There are many documented cases of these types of explosions. Including those with laboratory analysis revealing the products of combustion. Most of the seminal studies are not easy to find on the Internet because many of the studies were done more than 50 years ago and the results used to update documents like the Navy's "Maintenance and Operation of Air Compressor Plants". The Navy started including cautions in the early 1900's (you can find the same cautions in copies of the Journal of the American Naval Science Engineers pre-1920). You can probably dig up some of the more seminal work in this area at your local university's engineering library. Some of it was commissioned by the Navy in the middle of the 20th century and from memory, into the 1970's.
And yes, moving fluids, dust, etc. through a pipe can and does create static electricity. That's not what I'd typically be worried about unless my piping was PVC.All of the products I work on have to pass ESD testing though, and humans are modelled as a 100 pico cap charged at up to 35 kV. Low energy, but that potential can jump a pretty good distance in not-so-obvious paths. We don't see most ESD discharges in their entirety with our eyes, but the cameras catch them. I can't rule out static electricity as a source of ignition of a combustible; it's not uncommon.
Oil-lubricated air compressors have always created potentially combustible gases. Just like a zillion other things in our homes. Heck, we humans create combustible gases.
Obviously there are other causes of receiver breaches. And they can be violent (and maiming or fatal if you're nearby!). But I assume those reading GJ have learned to keep water/oil condensate from accumulating in their receiver, to not shove their compressor in a location where cooling will suffer dramatically, aren't using 20+ year old tanks, non-ASME tanks from foreign lands, etc. without understanding the risks. But I could be wrong and have no problem admitting so. I suppose that's part of the reason for this thread.
Air compressor explosions in homes are relatively rare, but they do happen. But a LOT more of us are injured or killed in automobile accidents and we keep on driving. Which is not to say we should be careless, and I'm not suggesting we ignore our receivers. I just made the assumption that those of us reading GJ are already taking care of our receivers and it's the other parts (with documented catastrophes) that are probably not receiving attention.
I call ********.
