GUEST ARTICLE
Propane
By: Yukon Mike
Topic: Alternative Energy
Date: August 20, 2010
There are many Survivalists who take for granted or simply don’t know the facts about propane. They think it is an excellent Survival fuel choice for heating and cooking and don’t have to worry about an abundant supply of foreign oil or be affected by a ‘Peak Oil’ melt down. There are a number of common misunderstandings about propane including where it comes from and how long it can be stored?
Where does Propane come from?
Propane is a hydrocarbon (C3H8) and is sometimes referred to as liquefied petroleum gas, LP-gas or LPG. Propane is produced from both natural gas processing and crude oil refining in roughly equal amounts. It is nontoxic, colorless and virtually odorless. As with natural gas, a strong identifying odor is added so the gas can be readily detected.
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consists mainly of propane, propylene, butane, and butylene in various mixtures. However, for all fuels in the United States, the mixture is mainly propane.
Chemical Properties: LPG, like natural gas and unlike gasoline, is a simple mixture of hydrocarbons, mainly propane/propylene (C3S) and butane/butylene (C4S).
The most important statement in the second sentence and is the one that shocks most people. Propane is produced only from OIL or NATURAL GAS! Propane does not come from drilling wells in the ground and pumping it out. It only comes from refining oil or natural gas. Bottom line; if there is no oil or natural gas available, there is no propane!
What is the Shelf-Life of Propane?
Propane has an indefinite shelf-life. It will last and be good to use literally forever. The only long term storage issue propane has is the container it’s stored in. Most all tanks are made from steel with some smaller RV tanks made from aluminum and lately some are now being made from a translucent fiber glass resin compound and they’re called ‘Clear-View’ which allows you to see the liquid propane level inside. As we know steel rusts and as the tank begins to rust it can cause a pin hole and the propane will leak out. Proper tank maintenance is needed and will allow many years of safe storage.
What is the Life of a Propane Tank?
Cylinders (tanks) are subject to recertification (also known as requalification) twelve years from their date of manufacture and every five years after that. For example, a cylinder manufactured in January of 2000 will have to be recertified in January of 2012 meaning if you take your bottle to the propane company in April of 2012 to be refilled, it will have to be re-qualified by authorized personnel before it can be filled. The tanks have the date of manufactured stamped on the protective top collar.
Painting Propane Tanks?
Propane tanks, like ASME stationary LP Gas tanks, must be painted a reflective color to avoid overpressure situations caused by the sun beating down on them and overheating the Propane inside.
How should smaller Propane tanks be stored?
Propane tanks should be stored outside. Do not store any propane tanks in the garage or any other indoor areas at any time, even during the winter months. If the tanks may be subjected to excessive heat, like from direct sunlight or desert high temperatures the tanks should only be filled to 80 percent of the tank's capacity. This is to allow for some liquid propane expansion that might occur during hot days.
Propane is stored under high pressure!
ASME propane tanks are built to 250# working pressure. Under normal circumstances, the vapor pressure at 100ºF is 172 psi. Propane is a gas that when compressed turns into a liquid for storage and transport. That’s why you can hear it slosh around inside the tank when you move it. A pressure regulator must always be used with propane as it reduces the tank pressure from approximately 172 PSI to an appliance working pressure of around 10-12 PSI then fed to the appliances, lanterns, etc for burning.
(Source: The above information is from propane tank manufacturers)
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2 comments:
Frank Hill here .... no just kidding it's Hiero
Propane's great but it's hard to transport on a bike, expensive on a per-BTU basis, and it will disappear fast off of the shelves in a TSHTF situation.
For small cooking and heating needs, I like methanol (yellow HEET) or a methanol/91% isopropanol mix. Both are easy to get and at least at Wal-Mart, cheap. They're light to carry and can be stashed in a backpack when shopping by bike. Streight 91% isopropanol is smokey unless you use forced-air to the flame, such as with a small computer fan. I need to work on something like this because iso's 3 carbons to meth's 1 means a lot more BTUs for about the same price.
Moving "heavier" we come to kerosene, there are a lot of little kerosene heaters out there, they work like a kerosene lamp on steroids. The problem is, they can be tempermental, and some are hard to get wicks for.
Coleman fuel is essentially cleaner, purer, kerosene. It works dandy in kerosene equipment, plus in good old pump-up Coleman stuff. I kind of want a Coleman Sportster to try this winter, and I also have an old brass Optimus I may "fettle" into workability with this fuel.
Surprisingly, and I've never know this if I weren't a bit of a pyro, cotton burns nicely. Take a cotton ball and light it, holding it with tweezers. Fascinating. 100% cotton goods like old tattered T-shirts could make decent fuel in a pinch.
Another handy hint I've discovered recently is that those old 1970s fondue sets you see in thrift stores make great emergency cookers. Run them on yellow HEET, you get a nice pot for soup, boiling eggs, etc. The frame will generally only fit the pot it's meant for well, but if you can often put one of your own pots or a frying pan on top.
Methanol (yellow HEET is by far the purest) and Sterno (ethanol is a gel) are the only ones of these fuels that are considered safe for indoor use. Everything else, beware. My trailer is drafty enough that I don't worry too much about CO buildup, but I should probably still get a detector.
Propane is delightful but I would NOT count on it long-term.
Just a note on the 10:19 poster.
First, methanol is a deadly poison. Handle it with extreme care.
Two,I would suggest using only kerosene with kerosene appliances. The risk of explosion is real. You might get away with winter diesel fuel in a kerosene appliance, but you risk that it will not burn clean and choke you up with added chemicals, so not even diesel is recommended. Personally, I would never use Coleman fuel in a kerosene heater. It could get you killed.
That said, kerosene and kerosene can be used, with caution, in emergency heating situations and for cooking with a proper kerosene stove (wick or pump).
Also, consider other means for small heating needs. A solar heat grabber for your window, south-side curtains made from black plastic, and all sorts of other passive solar heating schemes involving combinations of clear and black plastic. Also, a bread box type solar water heater can be easily made. Also, solar cooking is a very real alternative. You can make a "Heaven's Flame" or other type of solar cooker cheaply and easily.
As for propane, at best, in a civilization collapse, it's only a temporary solution.
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