Good Industry Practices for Bulk LP Gas Installations

July 26, 2017

Liquefied petroleum gas equipment is responsible for the storage and handling of a number of combustible hydrocarbons. Classed as high-demand fuel containers, LP gas pressure vessels are found in industrial parks, as you'd expect, but they're also installed in domestic premises. Good industry practices make this widespread application base acceptable, but what are those practices? What guidelines ensure a satisfactory safety margin when butane and propane are stored in bulk?

Defining Bulk LP Storage Applications

A wide range of industrial and commercial sites rely on safe LPG pressure vessel installation and operability practices. Constructed from graded steels and meticulously utilised weld seams, the cylinders are commonly used as heating sources, as the raw fluid energy that warms residential and commercial premises. Large greenhouses use LPG, with the CO2 byproduct acting as a photosynthesis supplement. In large-scale applications, again it's LP gas that provides an alternative fuel source, this time for a growing sector of the automobile industry. Even in Kiln furnaces and space heaters, the industrial sector is loaded with bulk-fitted propane and butane tanks.

Good Industry Practices: Managing LP Gas Installations

A bona fide books-worth of guidelines regulates the storage and usage of LP Gas. Bulk storage requirements cover the safe installation of the vessels, plus all of the equipment assemblies that couple the bulk components. Initially, then, ASME codes and other nationally accredited engineering standards define the rolled metals and welded seams. Sized lifting lugs are next, then the structural characteristics of the vessel supporting platform, an asset that likely takes the shape of a concrete-reinforced plinth. On top of these location-derived requirements, ventilation and accessibility needs receive all due consideration.

Pressure Vessel Design Considerations

As you can already see, this is an installation that's surrounded by regulations. Why all the fuss? Well, try to remember the fact that these pressure vessels are everywhere. They're behind homes, on agricultural land parcels, and arrayed near industrial complexes. The location guidelines provide copiously tabulated datasheets, informational guidelines that mark out equipment distances and best practice policies. Beyond those policies, the core equipment frame must emulate that heightened installation methodology. Observance of the ASME VIII codes, plus a design feature that accounts for the maximum vapour pressure of the stored medium (Butane or propane) rests at the core of the bulk installation guidelines.

Vessel distance and anchoring requirements partner with pipe and valve labelling procedures to imbue the installation with a site-critical systemized configuration. Then, above and beyond this structured layout, it's a broadened range of vessel engineering parameters that dictate just how well these good industry practices are observed.

Contact Details

Fusion - Weld Engineering Pty Ltd
ABN 98 068 987619

1865 Frankston Flinders Road,
Hastings, VIC 3915

Ph: (03) 5909 8218

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