[TheForge] Re: repost of propane cylinder cutting

Tue Nov 26 01:32:00 2002

mike> I don't get how sheet steel and "absorb" relatively simple
mike> organic stuff like propane or ethyl mercaptan.

terry> i have debated this numerous times with the propane service
terry> companies here. i tend to believe that the slight amount of
terry> rust internal to the cylinder is what has absorbed the propane
terry> and/or the mercaptan. they still say it is the cylinder's
terry> steel.

The MSDS sheet says "propane" may include up to 10% propylene.  It
also says that "dangerous polymerization does not occur".  I wonder if
enough polymerization of the much more reactive propylene into a
coating on the walls of the cylinder over its 10-year lifespan might
be the culprit.  A thin film of low molecular weigh polypropylene
would not wash off with soap and water, would probably be undetectable
by visual inspection and could, when briskly heated, quickly turn into
combustible vapors or aerosols.

Speculation.

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada 

[email protected]            
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/