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Oxford 'explosion' after lightning strike seen from A34
- nicktelford 3y agoTL;DR a biogas digester tank was struck by lightning, igniting the biogas and causing an explosion.
- PicassoCTs 3y agoExploding diggester tanks are massive messes. My pity goes out to the cleanup crew.. i hope it had no concrete lid that flipped.
- latchkey 3y agoIt sounds like you have experience in this area... tell me more!
- PicassoCTs 3y agoUsually there is a concrete/stainless steel pot in which the substrate is stirred with water and heated/as necessary.On top of that structure can be a lid, which is basically a concrete disk. Above that is a sort of plastic sheet bladder that collects the produced gas, storing it so it can burned at power demand peaks.(usually evenings). When it explodes, the first thing to go is this plastic bladder. A fireball, but besides the infrared heat damage, usually a controllable one. The problem starts with the pressure wave, if the pressure is enough, it lifts the concrete lid, which then comes down - wherever, causing havoc. If the tank is not a concrete basin, but freestanding, welded stainless steel.. it can pop. Means it opens at the seam, squeezing out the substrate - so a flood of what is essentially cowshit, which can be really problematic if reaches a river, covers everything. Insurance agents, police walking around making photos. Cleanup is in stages. First you need to get the rest of the facility back online. Check other gassbladders for heat damage and shrapnel. Clear ways to the feeding trays, prevent ecological disasters by daming up the flood until the water seeps away leaving substrate. Any excess product produced is flamed of with a torch for the duration. Then, shovels, plows and hoses. PS: Any large fermenting body produces gases that can ignite, so no smoking while cleaning up or working the fermenter. Thats right, breath, take it all in.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- recursive 3y ago[flagged]
- gberger 3y agoBrave Browser + Pihole ensured I didn't see any. I'd recommend setting those up if you are annoyed by intrusive and abusive ads.
- satvikpendem 3y agoDo you not use uBlock Origin and other types of adblockers?
- chihuahua 3y agouBlock Origin is so easy to install and set up, I do not understand why someone would still subject themselves to ads. I dread the day when Chrome's manifest V3 prevents uBO from working, but until then it solves all problems with ads, including YouTube.
- bluescrn 3y agoAd-blocker-blockers are becoming a lot more common. We need ad-blocker-blocker-blocker tech now.
- satvikpendem 3y agoWe already have that, uBlock Origin has filters for precisely that.
- satvikpendem 3y agoTime to switch to Firefox then.
- sp332 3y agoDoesn't work on my iPhone, that's why.
- eynshamboom 3y agoSurprised to see this on hn - I live just down the road from here in the next village, there was a bright flash of lightning, the power flickered and a huge boom. Figured it was just thunder. Then started getting messages about explosions and pulsing orange lights in the sky. It's the most excitement this village has seen since the murmuration on spareacre lane.
- danjc 3y agoThe murmuration on spareacre lane sounds like an enthralling tale
- jareklupinski 3y ago"Sherlock Holmes and the Murmuration on Spareacre Lane"
- djbusby 3y agoMidsomer Murders for sure.
- 03199618 3y agoYour username makes sense, lol.
- nonrandomstring 3y agoCmon, it's always the quiet little village with people who mind their own business where Professor Quatermass shows up and finds an underground airforce base not on any maps....
- blel 3y agoSmall world - I live in Witney :)
- tonyedgecombe 3y agoI'm not far away either although I didn't hear the explosion.
- urbandw311er 3y agoI just spoke to my mum and dad who live in Cassington where this happened and saw it unfold live from their back window! Apparently there was a brief power cut too. TIL there’s a “green biomass facility” in their village.
- DangerousPie 3y agoBetter link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-66990100 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-66990100
- dang 3y agoOk, we've changed to that from https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23829165.oxford-explosion-lightning-strike-seen-a34/ https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23829165.oxford-explosion-.... Thanks!
- jacquesm 3y agoIf you're wondering why it made such a big bang, this is what blew up: https://www.stgreenpower.co.uk/where-we-operate/cassington-ad-facility https://www.stgreenpower.co.uk/where-we-operate/cassington-a...
- i-use-nixos-btw 3y agoSo a fire in a s*t factory. At least it is a welcome distraction from the very similar thing going on in Manchester Central this week.
- lygaret 3y agoDid you see that ludicrous display last night?
- woleium 3y agoThe thing is, he always tries to walk it in.
- tonyedgecombe 3y ago>So a fire in a s*t factory. I think it is digesting food waste rather than sewage.
- andxor 3y agoPerhaps the events from His Dark Materials have started to unfold.
- rhuru 3y agoStrategic bullshit reserve of UK gone boom.
- teamonkey 3y agoI can assure you we have far more than that.
- aaron695 3y ago[dead]