What to do when you gas tank is overfilled

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  • Author: Muyiwa Ige(LPG Stakeholder and Consultant)

There are two possible reasons an LPG tank may be overfilled: ignorance and carelessness.

Ignorance                                

Some people are not aware that LPG tanks must not be filled beyond 90% of their capacities, to allow for ample space for vapor expansion when the atmospheric temperature increases.

The 90% maximum filling volume is valid for tropical countries like Nigeria, where the LPG composition has a much higher percentage of butane (%80butane & %20 Propane).

For countries where the percentage of the propane is higher (%70 Propane & %30 Butane), the maximum filling volume for an LPG tank is 85%.

Therefore, when someone says they want to fill their cooking gas tank to the brim, then the person is suffering from acute ignorance of the behavior of LPG.

Carelessness      

We have heard of a case of a driver in Nigeria, who was formerly driving a white product petroleum tanker, and was only recently engaged to drive an LPG Bobtail, discharging gas in a LPG Skid Plant and leaving the premises, during the gas discharge operation.

The LPG tank was already filled beyond the 90% filling volume by the time he returned to the premises of the LPG Skid Plant.

Disaster was averted due to the presence of an LPG engineer in the premises, who took the right course of action.

Steps to take when a Gas Tank is overfilled

·         1. Get a big towel, immerse it in water and wrap it around or place it on the tank’s Pressure Relief Valve and all the open-ended Ball Valves in the pipework.

·        2.  Activate emergency procedures. Put your water hydrant hoses, C02, Fire Extinguishers, Sand bucket and foam solution, on stand-by.

·        3.  Ensure there’s no source of ignition within a 50 meter radius of your gas station/plant. Go outside your premises and inform your neighbors that there could be a gas leak and nobody around should activate any source of ignition, till you overcome the situation.

·         4. Ensure no vehicle or motor-cycle drives into your premises. This is because gas vapor can be ignited by the hot exhaust of an automobile.

·         5. Quickly arrange for many 50kg or 25kg cylinders, to dispense the excess gas in your tank into. For a 10 Ton LPG tank, you may need about four-five 50kg cylinders

·         6. Fill up the gas cylinders immediately they arrive and check that the tank volume has dropped to 90% or below.

·         7. Take a bottle of chilled malt drink (with Peak Milk, if available.)