Re: [a/s] Propane & gasoline

[Susi and John Burchard <saluqi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The big difference is the boiling point.  Propane boils a little below minus
forty (minus forty is the same temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius
scales).  Gasoline boils at 39 Celsius which is just over 102 Fahrenheit. 
[Actually gasoline is a mixture of hydrocarbons and probably has a considerable
boiling point range rather than a single value.  39 C seems a low-end figure to
me: gasoline tanks don't boil away even in summer in Arizona, at temperatures of
120 F and beyond.]

So propane is a gas at ordinary temperatures, while gasoline is a liquid. 
Propane must be compressed and/or refrigerated to become a liquid.  When you
spill liquid propane (which is what's inside a propane tank) it boils,
explosively, and in the process freezes the hell out of whatever it's in contact
with.  If you really want a nice exciting BLEVE, try running a fully loaded LPG
or LNG tanker (ship) onto a reef, spilling a few tens of thousands of *tons* of
liquefied, refrigerated compressed gas onto the ocean ...

That sort of excitement occasionally came my way as an environmental consultant
in the Arabian Gulf ... where surface water temperatures in summer can reach 95
Fahrenheit ... 

John

Susi and John Burchard
Tepe Gawra Salukis
saluqi@ix.netcom.com