Does a propane tank absorb propane?

[greasemonkeyok]

As Egon noted, propane is not the only hydrocarbon you have to worry about. Sure, the tank was supposed to be filled with only propane, but you don't know what other hydrocarbons were introduced to the tank along the line, and they may not boil off under normal atmospheric pressures and temperatures.

 

[Egon]

Propane boils at -41F at sea level./QUOTE]

What's the Latent Heat of Vapourization??:thumbsup:

 

[Johnp33]

If you remove the valving and turn the tank up side down in the sun on a warm day, maybe fill with dawn dish soap and warm water and shake it around and drain it you will be OK. If you still have fear, do not do it, problem solved.
Propane vaporises at -41F The rest of you statment sounds like a lot of big words that mean nothing.

 

[Redneck in training]

What we call propane is actually LPG. In other words it is a mix of mainly two gases propane and butane. There is a winter and summer mix. Each has different proportion of the gases. Winter mix is mostly propane while summer mix is mostly butane. Butane evaporates at -.4C (31F) at sea level.
Either gas is heavier than air and can linger around for long time when released.

I can tell you several "war" stories:
When working in a gas plant everyone has to attend an induction. Part of the induction explains the gases etc. and says if your car stalls unexpectedly do not restart. Get out and out of there cross wind ASAP. So there is a guy driving his jeep not too far from debutanizer tower. His car stalls. He restarts. They never found the guy. There was a crack in the bottom of the tower. Operator got a low pressure alarm so he maxed out the compressor to keep the pressure up and filled the entire place around with butane.

Friend of mine had propane heating. He had three or four large cylinders that he had to take to town for refill once a while. He usually used only two and when they were empty he would switch the valves on gas manifold and take the empty one to refill station. One cold winter day his heating stopped quite unexpectedly. When he removed the tank he felt liquid sloshing inside and deduced that the people in refill station were cheaters and filled the tank partially with water. So he turned the tank upside down and drained the water in the snow. When the tank was empty he put it in his car, got in and started. The whole place blew up. Fortunately the car started so he drove from the flames and was not hurt but the car was pretty ugly with all the blistered paint.

Another guy I used to know complained that somebody was stealing his tulips. Interesting thing was that the tulips were disappearing from the center of the plot and there were no footprints or any damage to surrounding tulips. He tried to figure out how the thieves do that. One winter day he went to visit his garden where he had small cabin. When he wanted to boil water for coffee his propane burner wouldn't work. After removing the tank he reached the same conclusion that he got cheated and there was water in the tank. So he emptied the tank to the snow. Sometime later he took a smoke break. Lit a cigarette and threw the match on snow. The whole garden exploded and there were all the tulips flying in air. Some animal was pulling the plants under ground to store them for winter. So at the end he found out who the thieves were punished them.

There was a summer mix in both cases in the tank.

 

[Egon]

Propane vaporises at -41F The rest of you statment sounds like a lot of big words that mean nothing./QUOTE]

Are you saying that you don't know what happens when a liquid propane vapourizes??

A three gallon bucket of propane will remain liquid for about three hours on a normal summer day.:thumbsup:

Seen it done more than a few times.

 

[JB4310]

Any other precautions I should know about propane?

I just got a fireplace log and piped propane into my house from a 100lb tank outside. A continuous 1/2" flex line thru the outside wall, across the basement ceiling and up thru the bottom of the fireplace.
I do know it's heavy and will settle into a basement or other low area, but will it dissipate or always stay volatile in that low area???


Also is there a reliable gauge for a 100 lb tank, so I have an idea when it's running low???

JB

 

[EMB5530]

Any other precautions I should know about propane?

I just got a fireplace log and piped propane into my house from a 100lb tank outside. A continuous 1/2" flex line thru the outside wall, across the basement ceiling and up thru the bottom of the fireplace.
I do know it's heavy and will settle into a basement or other low area, but will it dissipate or always stay volatile in that low area???


Also is there a reliable gauge for a 100 lb tank, so I have an idea when it's running low???

JB

Set it on a scale and after a runout you'll know what weights you will be looking to refill at.

 

[Haywire]

Or contact your propane company for a gauge. There's one on my 400.

 

[Egon]

You might also be able to tell by the frost on the tank during heavy usage. This may/may not happen.

 

[bearcreek paul]

Pour some hot water on the tank and feel it where it's still cold that is the propane level.