Actually? I was more in agreement with your sentiments, not deriding your comments.
Still, the obvious must be said. Home brew mindsets will not survive if gearing up for commercial outputs. Not saying that the homebrew mindset was the cause of inattention and the accident. But I am saying that those who have been doing this for awhile and are slowly moving to the commercial end need to take a crash course in combustible materials handling or else these types of accidents are going to continue. Todd Swearingen Mike Weaver wrote: >It wasn't my intent to be insensitive. This was a case of operator >error - a young man didn't realize the danger of methanol fumes >and lost his life. > >Appal Energy wrote: > > > >>It's sad to be making any comment on such a matter. Here you had a >>family that was on the edge of not only doing something great but >>putting themselves in an enormously better finanacial window to boot. >>Then the bottom falls out. >> >>I don't wish to insinuate anything about the owner/operators. But I can >>see and have seen where the backyard brewer mindset is being applied to >>commercial environements and is begging for accidents to happen. No >>containment. Open-face motors. Open reactors. Wood-fired boilers in >>close proximity to methanol or methanol fumes. >> >>It's one thing to spill a gallon here or lose a motor there or foul up >>in a small way somewhere else when you're working with a five or perhaps >>a 55 gallon pale. It's altogether another when you're handling thousands >>of gallons at a time. >> >>This is now two plants at least that have been lost to methanol related >>fire/explosions. I don't doubt that there will be more and perhaps >>already have been. >> >>At this scale making biodiesel requires as much concentration as walking >>a tightrope across the Royal Gorge with no balance bar. >> >>I have no doubt that a lot of people are going to fail to make that >>connection. >> >>Todd Swearingen >> >> >>Mike Weaver wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >>>I feel sorry for the guy and his family but using a torch around methanol? >>>Back in my wrenching days my boss made sure we knew an empty gas tank >>>was more danergous than a full one, and god forbid you did any >>>welding the gas tank had to be filled with water first. >>> >>> >>>Appal Energy wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>>A bad day at Black Rock... >>>> >>>>http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-jul1406-explosion_cause.113ae8b1.html >>>> >>>> >>>> Cause of New Plymouth biodiesel explosion released >>>> >>>> >>>> 02:30 PM MDT on Friday, July 14, 2006 >>>> >>>>KTVB.COM >>>> >>>>PAYETTE -- Investigators say they now know what caused an explosion at a >>>>New Plymouth biodiesel plant last week that killed a Meridian man. >>>> >>>>One man died at a fire and explosion at a New Plymouth biodiesel plant >>>>last Friday. >>>> >>>>The Payette County Sheriff's Office released its findings today into the >>>>explosion and subsequent fire at the plant that left 25-year-old Blaise >>>>Black dead. >>>> >>>>The cause of the fire was determined to be an explosion of a 25,000 >>>>gallon steel holding tank that Blaise was working on. The tank contain >>>>about 30 to 40 gallons of glycerin and methanol liquid mix. Both >>>>products are flammable and give off flammable vapors. >>>> >>>>Investigators say at the time of the explosion Blaise was working on the >>>>top of the tank attempting to install a two-inch steel pipe with a >>>>90-degree elbow on the end to function as a vent on the top of the tank. >>>>During the installation of the vent tube a steel two-inch cap was >>>>removed from the side of the tank where the vent was to be installed. >>>>This allowed the vapors to escape from the tank. When Blaise lit his >>>>cutting torch it ignited the vapors, which triggered the fire and >>>>explosion. >>>> >>>>The Payette County coroner says Blaise it appears Blaise died from blunt >>>>force trauma as a result of the explosion. >>>> >>>>The explosion would have thrown him violently upward against the ceiling >>>>and a large beam that was above him. As a result of the explosion, the >>>>ceiling and beam came down and trapped him on the top of the tank. The >>>>force of the impact would have killed him immediately. >>>> >>>> >>>>_______________________________________________ >>>>Biofuel mailing list >>>>Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >>>>http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org >>>> >>>>Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >>>>http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >>>> >>>>Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 >>>>messages): >>>>http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>_______________________________________________ >>>Biofuel mailing list >>>Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >>>http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org >>> >>>Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >>>http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >>> >>>Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >>>http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>_______________________________________________ >>Biofuel mailing list >>Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >>http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org >> >>Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >>http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >> >>Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >>http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ >> >> >> >> >> > > >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
