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LP gas in cold.....

kcopp
kcopp Member Posts: 4,472
in Gas Heating
weather. Is there an additive that LP suppliers add to the supply to get it to vaporize better during cold weather? Someone ran this one by me yesterday and is the first time I had ever heard of that....kcopp

Comments

  • icesailor
    icesailor Member Posts: 7,265
    edited January 2014
    Additive:

    Heat?

    Phase Reverser from Star Trek to reverse the laws of Physics?
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,611
    Vaporizer

    We used one of these a while back. http://www.algas-sdi.com/vaporizers.html



    There was a persistent low pressure shutdown during high loads. The supply to the building would literally go from 20# to 0# instantaneously.  As soon as the boiler shut down due to low pressure, the supply would go back to 20# just as fast.



    The propane company installed a vaporizer and the problem never reoccurred.

    It never occurred to me before this post, I wonder how much energy the vaporizer uses?



    Carl
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,857
    In really cold climates

    the mix which makes up "LPG" can be changed -- more propane, less butane -- to have a higher vapour pressure at any given temperature.  Perhaps this is what was being referred to?



    The vapour pressure of butane drops to 1 atmosphere (0 psig) at -1 Celsius, but propane doesn't drop to 1 atmosphere until about -40 C.  The suppliers change the mix to get a reasonable balance between vapourizing and pressure.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • Tim McElwain
    Tim McElwain Member Posts: 4,642
    They will add

    methanol to get rid of possible moisture inside the tanks but it does not change the vaporization. Vaporization will always be less and less as the boiling point of propane is approached -40° F. The lower the volume of fuel and the amount of wet area also affects vaporization. With these extreme temperatures it can really be a tough time with LP.

    As someone mentioned high demand can also be a problem so vaporizers are added to the system, they use the liquid as fuel to vaporize the liquid into a gas. The consumer pays for that, it is really just like a boiler.

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