6 cheat death as LPG-fed taxi explodes

[shadow]

backyard installed?

click me

6 cheat death as LPG-fed taxi explodes
By Jerry Botial and Pete Laude
Tuesday, November 4, 2008

A taxi driver and his five passengers managed to scamper out of a taxi running on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) after the vehicle caught fire while cruising MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela City Sunday night.
No one was injured in the fire.

Chief Inspector Danilo Bugay, Station Investigation and Detective Management Bureau chief, said a Bombase taxi (TWE-773) driven by Michael John Pascual caught fire due to faulty air-conditioner wiring.

The taxi, with five unnamed passengers bound for Meycauayan, Bulacan, was engulfed in flames minutes after the passengers got out of the vehicle.

Police Officer 3 John Espiritu told The STAR the incident occurred at 9:06 p.m. in front of a Flying V gas station near the Valenzuela city hall.

Pascual attempted to put out the fire with water from a nearby carwash but failed. The vehicle exploded when flames reached the LPG tank .

Senior Fire Officer 2 Melchor Gonzales, on the other hand, said a leak in the LPG tank caused the fire. The driver and passengers, alerted by the smell of the leaking fuel, got out of the vehicle before it exploded.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chief Thompson Lantion said they “will conduct an investigation on the case to determine if the taxi is not a colorum (vehicle) because LPG-fed taxis undergo strict quality control.”

He said only authorized LPG installers accredited by the Department of Trade and Industry may legally convert gasoline-fueled engines into LPG-fed versions. – With Perseus Echeminada

[XTO]

katakot yan :cyclopes:....minsan kasi kahit maayos ang pagkaka install, kinakalikot ng mga nagmamarunong ng drivers para tumipid in other words "sinasakal"

magbabayad ka na ng mahal sa taxi masusunog ka pa ng buhay. mabuti nakaligtas sila at di nalitson.

[[archie]]

katakot yan :cyclopes:....minsan kasi kahit maayos ang pagkaka install, kinakalikot ng mga nagmamarunong ng drivers para tumipid in other words "sinasakal"

agree! lagi na lang ako may nakikitang taxi kinakalikot yung LPG tank sa mga kanto kanto. kala mo expert sila. haha :bwahaha:

[XTO]

same observation, para silang may binubuksang kaha de yero sa likod. ikot dito - ikot doon. kaya singaw dito - singaw doon rin ang inaabot :idea:

[Horsepower]

Diesel is the safest fuel we have here. LPG is the most volatile, next is Gasoline.

[niky]

Doesn't explain why buses and L300s catch fire all the time...

It'd be interesting to know what kind of conversion it was. Because modern LPG tanks have a fail-safe system designed to vent the LPG in case of a fire, producing a steady, controlled burn. Either the tank had a faulty valve, or it was the same type as tricycles use... a cooking tank without the safety-release valve.

[ghosthunter]

The news article points out that the cause of the fire was NOT the auto-lpg system. Also the claimed explosion means the auto-lpg tank system used was not the typical system with built-in over-pressure safety valve which controls the overpressure event to prevent the tank from exploding.

[badbadtz.carlo]

yep, i bet it's an oldie na kinalikot ng driver..
SA from nissan demonstrated to me how safe the LPG tank is, when they were asking me if i'd want to convert..

kahit anong dami pa nyang explanations, ayoko.. takot akong masunog.. new car pa man, din..

katakot to.. madalas ren kami sumakay taxi na LPG powered pag walang oto..
hay.. pray na lang siguro..

[technismo]

kakatakot yan ha.. buti nakalabas sila dun.. pano kung hindi pinansin ng driver yun malamang patay sila

[ghosthunter]

kakatakot yan ha.. may napanood nga ako sa tv tricycle naman lpg din kaso gamit nya yung gasul na pangluto.. naka lagay lng sa likod ng sidecar.. delikado yun..

That is the kind of LPG conversion the government wants to avoid by making sure people convert their vehicles in approved conversion shops.

Backyard conversions are also done in India which have similar effects on safety as well.

[n5110]

i have experience a leak on my lpg. dinala ko agad sa greenfuel for check up at mahirap na. nakita nila na may leak yung fittings sa tank ko, hinpit ng konti and so far until now wala na ulit akong naamoy na hinde tama.dapat talaga pag may naaamoy na kakaiba ipa check na agad.

[Mile2]

It's faulty electrical wiring, which means it can also burn a gasoline or diesel fed engine. We have seen diesel buses burning on EDSA due to same faulty electrical wiring.

Household LPG tank is more prone to open flame but it is still safe as long as it is fitted correctly and equipped with shut off valve, same with auto LPG which has about 4-5 cut off valves for safety and has insulated fuel lines. If any installers will omit any of these safety valves then safety is compromised liked what happened to that taxi. Backyard installers usually omits a lot of parts which they think are none essential but the truth was they are omitting safety standards.

[Gen. Miting]

mayroon pala backyard-installed? that's scary, pano kung katabi mo yun taxi na ganun sa kalsada

[CVT]

That's scary. Mahirap paglaruan ang isang bagay na hindi mo nai-intindihan....

6909:seehearspeak:

[XTO]

lahat naman ng nasusunog kadalasan sa faulty electrical wirings nagmumula and yes gas or diesel can both burn to metal but the case of this LPG is the loud explosion na dining hanggang malayo(my officemate was on her way home that Sunday in valenzuela and nagulat siya akala niya bomba- at nung nadaanan niya, kaha na lang na nagliliyab yung corolla)

kaya ang bottom line nyan is “kinalikot” tape dito tape doon – tap dito tap doon when it comes to electricals.

[ghosthunter]

lahat naman ng nasusunog kadalasan sa faulty electrical wirings nagmumula and yes gas or diesel can both burn to metal but the case of this LPG is the loud explosion na dining hanggang malayo(my officemate was on her way home that Sunday in valenzuela and nagulat siya akala niya bomba- at nung nadaanan niya, kaha na lang na nagliliyab yung corolla)

kaya ang bottom line nyan is “kinalikot” tape dito tape doon – tap dito tap doon when it comes to electricals.

A properly installed Auto-LPG tank has an over-pressure release safety valve which prevents the tank from exploding/rupturing in the case of a fire. When the specific over-pressure is reached, the valve will open and release a controlled amount (in a controlled flow) of LPG. This will appear to onlookers as a small fireball as the LPG is ignited by the car-fire. This lowers the internal pressure until the cycle is started again until the fire is over.

As long as the safety device is not tampered, it should prevent any fire related LPG tank ruptures.

[paolorenzo]

buti na lang hindi rin sumabog ang Flying V gas station.

[[archie]]

Senior Fire Officer 2 Melchor Gonzales, on the other hand, said a leak in the LPG tank caused the fire. The driver and passengers, alerted by the smell of the leaking fuel, got out of the vehicle before it exploded.

The news article points out that the cause of the fire was NOT the auto-lpg system.

sir, question lang. sabi sa article na the flame was caused by a leak in the LPG tank. is that not part of the LPG system?

also, about the backyard installers, just curious lang if yung gamit ba nila is the real deal with improper method of installing or totally imbentong pinoy lang using improvised things?

thanks

[XTO]

A properly installed Auto-LPG tank has an over-pressure release safety valve which prevents the tank from exploding/rupturing in the case of a fire. When the specific over-pressure is reached, the valve will open and release a controlled amount (in a controlled flow) of LPG. This will appear to onlookers as a small fireball as the LPG is ignited by the car-fire. This lowers the internal pressure until the cycle is started again until the fire is over.

As long as the safety device is not tampered, it should prevent any fire related LPG tank ruptures.

what triggers these safety valves to release excess stored gas in case of fire? do they have different sensors that do not use electric current? what if the electricals within that sensors are the first to malfunction because of the faulty installation? reaching at high temp, could the LPG tank prevent itself from exploding?

good that the cab driver was a bit wary on that situation, if no visual electrical malfunction occured then probably all of them could be with the explosion.

well siguro minalas lang yung taxi, sometimes we don’t expect it to happen until it happens.

[Mile2]

From what I see in my SGI kit all valves are electro-mechanical and they are normally closed when no current is flowing to the solenoid actuators - meaning if the battery is cut off all the valves will close. The tank will stop releasing fuel to the fuel lines, the evaporator will stop releasing vapor, the injector valves will close and will also stop releasing.

Here's a common safety mechanism on properly installed kit.
1. Filler valve - mechanical one way valve for filling LPG.
2. Multi-Valve on the tank (Enclosed in a box with exhaust pipes going out of the cabin and out to the environment)
- a. secondary mechanical valve that accepts filling from the Filler valve.
- b. electro mechanical valve (normally closed) that releases LPG going to the fuel lines.
- c. Filler shut off mechanism for over pressure valve. 80% fill
3. Electro mechanical valve before the evaporator.

For my Innova, the tank is fitted under the chassis, and cabin leak is not an issue, but still I do check the tank religiously.

OT: One of the most rare car in the Philippines that I saw on LPG was a Lincoln Navigator with the kit done by GreenFuel. Ang pogi ng Navigator