Boilover and resulting pool fire

Typically associated with a tank fire, the boilover phenomenon is the sudden and violent eruption of burning liquid out of an atmospheric storage on fire. This is the consequence of vapourization of liquid water in the bottom of th e tank. An atmospheric storage can lead to a boilover if the following requirements are met: ·         Presence of water in the bottom of the tank ·         The formation of a heat wave which meets the water layer under the hydrocarbons mass ·         A sufficiently viscous hydrocarbon so that the water vapour cannot easily go through it from the tank bottom ·         An average boiling temperature higher than the one of the water at the pressure of interface water/hydrocarbon. The condition is the following for the usual hydrocarbon storage TBUL HC> 393K (120°C) ·         A range of boiling temperatures large enough to generate a heat wave, that is to say, 60° beyond the boiling temperature of the water at the pressure of interface.