Gas safety accidents are one of the common safety hazards in industrial production and daily life. There are many kinds of common hazardous gases. Once leaked or improperly used, it is very easy to cause serious accidents such as fire, explosion, poisoning, suffocation, etc., which pose a huge threat to people’s life and property safety. Therefore, it is very important to understand the common types, causes and preventive measures of gas safety accidents.
Fire refers to a disaster caused by uncontrolled combustion in time or space. Among various disasters, fire is one of the most frequent and common major disasters that threaten public safety and social development.
01 Combustible gas leaks and burns in fire
Common gases: natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, etc.
Cause: After the combustible gas leaks, it reaches a certain concentration in the air and will burn rapidly when encountering open flames (such as lighter flames, electrical sparks, etc.), and even cause fires.
02 Gas combustion causes fire
Common gases: oxygen.
Cause: Oxygen itself does not burn, but can support combustion. If the oxygen concentration is too high around flammable materials, the combustion of the flammable materials will be more intense and even cause a fire. For example, if a large number of flammable items are stored in a warehouse and poor ventilation leads to oxygen accumulation, once there is a fire source, it is easy to cause a fire.
Explosion is a form of very rapid physical or chemical change of substances. In a very short time, a large amount of energy is released, usually accompanied by strong heat release, luminescence and sound effects.
01 Explosion caused by leakage of flammable gas
Common gases: hydrogen, methane, acetylene, etc.
Cause: The mixture of flammable gas and air reaches the explosion limit and causes an explosion when encountering open flames or high temperatures. For example, in chemical production, pipeline leakage causes hydrogen to mix with air, and an explosion may occur when encountering electric sparks or static sparks.
02 Explosion caused by the mixture of dust and gas
Common situations: In grain processing, wood processing and other industries, flammable dust (such as flour dust, wood dust) is mixed with air. When it reaches a certain concentration, it may cause an explosion when encountering a fire source. If there are flammable gases in the production environment at the same time, the risk of explosion will increase further.
Cause: When dust and gas are mixed, a more explosive mixture is formed. For example, when flour dust in a flour mill is mixed with air and reaches the explosion limit, it will explode violently when it encounters an open flame.
Toxic gas is a general term for gases that are harmful to the human body. Toxic gas poisoning belongs to the category of diseases caused by physical and chemical factors. Common harmful gas poisonings include ammonia poisoning, hydrogen sulfide poisoning, chlorine poisoning, carbon monoxide poisoning and formaldehyde poisoning. Generally, gas poisoning accidents are prone to occur in confined spaces, underground pipelines, and limited spaces. In family life, carbon monoxide poisoning is easily caused by gas leaks, cooking tea around the stove, or improper use of gas water heaters.
01 Acute poisoning
Common gases: carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine, etc.
Cause: Inhaling high concentrations of toxic gases in a short period of time causes damage to human tissues and organs. For example, when using a gas water heater in a confined space with poor ventilation, the carbon monoxide concentration increases, which can cause acute carbon monoxide poisoning.
02 Chronic poisoning
Common gases: mercury vapor, benzene vapor, etc.
Cause: Long-term exposure to low-concentration toxic gases, toxic substances gradually accumulate in the body, causing damage to the nervous system, respiratory system, etc. For example, people who have been engaged in mercury-containing work for a long time may suffer from mercury poisoning after inhaling mercury vapor, and experience symptoms such as memory loss and finger tremors.
