Will this make my tank explode?

[KY_BOB]

My guess is something like that could happen with enough pressure differential--like maybe in space? Or perhaps filling it up at the bottom of the Challenger Deep then taking it up 6 miles?

Would it or would it just add another 14.7psi to it? (1 ATA down to 0 pressure)



Disclaimer: I'm just talking theory here, not answering anyone's question.

 

[NJDiverMark]

He is asking if an empty tank is filled (lets say 3000psi) underwater at 100'. And let go to surface. Will it blow?

 

[KY_BOB]

The answer is "NO" but he also said:

I don't have the means or motives to do this, it's more of a science question.

Thus the discussion of gas laws, otherwise know as science. Don't mean to be harsh, I just think this is the direction that he wanted it to go.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Tanks have a safety feature similar to an automobile engine-block "freeze plug". When an automobiles coolant freezes and expands, the expanding frozen coolant will generally push out one of the "freeze plugs".

Tanks have a similar design called a "burst disk". The burst disk will generally prevent a tank from exploding. Although it is possible to mechanically cycle metal to a point where it fails due to mechanical fatigue. Similar to bending a coat hanger back and forth until it heats up and breaks.

Tank designers are well aware of this and plan for it. The DOT (department of transportation) is well aware of it and is a regulator of the care, use, and transportation of scuba tanks.

 

[windapp]

If you took your tank to say 100 ft, the pressure on the outside of the tank would be 60 psi (45 psi for the 100 ft plus 15 psi for atmosphere and yes I know 1 atm is 14.7 psi but close enough), and you managed to fill it to within 45 PSI of its failing pressure at that depth (something that would be all but impossible to calculate that acurately), and you took it to the surface where the pressure on the outside would now be 15 psi, it would blow.

Oh yeah...forgot about the burst disk. If it didn't have one, it would blow.

And one more thing...3000 psi, being the rated pressure of the tank, had better not be within 45 psi of the tanks failing pressure. If I remember correctly from my university days, pressure vessels usually have a safety factor of 1.4 which would give the tank an approximate failure pressure of 4200 psi.

 

[PfcAJ]

Tanks have a safety feature similar to an automobile engine-block "freeze plug". When an automobiles coolant freezes and expands, the expanding frozen coolant will generally push out one of the "freeze plugs".

Tanks have a similar design called a "burst disk". The burst disk will generally prevent a tank from exploding. Although it is possible to mechanically cycle metal to a point where it fails due to mechanical fatigue. Similar to bending a coat hanger back and forth until it heats up and breaks.

Tank designers are well aware of this and plan for it. The DOT (department of transportation) is well aware of it and is a regulator of the care, use, and transportation of scuba tanks.

They don't in Europe

 

[Jax]

They don't in Europe

They don't have burst disks? Or they don't regulate?

 

[boat sju]

Guess you need to return to your phisics class.
Your tank is not a flexible body.

So No it won't

guess you need to return to your physics and spelling classes . . .

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Do you notice your tank changing in volume between 100 fsw and the surface? If not I would not worry.

 

[PfcAJ]

They don't have burst disks? Or they don't regulate?

No burst disks.