I always wondered about this. When I worked in my dad's shop he had an
air tank that we used for tires. It was a short cylinder and had
rounded ends, about the diameter of a basketball. We would fill it from
our shop air source then we could carry it away from the shop and use it
to fill up tires. It was very light, probably pretty thin aluminum. I
always wondered how it could hold the air pressure like it did.
I've seen TV documentaries about steam boilers and how they would
explode with bomb-like force. I don't know much about steam power but I
wondered if the average steam boiler of that era worked with higher
pressure than our compressed air tanks do. Higher pressures might
explain the increased explosive force. Other factors- boilers seem to
have a real problem if their water level drops too far- they can
increase pressure very fast if the hot parts of the boiler aren't
covered by water. And antique boilers probably were built with steel
with low fracture toughness meaning they could burst more suddenly than
tanks built with more modern steels. Modern steels would be more liable
to spring a leak somewhere rather than fracturing into lots of pieces
like a bomb.
> Um, dissagree. Dont loose sleep worrying about it but dont think compreesed
> air tanks cant go boom. Some years ago a dear friend of mine was doing a
> brake job and a tank he had under a work bench next to where he was working
> blew the end cap off hitting him in the face. The force pretty much caved in
> the side of his head. Obviously there was something wrong with the compressor
> but be aware there is potential for malfunction. Probably a one and a million
> chance but after that I am always aware of placement.
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