Can Steam Enhance the Effective Destructive Output of an Explosion?

[AstraphelNoctis4]

A steam‑based chain‑reaction explosion occurs when a Salamander comes into contact with a large amount of water. This was said to be capable of vaporizing the local area (the exact size of the area is irrelevant for this question). I am trying to find the non‑steam‑based self‑destruction blast of the Salamander by downscaling from the steam‑enhanced case.

So, for the question: Is it realistic for an explosion to be boosted by water through a steam effect?
Specifically, when an extremely hot or energetic source suddenly interacts with a large quantity of water, can the resulting steam explosion convert a significantly higher fraction of the stored energy into destructive blast compared to a non‑steam (direct) explosion?
If yes:
• What range of enhancement is considered reasonable in terms of effective destructive output / TNT equivalent (for example, ~2×, ~3×, or ~4–5×)?

 

[AstraphelNoctis4]

Bump

 

[Greatsage13th]

The mechanisms of a steam explosion involves the rapid expansion of water caused by contact with extremely hot materials. Most of its energy is heat with very low kinetic energy (3.26%) as opposed to an explosion which is part heat energy, part radiation and part kinetic energy (50%).

So, to answer your question of whether or not a steam explosion has a more destructive blast as opposed to a regular explosion if they both had the same stored energy. The answer is no, a steam explosion's is miles worse.

 

[AstraphelNoctis4]

The mechanisms of a steam explosion involves the rapid expansion of water caused by contact with extremely hot materials. Most of its energy is heat with very low kinetic energy (3.26%) as opposed to an explosion which is part heat energy, part radiation and part kinetic energy (50%).

So, to answer your question of whether or not a steam explosion has a more destructive blast as opposed to a regular explosion if they both had the same stored energy. The answer is no, a steam explosion's is miles worse.

Hmm, thanks. Tbh, I asked because I don’t know how to calculate the normal blast.
Could you perhaps give me a method to do so?
The normal self-destruction didn’t cover that large an area, but the steam explosion (water + salamander) could have covered and vaporized a much larger area....so maybe there’s a way to calculate it?
Or is it simply not calculable?

 

[Greatsage13th]

Hmm, thanks. Tbh, I asked because I don’t know how to calculate the normal blast.
Could you perhaps give me a method to do so?

The instructions for calculating a normal explosion can be found here:

Explosion Yield Calculations

First, you have to find the exact page, or scene where an explosion is shown as a feat. Depending on the environment where the explosion occurred, you may have to scale the size of a smaller object that is shown in the map. Let's do an example... An explosion of unknown size occurs in this...

vsbattles.fandom.com

The normal self-destruction didn’t cover that large an area, but the steam explosion (water + salamander) could have covered and vaporized a much larger area....so maybe there’s a way to calculate it?
Or is it simply not calculable?

If the thing produces a shockwave with known speed, you may use KE = Mass (of air dispersed) x Velocity^2 (of shockwave) X 0.5