LP tank destruction

[lilranch2001]

That's a great idea........just need a definition on "safe spot".
If anyone else sees this event and they don't know it's "just for laughs", they are going to make a call, and these days there is no telling who will show up. When they show up there's going to be lots of questions.
I have no first hand knowledge of this, but I've heard that propane is a pretty loud and spectacular explosion.

Can you say BLEVE?
Bradshaw Trail Blevy - YouTube

 

[lilranch2001]

and another BLEVE
Train car explosion bleve - YouTube

 

[Deere Dude]

Why bother, take it to Walmart and exchange it for a new type cylinder and let them handle it. You get a new type full propane tank for your BBQ. They have a propane tank exchange program where they take the old type and let you take a new one no questions asked. That's how I exchanged all my old tanks for new ones.

I thought about that because I can always use an updated tank somewhere, but I thought because the design is so outdated they would just refuse it. But all they can do is say no.

I would really like nothing better than to see an explosion, but from afar.

I'll be busy moving to central TN over the next month or two, and out there I have a nice shooting area to take a crack at it if Walmart don't take it and a gas company don't take it.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

Agree with what is said....
Drive a steel post in a safe place, chain tank to post. Shoot.
Give it a few minutes to empty, dissipate, and warm up. Propane boils at -55* below 0.....
About 50 yards should be OK, but have a tree or something to step behind.
The gas vapor will dissipate in a short time, in not that big an area......
The smell will likely travel farther than the gas vapor, but is the least hazardous...
Have fun

 

[user.69169]

Sure does seem an awful lot of trouble to be going to with an old plumber's lead pot tank when you can easy enough screw a valve in there and burn the gas.
Them tanks have a valve in them that ain't much different from the valve in the liquid tap port of a 500 gallon or larger tank, should be 3/4" pipe thread. When the valve or pot burner is screwed into place it opens the valve in the port, sort of like a tire valve.

 

[CurlyDave]

Don't shoot it, take it to a LP gas company and give it to them.

Propane is a strong global warming gas.

Now I personally think that global warming is a huge steaming crock of manure, but there is no good reason to deliberately pollute the atmosphere...

 

[CurlyDave]

Can you tell how much propane you have?
By weight?
By temperature (I think).

I doubt a propane tank would fly and explode like an acetylene or oxygen tank.

Every propane container I have seen has a tare weight stamped on it. For about $5 you can get a fisherman's scale that weighs up to 50 lb. Weigh the tank and you will know how much is in it.

As a bonus, put the fish scale in your camping gear, and you can tell exactly how much gas is left in a bottle.

 

[Dutch445]

During the fire in 2011 at our dealership, there were lots of tanks that let loose, of course this wasn't your
average housefire. Investigators put temps well over 1600, and in some places 2100 degrees.
here's a souvineer i found a couple weeks after the fire, it was found about 200' behind the building,
so i picked it up and it sits in my office now. this was one of the tanks for the propane forklift,
not sure how many popped, but this one sure did!

 

[BXinNH]

During the fire in 2011 at our dealership, there were lots of tanks that let loose, of course this wasn't your
average housefire. Investigators put temps well over 1600, and in some places 2100 degrees.
here's a souvineer i found a couple weeks after the fire, it was found about 200' behind the building,
so i picked it up and it sits in my office now. this was one of the tanks for the propane forklift,
not sure how many popped, but this one sure did!
View attachment 327943

That's a excellent picture of the results of a BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion). The heat from your building fire heats the liquid in the tank to boiling, excessive vapor is produced, internal pressure reaches the relief valve set point and the relief valve opens. If the tank is not sufficiently cooled, the rate of vapor production exceeds the relief valve's ability to release excess pressure. At some point the container fails, usually at one of the ends, as seen in the picture. If the contents of the tank are flammable (like your propane) it is pretty spectacular when it does fail. Pieces of larger tanks have been found more than a half mile away.

Matt.

 

[DEWFPO]

I'd call your local fire dept. and ask there advice on how to get rid of it safely.

DEWFPO