Description

Strict enforcement of environmental pollution standards has had a dramatic impact on tank storage of flammable liquids.  Rather than expelling vapors into the atmosphere, the trend has been toward the connecting or manifolding of multiple tanks through common piping to a central processing unit.  These closed piping systems, or vapor recovery / collection systems, have created unique flammable vapor safety hazards.  Closed piping systems and manifolded tank systems normally include sizable lengths of pipe and multiple bends, elbows and other changes of direction, all of which create turbulence and increase flame front speed.  An ignition within such a system can result in a flame front that accelerates very rapidly and generates extremely high pressures.  A low speed, low pressure confined deflagration can rapidly transition into a high speed, high pressure confined deflagration and then to a detonation, which is a flame front moving at the speed of sound in the vapor / air mixture.  “Detonation” arresters are especially designed to stop and extinguish detonations, confined deflagrations and unconfined deflagrations. The limitations that are placed on the location of the End-of-Line and Vent-Line / In-Line Deflagration Flame Arresters with respect to the ignition source do not apply to detonation arresters. Protectoseal offers only Overdriven Detonation Flame Arresters which are able to address both stable and unstable detonation conditions.