FPE SEMINAR SERIES - Prof. Jenq-Renn Chen National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Fire Protection Engineering Department
FPE SEMINAR SERIES
Friday, October 3, 2025
11:00 am – Noon
50 Prescott Street, Gateway II, Room 1226
https://wpi.zoom.us/j/320855113
Analysis of Leak and Explosion from an Underground Pipeline in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
ABSTRACT
On 11:57 PM, July 31 of 2014, a destructive explosion occurred in downtown Kaohsiung which resulted in 32 fatalities and more than 300 injuries. The explosion was caused by a leak and ignition of propylene vapor from an underground pipeline. The background of the pipeline, cause of leak, spread of the vapor, response of the leak, identification of a possible ignition source, extent of the damage were analyzed in detail. Measures that were taken to prevent future any incident were also summarized.
BIOGRAPHY
Jenq-Renn Chen is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST), Taiwan. Previously, he has held the position as Chairman of the Department, Dean of College of Engineering, and the Vice President in National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology (NKFUST). NKFUST was merged into NKUST from February 2018. He is also in charge of the Taiwan EPA Southern Emergency Response Team, which provided emergency response of chemical incidents to southern Taiwan. He received MSc and PhD from Imperial College, London, UK, both in Chemical Engineering. He has 2 US patents, 6 Taiwan patents, and authored more than 60 refereed papers in international journals, all in the broad range of chemical process safety. He also participated in more than 200 hazardous chemical and gas emergency responses and incident investigations in Taiwan, including the catastrophic Kaohsiung explosion in 2014. His current research interests are gas explosion, ignition mechanism, and fundamental aspects of chemical releases.