Exploding Gas Bottles

[jayenram]

Driving through the village yesterday, this bloody great dog comes bounding out of a house, tied to an empty gas bottle. The dog was moving at a h@lluva pace (chasing another dog) and the bottle was bouncing, swinging from side to side. Notwithstanding the possible damage to vehicles/motorbikes/pedestrians, does anyone know whether the bottle was in danger of exploding? I realise that the bottle would have been full of gas at atmospheric pressure.

[cdnvic]

It would take a substantial blow to make the container explode. The biggest risk would be the valve breaking off and the pressure shooting the bottle off at something or someone. Hopefully the collar (on the bottle not the dog) would prevent this. The escaping compressed gas would probably give the dog a major case of freezer burn.

cv

[helitool]

Propane is under very low pressure (about 150 psi) so there is little danger from the tank steel rupturing or the valve breaking off. The thing that scares me is when my brother in law orders 250 cubic foot oxygen cylinders for his shop and they arrive in the back of a pickup (say 30 of them) with no safety caps on them. If the valve breaks off of one of those 2,000 psi cylinders they travel about 1/8 mile before landing.

Here in the States the fire dept. has been known to set fire to large propane leakes in pipelines to let it burn slowely instead of mixing with the air and becoming explosive. Propane is only an explosive hazard if it acumulates inside of a closed area. If you smell gas when entering your house or a boat NEVER turn on an electric light switch as this will probably ignite the mixture.

[jayenram]

It would take a substantial blow to make the container explode. The biggest risk would be the valve breaking off and the pressure shooting the bottle off at something or someone. Hopefully the collar (on the bottle not the dog) would prevent this. The escaping compressed gas would probably give the dog a major case of freezer burn.

cv

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, but being empty (gas at atmospheric) that would be unlikely to happen. Anyway, I still think it's pretty stupid tying a big dog to an 'empty' gas bottle. I could tell it was empty (or virtually) because of the noise when it bounced. That and that it wasn't still connected to a gas ring.

[penzman]

Is this the same dog?

I saw this poor inflated thing floating overhead yesterday

[bakachan]

The thing that scares me is when my brother in law orders 250 cubic foot oxygen cylinders for his shop and they arrive in the back of a pickup (say 30 of them) with no safety caps on them. If the valve breaks off of one of those 2,000 psi cylinders they travel about 1/8 mile before landing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your brother is living on borrowed time

However... I'm not one to admonish because i did really dumb stuff in my younger years like pour a pint of lacquer thinner into a 55 gallon barrel and light it. bloody thing sounded like a 737 (consuming oxygen through the small hole) as it took off down the driveway. It flew a couple inches off the ground and went about 300 feet. All i wanted to do is dry the diesel out of it

[AlexLah]

Can we use International Metric Standards please

KR,

Alex

[jayenram]

Can we use International Metric Standards please 

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I thought "h@lluva pace" was an Internation Metric Standard measurement.

[chuchok]

Can we use International Metric Standards please 

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I thought "h@lluva pace" was an Internation Metric Standard measurement.

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Correct terminology should have been "like a rat up a drain pipe" and 44 Gal drum.No such thing as a 55 gal drum....if you speak english.

[doctormann]

Propane is under very low pressure (about 150 psi) so there is little danger from the tank steel rupturing or the valve breaking off. The thing that scares me is when my brother in law orders 250 cubic foot oxygen cylinders for his shop and they arrive in the back of a pickup (say 30 of them) with no safety caps on them. If the valve breaks off of one of those 2,000 psi cylinders they travel about 1/8 mile before landing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, there is an obvious fire risk if a propane cylinder is compromised but the hazard from a high pressure gas cylinder is very real, even when the gas itself is non-flammable.

I have had two experiences (in a previous life) with high pressure cylinders failing. The first was with an unconstrained nitrogen cylinder - this fell over and the valve broke off. The cylinder toook off like a rocket, just missed me, went straight through a 12 inch brick wall and carried on going for some considerable distance. The second was when a diaphragm failed in the regulator of a hydrogen cylinder - all of the hydrogen was vented into the laboratory, very quickly, with an appalling amount of noise. No explosion though - we were lucky. Change of undies required on both occasions.

DM

[cdnvic]

I used to work at a welding shop in Melbourne where part of the safety orientation was being shown the patched concrete walls (block construction) of our shop and the one next door after a coller-less cylinder had fallen off a truck years ago, sending it through the wall, a chainlink fence and stopping part way through the wall of the building next door. Makes you wonder what kind of nutter would ever handle one of those things without a coller.

cv

[PETERTHEEATER]

Ah! Takes me back to my days as a 19 year old airman in the RAF. One winters day, temperature below zero, an aircraft towing tractor skidded on sheet ice and hit an oxygen replenishment trolley (cart for our US readers) with 4 x 3500 psi cylinders clamped on to it. The neck of one cylinder fractured with a noise like a grenade and the trolley (on 4 wheels) took off in reverse across the concrete pan and ended up 300 meters away in around 10 seconds still the right way up. How do I know? It stopped about 1 metre from my back where I was squatting checking the tyre pressure on an aircraft!

However, LPG cylinders as used domestically contain the propane as a liquid under relatively low pressure (around 10 bar [150 psi]) so do not pose the same risk if punctured. Just as well the way that they are generally mishandled.

Leaking gas is the worst risk. When mixed with air its explosive so keep them outside well ventilated and check regularly for leaking valves, hoses and fittings by using a detergent solution (water with a few drops of washing up liquid) which should show leaks as bubbles.

Propane is under very low pressure (about 150 psi) so there is little danger from the tank steel rupturing or the valve breaking off. The thing that scares me is when my brother in law orders 250 cubic foot oxygen cylinders for his shop and they arrive in the back of a pickup (say 30 of them) with no safety caps on them. If the valve breaks off of one of those 2,000 psi cylinders they travel about 1/8 mile before landing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, there is an obvious fire risk if a propane cylinder is compromised but the hazard from a high pressure gas cylinder is very real, even when the gas itself is non-flammable.

I have had two experiences (in a previous life) with high pressure cylinders failing. The first was with an unconstrained nitrogen cylinder - this fell over and the valve broke off. The cylinder toook off like a rocket, just missed me, went straight through a 12 inch brick wall and carried on going for some considerable distance. The second was when a diaphragm failed in the regulator of a hydrogen cylinder - all of the hydrogen was vented into the laboratory, very quickly, with an appalling amount of noise. No explosion though - we were lucky. Change of undies required on both occasions.

DM

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[kingsize]

Driving through the village yesterday, this bloody great dog comes bounding out of a house, tied to an empty gas bottle. The dog was moving at a h@lluva pace (chasing another dog) and the bottle was bouncing, swinging from side to side. Notwithstanding the possible damage to vehicles/motorbikes/pedestrians, does anyone know whether the bottle was in danger of exploding? I realise that the bottle would have been full of gas at atmospheric pressure.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

wonderfull story, amazing Thailand / any pictures of it ???

[ChickenTonight]

I used to stay in an upmarket condo in KlongSaan.

They had a "fire safetly demonstration" in the car park under the condo tower where a policeman set fire to a propane bottle and explained that it wouldnt explode because there wasnt any oxygen in the bottle. But it did fire 5 metres of fire and scorch the roof of the car park that was directly underneath the condo tower.

Im not quite sure the relavance of this because we were banned from using gas in the rooms anyway.

[Abandon]

Driving through the village yesterday, this bloody great dog comes bounding out of a house, tied to an empty gas bottle. The dog was moving at a h@lluva pace (chasing another dog) and the bottle was bouncing, swinging from side to side. Notwithstanding the possible damage to vehicles/motorbikes/pedestrians, does anyone know whether the bottle was in danger of exploding? I realise that the bottle would have been full of gas at atmospheric pressure.

Big fat exploding gas bottle tied to a dog - sounds like Thomas Merton out walking his pooch .....

Edited September 18, 2005 by Pandit

[jackr]

NEVER turn on an electric light switch.

Is it ok to turn on a non-electric light switch, then