Jonathan Kaplan on thu 10 apr 97
I have read all the posts and responses to the original question as to why
the tanks freeze, and quite honestly, while the majority of the posts dealt
with some safety issues, and quite rightly so, there is an essential point
that is being mis-understood:
Popane is a liquid that is pumped into your tanks under pressure. The tanks
are never filled completely with prpane liquid. The tanks are under
pressure. When the pressure drops, gas is produced from the liquid surface
and this is what goes to your burners, unless you have a liquid propane
burner. The more surface area you have, the greater amount of gas can be
withdrawn. Hence, a 1000 gallon tank (holds from my memory, maybe 800 or so
liquid gallons of propane) has a larger surface area to draw from, then a
100 gallon tank. Placing your tanks in tandem will increase the surface
area. Propance tanks freeze because of many things, and the ambient air and
temp outside is a major factor. But it is also the surface area of each
tank that vaporizes the liquid into gas as you draw it off that is also a
major player here. If you keep your tanks topped off, and they are sized
correctly, you can fire way into the deepest and coldest winters. I did it
for years in my former studio in Pennsylvania through many extreme winters.
I powered my 100 cubic foot kiln with a 1000 gallon tank. Talk to your
propane supplier and make sure that your tanks and kiln are sized to work
together.
Jonathan
Jonathan Kaplan jonathan@csn.net
Ceramic Design Group Ltd./Production Services
PO Box 775112
Steamboat Springs CO 80477
(970) 879-9139*voice and fax
http://www.craftweb.com/org/jkaplan/cdg.shtml
http://digitalfire.com/education/articles/kaplan1.htm
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