Rapid phase transition (RPT) is a phenomenon which frequently occurs after an LNG release on water. Its effects are potentially hazardous mainly because of the very fast rate of high energy release, in addition to fire and explosion. A significant case history and various experimental campaigns provide evidence which has allowed assessing different aspects of this event. This paper aims at offering a unified thermodynamic analysis of RPT. The thermodynamic and the kinetic limits of liquid superheat have been fully reviewed and specifically applied to LNG, within the homogeneous nucleation theory for multi-component liquids. Thermal and thermo-mechanical interface properties, such as interface temperature, evaporation rate, surface properties and liquid fragmentation have also been investigated. The importance of LNG composition has been analysed with respect to the experimental data. Finally, on the basis of the well known Shepherd and Sturtevart test, bubble growth rate has been modelled according to Mikic, Rohsenow and Griffith (MRG) equation and a new rigorous method has been set up to predict RPT overpressure, in line with Lighthill's acoustic theory, which removes the existing uncertainty and some subjectivities of the available models and possibly increases the thermo-fluid dynamic understanding of the phenomenon. (C) 2014 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.