LPG in cold weather

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swampsnake

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Just wondering how full timers with underslung LPG tanks are coping this winter, unable to get to the warmer climates, as I believe butane doesn't work too well in sub zero temps.
 
Its not butane that is used, it’s auto gas which I understand includes some propane
 
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Lenny HB said:
Cars use a liquid take off not vapour. Butane won't vaporise at low temps.
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Car systems have the liquid heated by the engine cooling water in the vapouriser where it is turned to gas for the gas fuel injection so it doesn't really make a huge difference once the petrol has started and warmed up the engine prior to LPG kicking in.
 
peterc10 said:
We use autogas and have never had a problem. How do you think LPG cars, which run on Autogas, work in the winter?
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They have heated regulators and vapourisers even with pure Propane the regulator would soon freeze .
 
Sorry I should have been clearer, I was asking the queation in relation to cooking and heating
 
swampsnake said:
Sorry I should have been clearer, I was asking the queation in relation to cooking and heating
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I think that was clear, just another example of thread drift (y)

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We also had underslung tank----- filled up wherever we needed to---- never had an issue------- we would certainly not hesitate to fit one on our present van if we think we would use it enough------- at present fitting a diesel heater so won't be using anywhere near as much gas
 
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A 100% LPG car could use a number of techniques. You could use electric pre-heat (possibly including a vapour pre-heat once electrified). However, my money (without googling) is actually on liquid injection (i.e. just like they already burn liquid petrol).
 
I use a gasit tank in my works van for running a 7kw gas burner. I’ve worked in -2 to -3c sometimes running gas for 1 To 2 hours. Never had a problem plenty of ice forming on outside of tank, only thing is I keep regulator out of the weather.
 
DandG5515 said:
I use a gasit tank in my works van for running a 7kw gas burner. I’ve worked in -2 to -3c sometimes running gas for 1 To 2 hours. Never had a problem plenty of ice forming on outside of tank, only thing is I keep regulator out of the weather.
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Ice forming isn't a problem itself with Propane, except that you may need to keep children and animals away to avoid burns. The propane itself will go down to -40C. However, you do need to ensure that you can take off the amount of gas you require at the temperature you have with the size of cylinder you have. Large full cylinders (with large wetted surface area) can vaporise more gas than small empty ones. Most underslung tanks are large enough to give 7kW all the way to empty, even at -2C. However, if you want 28kW to run a combi boiler at that temperature, things might be different and require a pretty large tank, or some sort of tank heating.

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Lenny HB said:
Cars use a liquid take off not vapour. Butane won't vaporise at low temps.
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Spot on. Butane is a mix of n-Butane and I-Butane - they differ very slightly in atomic structure. Mostly in UK is is mostly normal Butane so sits at about -2°C at ambient pressure. ISO Butane which was a large component of Butane we loaded out of Flotta in the Orkneys used to sit at about -10°C.

On the other hand, Propane sits at about -42°C at ambient pressure depending on how much contamination there is. We had huge issues with one cargo I loaded (first trip as Chief Officer....) in a ship to ship transfer in US Gulf Which had a lot of Ethane in . Tanks were only certified to -48°C so we had to keep the pressure up to just under 0.2 bar to keep the temperature up. Nightmare cargo to carry, working day and night adjusting the reliquifaction compressors constantly to keep under the max pressure of 0.25 bar.

Anyway...... propane auto gas.... no problem in winter. Sorry for the drift
 

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