What Went Wrong?

Chapter 6. Stacks

The [U.S.] Institute of Medicine estimates that it took “an average of 17 years for new knowledge … to be incorporated into practice, and even then application [was] highly uneven.” Progress in medical science occurred one funeral at a time. If doctors didn't learn something in medical school or in their residency, there was a good chance they never would.—Ian Ayres [10]

Are engineers any different? Stacks, like storage tanks, have been the sites of numerous explosions. They have also been known to choke.

6.1. Stack Explosions

• Figure 6-1 shows the results of an explosion in a large flarestack. The stack was supposed to be purged with nitrogen. However, the flow was not measured and had been cut back almost to zero to save ...