exploding tin can

[aka estie]

OK, can someone please explain to me what happened tonight:

Basically, I was trying to open a tin of tomato puree using a tin opener. As soon as I pierced the top with the tin opener, the thing exploded. The puree flew out of that tin with so much force that it actually hurt when it hit my face and eye. It got all over my face, hair, and clothes, and it flew all over the kitchen behind me. I would estimate that it flew at least 8-10 feet behind me, splattering me, the floor, and waaay up the wall.

So what happened?? There were no visible signs of damage to the can beforehand.

[mibn2cweus]

Don't know but your not alone; see paragraph six .>-----------------> exploding puree

[fo3nix]

Don't really know, but I assume that there has been excess pressure in the tin, which when its got the ability to get out (after you pierced it), it did. Just happened to come out with some force, due to the pressure. Why there was this pressure, I don't know. I guess either something went wrong in the factory where it was made, or something like that.

[newtron]

My guess is that there was some microbial activity in the can, resulting in the production of a gas, causing a significant increase in pressure. The puree was probably not safe to eat.

[aka estie]

HAHAHAHAHAH!
That is very funny, mibn2cweus! That is exactly what happened! I found more splatters this morning!

I figured it was bacteria, so I did not use the paste. Gross.

Thanks, everyone.

[Grunty]

I once worked as part of a team and we brought our breakfast to cook. Some of the team considered it a great joke to bang someone's tin of beans on the corner of a table, producing a big dent in the tin. This built up the pressure and the result was as described.

[Begram]

you'd probably have a damages claim.

At least your soul is clean, now that you've been purified.

[AGENT X]

tomatoes need to be proccesed to prevent them from spoiling, they are cooked twice most of the time to prevent them from going bad. they are also stored in negative pressure enviorment,this is why you can dent the cans but cannot crush them or you only see them crushed not ballooned out. the tins are heavy enough to prevent them from showing that they are pressurized. ( example air cylynders that hold high preesures maintain there shape and form. sometimes containers become pressurized over time due to various reasons /spoilage ect. the can acts like one of those high pressure air cylynders and when you pierced the tin you released the pressure through a small opening which made the puree inside a high speed projectile, this would explain the force and distance of puree. always remember that when anything that is in somekind of sealed container and it is heated even slightly the liquid content will start to convert from a solid to a vapor, vapor expands in volume at a greater size/amount in the conversion proccess earning the title of expanding vapor increase. If you ever have seen a barrel fly into the air when being involved in a fire, same reaction but now it is called a BLEVE or boiling liquid evpanding vapor explosion.