Explosions in process industry and their classification

A bewildering variety of accidents occur in process industry during the storage, manufacture, and transportation of chemicals. These range from minor innocuous leaks to catastrophic releases (like the ones occurred at Seveso and Bhopal), from the barely noticed tiny sparks to all-consuming fires, and from the plop of a bubble to earth-shattering explosions. The impact can also have a bewildering range, from temporarily discomforting a small component of an equipment to the demolition of an entire factory.