"The regulation of gas installations that we have in Spain is more than sufficient. It requires many precautions and many ventilation measures, so many that there is a time when some of us avoid the installation of natural gas because it complicates the construction a lot. What is not
The routine of periodic reviews
is so rigorous
that it is done a bit that way
. "
The phrase, uttered by a construction facilities engineer, is as reassuring as it is scary.
Are the gas installations in our homes a cause for alarm after the accident on Calle Toledo in Madrid?
"I would not say that it is a cause for alarm but if I think about it, it does not seem very normal that in 2021 we get the heat by the method of making
a small fire in a machine that we have in the kitchen
, which, deep down, is what which is a boiler ", responds Manuel Rodríguez, doctor architect and professor of Installations at the School of Architecture of the UPM.
"There are efficient systems that are more secure and that are known to all, but that the market does not assume because it is what it is. It resists changes, among other things because there are economic interests."
Be careful: according to Rodríguez, the weak point of the installations is not in the boilers, but in the pipes that carry the gas.
The combustion point of the current boilers does not communicate with the rest of the home, it is in a sealed chamber, so
the leaks do not come from the boiler itself
, except in very convoluted breakdowns.
"We do not know what happened on Toledo Street, but almost every year there is an accident and
some death due to incomplete combustion
. It is the classic accident in which a gas pipe has a leak, the gas accumulates in a place without ventilation like a false ceiling or a closed warehouse and, when released, poisons someone. This is the most frequent problem, "explains Rodríguez.
And is it easy for these leaks to occur?
"The cold of Madrid last week, or, more than the cold,
the sudden change in temperature
, may be a factor. As in many houses they have had problems with the water pipes, it is possible that some joint of some gas pipeline has cracked ", explains the engineer consulted.
"But it has to be
an old facility
."
For years, gas pipes have been in the facades so that they are ventilated.
They are made of steel, painted yellow to make it impossible to confuse them, and have a double wrap system, like
the double hulls of oil ships
.
If the duct breaks, a second cover, vented at its ends, channels the leaks.
"If there has been an explosion, the normal thing is that the fuel is natural gas because diesel does not have this behavior", explain the sources consulted.
And is it normal that
the fire lasted so many hours after the explosion
?
"The problem, again, is ventilation. If the scene of the accident is poorly ventilated, it is possible that a sudden combustion process has occurred, which is what happens when the fire reaches
450 degrees Celsius,
which is the level in which it is almost impossible to fight it. That was a situation that sometimes occurred
in garages
when a car exploded and that is why there is now so much insistence that they be open to the outside at some point. "
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