Course participants toured Berardi Fuels in Kingston, NY, which uses a 33,000-gallon tank for propane bulk storage. Most LPG tanks have openings for hookups to both the liquid area and the space left at the top of the tank for vapor. In an accident involving a propane transport vehicle, the line intended for vapor may end up flowing liquid, and vice versa.
A variety of safety devices are attached to Berardi Fuels' huge tanks: safety and check valves, breakaway plumbing designed to come apart if a truck driver forgets to unhook all the truck's lines after a pickup or delivery, pressure relief valves mounted in stacks on top of the tank, and fusable links that melt at very low temperatures, shutting down the lines in case of fire.
During outdoor, practical evolutions, the vapor cloud of heavier-than-air gas moved slowly along the ground. LPG expands 270 times when going from a liquid to a vapor state, and the vapors may or may not be readily visible if they're not burning. Large leaks may be found by listening for a hiss, small ones by wiping on soap and water and watching for bubbles.
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