Q. How do you get rid of 30,000 cubic feet of propane vapor?
A. You hook a hose to the tank, attach it to a big upright pipe and light a match. It’s called a “flame-out”.
…Just one of many “guy things” they do on weekends around the factory…
…that usually involve bending a few rules…
(Thanks to Mary Kay for the photos.)
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:08 am
That reminds of the summer of (I think) 1970. I was working as a summer intern at the Illinois State Geological Survey. We were up at the site for the then-under construction Fermilab ring accelerator. An old natural gasp pipeline had cut across the ring and had been re-routed around the outside. That left the line inside the ring with both ends sealed off. The lab folks put up a thing much like the one in the picture at Bullseye but much, much bigger. I think the pillar of gas was around 100 feet tall. It was icy white from the cool expanding gas. It wasn’t, sadly, on fire. That would have been a sight to see!
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 am
That first photo is nicely composed, with the fall trees and the flame reflecting on the wet pavement. Mary Kay has some photography chops!
Thanks for the more frequent posts, Lani. Too bad you can’t utilize that vapor somehow.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:45 pm
what does that sign on the end of the tank in the 2nd picture say? is that supposed to be irony?
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
irony? No, it’s decoration. Kinda like the traffic signals in Rome…
November 4th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
that isn’t just a “guy thing”- It looks like fun!
November 14th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Q. Why do you need to get rid of 30k cubic feet of propane. I could have used some of it! Although I m a bit far away.
steve
November 14th, 2008 at 7:44 am
A. The tank had to be drained to change some valves. The liquid propane was drained and loaded into a tanker, then hauled up to a storage facility in Washington state. The fumes that remained were burned off for safety reasons.
I could have tried to slip a couple of quarts into my luggage for the trip to Caledonia next month…and based on my recent experiences with airport security, I’d have probably gotten them through.