Delaware Online: Delaware’s world famous Punkin Chunkin, back after a 2-year hiatus prompted by an accident and lawsuit, turned dangerous Sunday afternoon when an air cannon firing a pumpkin broke apart, injuring a man and a woman, according to Delaware State Police.
The 39-year-old woman, who state police initially reported had died, is listed in critical condition at Christiana Hospital in Stanton.
Judges had already seen about 10 air cannons fire pumpkins more than 3,000 feet using compressed air when the trap door of the air cannon named Punkin Reaper flew off when it fired shortly before 2:40 p.m. Sunday. As people were running away from the cannon, which sent large pieces of material into the air in all directions, a person was struck in the head and face at the event’s site, Wheatley Farms in Bridgeville.
The woman lay motionless as paramedics and emergency responders rushed to her. MORE
[Video, salty language]
..the woman lay motionless….”Don’t touch me unless you’re a lawyer.”
“..the woman lay motionless…”
I had a date like that once…
Let me guess
All stupid white people?
Is this the modern equivalent of Natural selection?
Large volumes of compressed air is another term for ‘stored energy’. I’ve watched with amusement as these ‘cannons’ have grown larger and more powerful.
If the rangemaster were to require a test shot, remote, unmanned and away from the crowd at 1.5 times the pressure used for the competition shot these accidents wouldn’t happen.
A shit load of shitty cannons would be trashed however.
Psi?
Operating an air cannon without a hydrostatic test of at least 1.5 times the maximum allowed operating pressure at the firing range is irresponsible and dangerous. Hydro testing the assembly is a safe and proven way to detect defects before they become catastrophic. Many of these cannons use burst diaphragms and push the system to their limits in making the “maximum distance shot”. They truly ought be limited to a predefined maximum operating pressure determined in advance by a hydrostatic test.
Any of these cannons ought to at least be in compliance with ASME B 31.3 and/or 46 CFR 54.10-10 – Standard hydrostatic test prior to being allowed to operate.
See: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/46/54.10-10
Each cannon ought to bear the ASME stamp for unfired pressure vessels and have independent laboratory testing certification for the maximum allowable operating pressure that is certified for the assembly in question.
It might, in the alternative, be marginally possible to allow uncertified assemblies to be fired from within a heavily bermed revetment that provides at least 3 meters of containment on all sides except vertical. Essentially, a blast containment shield. It is difficult to believe these things are allowed to operate without basic safety precautions. Surely, the Lawyers will have a field day with this tragedy.
Samsung had an entry?
I used to work on a process unit that made polyethylene. The tubular reactor normally ran with 47,000 pounds per square inch and had a burst pressure of 66,000 PSI. I was there once when it burst. That was a real happening!
It’s all fun and games until some pokes their eye out.