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Old 01-30-2008, 02:50 PM   #1
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Re: RV Fire from propane tank

be interesting to see what happens. it seems difficult to prove that the propane tank was overfilled. a propane tank that is half full will still vent if the tank is heated enough. hot exhaust from a generator heating the tank when the outside temps are prob 100 degrees seems like it could certianly cause exactly what happened. Propane is a liquid inside the cylinder, as the cylinder is heated the liquid begins to boil increasing the pressure inside the cylinder. the valve opens to relieve the pressure from the boiling liquid which keeps the cylinder from bursting. it sounds like the cylinder safety devices worked as designed. It's much safer to release a little bit of gas from a pressure relief valve than it is to have a bleve. A bleve is a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion. They have found propane tanker rail cars miles from the explosion after a bleve.

it's tragic that the relief valve caused injuries to these guys, but if there was no pressure relief valve then the men wouldn't be alive to tell their story.

i'm uncertain if the propane tank has a relief valve that will close after the pressure is relieved, or if it has a burst disk that will allow all of the propane to be vented to the atmosphere when activated. If the tank is over 40 pounds it may not be required to have an OPD valve......lots of questions, and prob no way to find the answers.

diesel or kerosene is much safer!

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Old 01-30-2008, 11:22 PM   #2
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Re: RV Fire from propane tank

found a good BLEVE video

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Old 02-03-2008, 08:54 PM   #3
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Re: RV Fire from propane tank


In the living-off-grid community, I see that they are getting tired of burning down their log cabins by heating them with wood fires. So they have invented a remote wood stove -- a wood furnace that sits in a little steel "dog house" a respectful distance from the dwelling, and the heat is transferred into the house in the form of hot water thru insulated pipes.

Similarly, I'm thinking about installing any combusting appliance I may use on the trailer that I pull behind Millicent.
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