Super Tinsel Fairy Visit

[Big Dog]

xxxxx

[Markbo]

I dont run too often any longer but I'll bet I could cover some ground quick if I was there. Holy smokes!!

[bullet maker 57]

Glad no one was killed. I agree with Markbo, don't run much but if I had to I could cover a lot of ground quickly.!

[Budzilla 19]

We had a saying where I used to work,which was in many oil refineries in the lower 48 states," the speed of your feet is in direct relation to the heat upon your meat" !im glad no one was injured. That was a catastrophe for sure!

[CastingFool]

I once worked at an aluminum processing plant for about 10 months. Needless to say, it was an interesting experience. They took the tinsel fairy very, very seriously, as the melter held 146,000 lbs of molten aluminum. 2 endloaders were used to load the melter. They would cast logs ranging from 8" to 18" in diameter, 24 ft long.

[303Guy]

I worked in a aluminum remelting plant for a number of years. It can be pretty dangerous. Heard of a few detonations. It was discovered that molten aluminum poured onto wet rust will detonate quite spectacularly! I mean detonate as in TNT type detonation. When investigating this phenomenon, the scientist had a video camera set up at a 'safe' distance but when the stuff blew it knocked the camera over plus a few other bits of equipment. Water under molten aluminum is very dangerous indeed. They don't play well together.

[Goatwhiskers]

I worked in the Galena Park, Tx. steel mill back in the 60's. They would bring molten pig iron in a thermal rail car from the blast furnace to the open hearth furnaces for refinement, pour it into a huge ladle--don't remember how many tons--and take it inside the building to pour into the furnace. One day the crane hook slipped and dumped a ladle full of molten pig onto a pile of wet sand. Huge explosion, black smoke, and burned men running all over. One man only had his belt and boots left. Three fatalities from that one, don't remember total injured. Makes you stop and think. GW

[white eagle]

wow that is impressive
it's a miracle no one was killed
use to work at a casting company that use molten zinc
for their castings they took the fairy very seriously as well

[Big Dog]

xxxxx

[Markbo]

Goatwhiskers, I have been to that mill many, many times including long after it shut down in my career in the shipping business. It is a thriving place today for a rail company I think.

[472x1B/A]

I worked at a malleable cast iron foundry right out of high school for a summer. Two times a day I had to go to the shift floor to help shift molds. The runners would have these ladles full of molten cast and poured it in the molds one row at a time. All the molds would be shifted by hand between your legs and the next row poured. One time I spit on one of the still molten sprues. It was so hot that spit bounced back up and hit me on my chin. Never did that stupid trick again, ever.

[MaryB]

Local scrapyard melts down aluminum cans into ingots. Along with other scrap aluminum. Workers were told to always start with the cans in a cold furnace to dry them out. Some newbie kid didn't listen and dropped in a bale of cans to fill the melt pot to the top. Explosion stripped the metal off the building alongside the pot and killed the kid. Luckily nobody else was in that small building when it went. I was out there in the yard when it happened dropping off some aluminum engine heads to scrap(guy paid top dollar for them stripped down). My ears rang for a couple days after, it was loud!

[Suo Gan]

We melted aluminum scrap down in 9th grade...never any problems. Shop teacher told us ONCE what would happen if water got in the melt. If 9th graders can do it all year...I wonder why adults can't handle it?

[Nose Dive]

Big Dog... Buddy...Thank you for sharing this. We should make these Pics a Sticky.... Water and smelt...KABOOOMMMM

This fact of psychics works in the large plant... and in my,,,yours...ours....smelting pots. Simple mistakes can make BIG PROBLEMS.....

All should read and see this.

Thank God no one was killed. Have 'been there, dun that' in two refineries and one chemical plant where bodies were removed....my friends..... and my ears are not the same....and still jump on my feet when someone pops a paper bag....

Yes...guys and girls were hurt...burned...lost eyes, feet, hands...fingers...and well...."old solid mind set'..... Nothing was the same.

I love our hobby more the most. And when I write here on these pages...try to always warn of danger.... New guys don't 'know' what water does do our smelt and the 'outcome' to them is sometimes vague and 'not real'.

Your pics are real. The folks hurt are real. It can happen to YOU...to ME...to any of US.

Thanks again my friend. God speed to all hurt.

"it ain't fun if you are hurtin'".

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.

[Bagdadjoe]

When water flashes into steam, it takes up something like 10,000 times it's liquid volume. If it's under molten metal at the time, you have a definite problem.

[floydboy]

I live about 60miles from there and several people around here work there. It was a terrible accident with lots of damage. I don't remember all the details but I was told the reason nobody was killed was somehow someone realized the water was going to get introduced to the melt and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. They hit the alarm and screamed to get out. Apparently everyone was able to get far enough away to avoid being killed. They are well trained about what can happen in a situation like this.

Floyd

[Harter66]

Water to steam is 17,000 to 1 actually.

If powdered aluminum gets water on it it produces hydrogen gas.

With those bits in hand it is easy to see how an aluminum smelter could very quickly go from oops the ingot was only 220 degrees for 8 minutes instead of 20 before immersion to where'd the walls go?

Elaboration.
As the steam rips through the now mist of molten aluminum it is making more hydrogen gas along with breaking down the water into hydrogen and oxygen also it becomes a bomb of its own as hydrogen is quite flammable and it has an oxygen source feeding it in a super heated environment. Poof.

[Artful]

When water flashes into steam, it takes up something like 10,000 times it's liquid volume. If it's under molten metal at the time, you have a definite problem.

Got to watch those decimal places. - and at what ambient temperature is the water it's compared too.

For example, water at 80°F has a specific volume of 0.016073 ft3/lbm so the liquid water at 212°F with a specific volume of .016716 3/lbm has volume of 1.04 times that of water at 80°F, and the steam at 212°F has then 1667 times the volume of liquid water at 80°F.

At 212°F, 14.7 psia, liquid water has a specific volume of 0.016716 ft3/lbm and steam has a specfic volume of 26.80 3/lbm, which is a volume ratio of ~1603 : 1 of steam:water.

Reference https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/water-to-steam.209842/

[Harter66]

Sorry , firefighter training and my dad was a plumber pipe fitter and worked a lot of boilers as well both sources gave me that number .

Since we included the physics lesson 1 must take in the typical base lines are at normal day which is at mean sea level ,59 degrees Fahrenheit, and 29.92 inches of mercury. Which is the derivation of 212 degrees Fahrenheit as the boiling point of water on a normal day . You loose or gain 3 degrees per 1000 ft up or down and we must include pressure chambers even if they are temporary. 29.92 does come pretty close to 14.7 psi . Water will fail to boil up to 250 degrees in a 16 lb radiator with only 1.3 lbs over normal day on it . So if it has say 50 lbs on it as a puddle under the aluminum it is easy to expect it to be well over 400 degrees before even boiling . Water would then be in violent expansion into 400 degree steam so a coffee cup would occupy a space at least 24x24x24 inches ,more because it isn't at just 212 degrees .

[MT Chambers]

I just wanna cast boolits, man.

[Artful]

And do so safely !

[Geezer in NH]

Note: lead may spray but it will Not burn as aluminum will.