with the student I broght up the weightbelt and tank/bc

[Scotttyd]

Originally Posted by PlatypusMan

This is the kind of thing that almost always is preceeded by "Here--hold my beer, and watch THIS!"

PPM

or "give me a lighter and lets see if this gas tank is really empty.

[diver-wife]

This one did not take of like SB's did

[matt151617]

Yeah, they did this on Myth Busters with a propane tank. They shot it, but the bullet just went right through it, and all the gas game out. They finally just blew the hell out of it with explosives.

[DaneMeyer20]

the video where the guy is standing right next to the tank when he busts the valve is not very smart.

[jimmysdevoted]

My dad, when he was in the military was a medic...
enough said on that.. while he was in the informary someone knocked over an air tank.. and the top broke off and it went through a brick wall.. cinder block at that.. it dented the door of teh ruck that was parke doutside.

here is another way to do it. Take your full tank lay it on its side, using a sledge hammer knock the top off..stand clear.......
any damage done.. ditch the hammer and say someone else did it.......

j

[mitsuguy]

All of these ways, have one problem - that's that the burst disk in the valve will probably burst open prior to the tank exploding, so, you'd have to find a way to defeat that safety feature...

however, anyone can do this without any big expensive compressor...

start with an AL80, get the shop to overfill to 3500 - shouldn't be too much of a problem, especially if you tell them your plans to "safely" blow it up... *and invite them to watch*
get a big open field, I would recommend something the size of a football field, and get something relatively bombproof similar to the mythbusters lexan shield to stand behind...

instead of just adding pressure, which is hard and expensive to do (not everyone has a 6000 psi compressor laying around), what we need to do is add heat... add enough heat and 3500 psi will become 7000 psi... start out at a nice cool 65 degrees F, warm her up to 250 degrees F, 3500PSI/292K=XPSI/394K, you get 4800 psi, get her up to 350 degrees, 5400 psi... see where I'm going with this? An average campfire can easily reach 1000 degrees F... transfer that kind of energy into an aluminum 80, and you are right at 10,000 psi...

one note, 1000 degrees F will probably melt an aluminum tank, meaning not much of a real explosion... I am sure somewhere in the middle though, it should blow up pretty extravagantly, and you'd want to do your best to ensure even heating....