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Science 13 April 1979:
Vol. 204. no. 4389, pp. 168 - 169
DOI: 10.1126/science.204.4389.168
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Articles

Vapor Phase Explosions: Elementary Detonations?

G. R. FOWLES 1

1 Physics Department, Washington State University, Pullman 99164

Although liquid-vapor explosions are widely observed, there is no established explanation for their initiation and propagation. Thermodynamics admits the possibility that superheated liquids can support detonations analogous to those that occur in chemical explosives. For liquid methane superheated 50 K above its boiling point at 1 atmosphere, the energy of explosion is 2 to 3 percent of that of TNT.

Submitted on December 14, 1978

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)