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Abandoned Gas Main Piping Explosion

A large explosion occurred under a busy San Francisco street, creating a large crater. The explosion originated in a large-diameter, natural gas main pipe buried under the street. Fortunately, there were no injuries or significant property damage. The gas utility company hired APTECH to find the cause of the explosion and to suggest ways of preventing future incidents. We discovered that, some months earlier, the pipe had been plugged and abandoned by the utility. Our investigation focused on identifying the explosive gas mixture, the gas source, and the ignition source. On-site engineering activities included site photo documentation, crew interviews, residual gas sampling, and soil and metallurgical sampling. Subsequent analysis led to an explanation of the explosion event. We also recommended that changes be made in piping configuration management, abandonment procedures and crew safety guidelines.

Satish Almaula		Plant failure and root cause analysis; process and design engineering analysis; process technology development and testing; plant engineering, operations, maintenance and safety management; plant and process control system management.

Kimble Clark, Ph.D.		Failure analysis, heat transfer & thermodynamics, process plant equipment failures & explosions, fuel science, combustion, industrial fires and explosions.

Richard Schreiber, P.E.		Machinery and mechanical device failure analysis, mechanical testing, combustion and heat transfer, industrial fires and explosions, gas appliances.

Eric Sullivan, P.E.		Metallurgy, welding, failure analysis, fire and explosion investigations, equipment, piping.

Geoffrey Egan, Ph.D.		Engineering mechanics, welding engineering, stress and fatigue analysis, risk analysis.