00:00Imagine the following scenario. In the Strait of Ormos an Iranian missile hits a side tank of a
00:07supertanker. The impact breaks through the metal walls and pulverizes the oil turning it from a
00:13dense liquid into a fine aerosol with clouds of microscopic particles and mixed vapors.
00:19What has changed? The contact area between fuel and oxygen has increased exponentially.
00:26Instead of burning slowly on the surface of the liquid oil the chemical reaction can quickly
00:31engulf a cloud of vapor and fine droplets mixed with air. This is what engineers call a fuel air
00:38explosion. Chemically the reaction is relatively simple. The carbon in oil mostly derived from
00:44ancient decayed marine organisms plus the oxygen from the air produces carbon dioxide. The hydrogen
00:52in oil coming from the same organic molecules plus oxygen the hydrogen from water but the energy
00:58released in fractions of a second is immense. The temperature rises to 1000 or 1500 degrees celsius.
01:04The resulting gases expand violently. A shock wave appears.
Comments