Experiments on burst pressure and fragment dispersion effects of small-sized pressure vessel BLEVE

With the purpose of researching the bursting of a small-sized pressure vessel containing high pressure carbon dioxide (CO₂) and the dispersion and distribution of the prefabricated fragments, experimental tests were conducted for pressure vessels with V-shaped grooves and X-shaped grooves. Depending on the experimental results, the rupture positions of the two types grooved pressure vessels were different, and the resistance to the pressure of the V-shaped grooved pressure vessels was higher than the resistance to the pressure of the X-shaped grooved pressure vessels. The maximum burst pressure and the average burst pressure of the V-shaped grooved pressure vessels were both higher than those of X-shaped grooved pressure vessels. For the distribution range of the prefabricated fragments, the fragments were concentrated in the range of the fragment radial scattering azimuth angles from −15° to 15° and the axial scattering azimuth angles was from 65.77° to 113.02°. The initial velocity of a fragment was 272.79 m/s, and the prefabricated fragment with that initial velocity had a residual specific kinetic energy of 101.97 J/cm² when it dispersed beyond 7 m, which could cause damage to organisms.