Thread: LP Tank Safety
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Old 01-07-2013, 10:05 PM   #4
hot rod
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 527
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Dragonslayer- I used to do training at our company for local fire departments on propane and fighting propane fires. Sorry you had to deal with the aftermath, but I am glad to hear you were paying attention to the training. I'll bet you are a volunteer, those guys were always paying attention and asking questions, and the full timers were usually in the back of the room not paying a bit of attention during their "required" training. Thanks for what you do.

Your comment reminded me of the relief valve in a little more detail- the relief valve should never open up and vent gas under normal circumstances including a closed up hot vehicle. A DOT cylinder (bbq tank) has a 375 psi relief valve which means the tank would have to be over 160 degrees to vent, which would require some outside heat source like a vehicle/appliance exhaust, too close to a heater, or obviously involved in an unrelated vehicle fire that heats it up. A frame mounted ASME tank has a 250 psi relief valve which would have to be over 127 degrees, which sounds low but again will never open under normal circumstance. The exception to that rule would be the case of a tank which is over filled. If the tank is over filled past the 80% mark, then there is not enough room in the tank for expansion, and it can vent gas out of the relief valve even at room temperature. That would be a pretty rare situation these days as most portable cylinders have auto stop filler valves, but it can happen and not worth taking the chance with a tank indoors.
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