At Least 18,000 Diary Cows Killed in Texas Panhandle Explosion

[red dirt shootist]

I was seriously asking that. I can’t imagine a situation that would kill 18k plus cows.

I can't imagine any part of it . I'd like to see a more detailed report. The logistics of it would blow my mind, but then I've already told you my point of reference. It's all about the poop.

 

[red dirt shootist]

Well, of course it doesn't.

We haven't had a Safeway here in over 30 years.

How about that one on N. May, close to Britton? Do I need to get out more?

 

[dennishoddy]

Latest report is a methane gas explosion caused by the failure of an exhaust fan motor that allowed the gas to build up in the massive ductwork that removes the gas.
Motor bearings or windings more than likely got hot reaching the ignition temperature of the methane resulting in a very violent explosion.
It’s a common occurrence in any dust/gas collection/exhaust system.
Grain elevators, sugar processing facilities, dust collection systems and so on.
The fix is to have a redundant system with overcurrent/undercurrent alarms built in that will detect a failure and activate the redundancy which would have prevented the explosion and alerted the facility there was a problem and it’s time to evacuate.
Back when I worked at Smith Tool as a control systems tech, we lost the ductwork that was exhausting a methanol fired continuous heat treating furnace.
Belt broke on the exhaust fan motor which caused a gas build up until it blew up. No one hurt.
I installed a high/low current trip relay wired to the control system emergency stop switch in the PLC which worked perfectly after that as designed.

 

[turkeyrun]

I had a cousin that owned a small dairy farm close to Ada. he milked 180 cows, 6 at a time, twice a day for 25 years. Cleaning barn, calving, doctoring, fixing fence and farming hay, in between.

Manure vacuum? More of a super duper pooper scooper.

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

... Milk does not come from Safeway.

Nor does it come from nuts.

Woody

 

[dennishoddy]

Nor does it come from nuts.

Woody

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

I GOT IT!
It's sabatoogie from the nut faux-milk industry!

 

[red dirt shootist]

Latest report is a methane gas explosion caused by the failure of an exhaust fan motor that allowed the gas to build up in the massive ductwork that removes the gas.
Motor bearings or windings more than likely got hot reaching the ignition temperature of the methane resulting in a very violent explosion.
It’s a common occurrence in any dust/gas collection/exhaust system.
Grain elevators, sugar processing facilities, dust collection systems and so on.
The fix is to have a redundant system with overcurrent/undercurrent alarms built in that will detect a failure and activate the redundancy which would have prevented the explosion and alerted the facility there was a problem and it’s time to evacuate.
Back when I worked at Smith Tool as a control systems tech, we lost the ductwork that was exhausting a methanol fired continuous heat treating furnace.
Belt broke on the exhaust fan motor which caused a gas build up until it blew up. No one hurt.
I installed a high/low current trip relay wired to the control system emergency stop switch in the PLC which worked perfectly after that as designed.

Your system sounds like a sure fire fix, but, if it was a simple case of bearings or windings, shouldn't it have blown a breaker? A redundant system should have been there.

 

[dennishoddy]

I had a cousin that owned a small dairy farm close to Ada. he milked 180 cows, 6 at a time, twice a day for 25 years. Cleaning barn, calving, doctoring, fixing fence and farming hay, in between.

Manure vacuum? More of a super duper pooper scooper.

More than likely, there was a manure removal system that involved a water flushing system that moved the manure to a collection/processing area where it’s de-watered to allow the manure to be recycled and the water cleaned to be reused.
A facility of that size doesn’t rely on people with scoop shovels and wheelbarrows.
The methane collection system was likely a massive ductwork system that held thousands of cubic feet of gas inside making the perfect bomb the full length of the building when the system failed.

What typically happens when there is an explosion like this there is an immediate secondary explosion from the dust being shaken from the walls and ceiling that has been building up for years which is why we did water wash downs on the interior of the coal burner power plant where I retired from. The secondary explosion can potentially be more powerful than the initial blast.

 

[dennishoddy]

Your system sounds like a sure fire fix, but, if it was a simple case of bearings or windings, shouldn't it have blown a breaker? A redundant system should have been there.

In the case at the heat treat furnace, there was a fan belt from the motor to the fan blade. The belt failed to heat issues and probably slipped in the pulleys causing it to break. When that happens, the motor current goes from normal run current to almost zero.
The hi/lo motor current trip alarm allows a bandwidth to be set for low conditions signifying a problem as well as an overcurrent that signals the motor is failing and drawing too much current. Either situation shuts the system down.