Terminology of Hydrocarbon Explosions and Fires

The following terminology is used in the description of the various fires and explosions that can occur at a hydrocarbon facility. 

Blast - Is the transient change in gas density, pressure, and velocity of the air surrounding an explosion point. 

Blowout - A blowout is a high pressure release of hydrocarbons, which may or may not ignite, that occurs when a high pressure oil or gas accumulation is unexpectedly met while drilling and the mud column fails to contain the formation fluid that is expelled through the wellhead bore. 

Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE) - Is the nearly instantaneous vaporization and corresponding release of energy of a liquid upon its sudden release from a containment under greater than atmospheric pressure and at a temperature above its atmospheric boiling point. 

Deflagration - Is a propagating chemical reaction of a substance in which the reaction front advances into the unreacted substance rapidly, but at a less than sonic velocity in the unreacted material. 

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