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NXR · 01-21-2021, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firedog53

Yow! I'd much rather have a gas (propane, natural) fire than a leak...! Easier to locate, the problem is more readily identified, self-resolving as the fuel source is exhausted; the list can go on...

Yeah, not me.

The hottest fire I was ever on was a training exercise at a nuke plant. They had a large ground-level propane tank with a simulated leak. We had to get right up to the tank and turn the valve off. We had to start several dozen feet away due to the heat.

If you had a square millimeter of exposed skin you got burned. We had to use a high-pressure "fog" pattern from a 2 1/2" hose to push the heat out of the way and then the heat curled over the fog pattern and down on to the firefighters. I looked down and immediately got an intense burning sensation on the back of my neck as the heat went down my back and past the Flamex hood.

Did I mention the propane flame is invisible? Because it is.

Ray

Alan_Hepburn · 01-22-2021, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NXR

Did I mention the propane flame is invisible? Because it is.

Then why can we see the flame on a propane cooktop, or in the oven, or in a propane firepit?

Down South · 01-22-2021, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NXR

Yeah, not me.
Did I mention the propane flame is invisible? Because it is.

Ray

Maybe you were thinking methyl alcohol based? Been through a lot of training myself.

NXR · 01-23-2021, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Down South

Maybe you were thinking methyl alcohol based? Been through a lot of training myself.

Could be although we were told it was due to the high pressure. Maybe they mixed something in for effect or maybe the flame was visible up close but I do not recall that. I mean, that jet of heat was super-hot forty feet away and we started the attack about seventy feet away.

One person actually asked why his camp stove was blue and this was invisible. They said it was due to the high pressure. Maybe that's the same reason why when an RV goes up in flames and you hear the BOOM from the propane tank exploding, the flame is not blue and you feel the blast of heat way off.

While this was last century, anybody who was there still has a vivid memory. Certainly not a typical RV fire due to the unlimited supply of fuel but definitely a possibility at a campground propane filling station for at least a while. Driving past a large propane tank with its end pointed my way still invokes the memory.

Ray

KanzKran · 01-23-2021, 05:50 AM

The relief valve is supposed to vent off vapor as the fire boils the liquid, thereby keeping the pressure below the tank and hose burst pressure. That’s why the relief valve and tube is so big. But anything can happen, of course.

I’m sure everyone has seen this video of an RV fire at a propane station, but it does highlight the overpressure relief venting off at a scary rate a number of times. The first venting event is at about 1:25.