Once again I turn to the professionals up North to provide us with some great information. Transport Canada has once again done an excellent job explaining the difference between a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE) and a Heat-Induced Tear (HIT) type explosion. So often when we see the large fireball, we will call the event a BLEVE; however, this is oftentimes an incorrect classification of the event (a BLEVE can occur with NO fireball).
For a BLEVE to occur we MUST have a “pressure vessel” involved; for a HIT to occur we can have an “atmospheric container” involved. Both events will result in a spectacular fireball (when the event involves a flammable material), but a HIT will most likely NOT propel its container as we see in a BLEVE event. Here is a gasoline TANK suffering a HIT. … It is officially a HIT and not a BLEVE!
In Transport Canada’s Transportation of Dangerous Goods latest newsletter, they explain the difference in these spectacular explosions…