On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 07:27:20 -0600, David A. Webb
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 05:08:07 GMT, Kent Fowler
wrote:

Dave, let me put it this way and then I am ending my part in this
thread. . I hate to see folks get hurt/burned/killed by taking
chances they did not have have to. I have known people who were maimed
or killed by doing just that. And in my opinion, you took a pretty
scary chance and I think you were lucky the conditions weren't right
to have an accident.

I respect that.
However, my opinion was that there was very little risk involved.
And it seems that more and more people are coming up with examples
where people deal with similar situations in every day life, where it
is not only considered safe, but also routine.

I would have filled the tank with water
through the valve to eliminate the vapor space then used the torch. I
wouldn't have stuck even a match to it until that vapor space was
gone. Why take the chance????

Because someone else would probably argue that there will always be a
chance that you *thought* the tank was full of water, but really
wasn't.

No, because you at least eliminated most of the vapor space.

I work with
hydrocarbon reactions using super high pressures and elevated
temperatures every day. I know the physics. I know the math. I also
know what can happen if one little thing goes wrong.

You know the math and physics, but what about the chemistry?
I've seen first hand how chemical reactions can become explosive. If
the temperature is wrong. If the chemical ratios are wrong. If the
pressure is wrong. etc. I agree, one little thing going wrong can
cause major problems.

Know the chemistry very well. Worked a propylene oxide unit for 5
years. Used direct oxygenation of hydrocarbons in the process. Have
been working oxo-alcohols and plastisizers units for the last 25
years. Chemistry is a part of my every day job.

But we are comparing apples and oranges.
I wasn't dealing with high pressures. I didn't have high
temperatures. The propane wasn't going to react with anything inside
the tank.

I didn't say it would. But it certainly might have reacted with a
spark or a flame, which is the point of this dialog.

I certainly wouldn't try this with an acetylene tank, because
acetylene is not very stable by itself, and can detonate violently
with no oxygen present.

Dave