5 ms·
Maybe 5 years ago I was hanging out with a buddy and we took an angle grinder to an empty propane tank. When we were finished, we smelled uniquely awful. It tur
by Nathanael_M 4y ago
Maybe 5 years ago I was hanging out with a buddy and we took an angle grinder to an empty propane tank. When we were finished, we smelled uniquely awful. It turns out that added to propane is a tiny amount of the odourant Ethyl Mercaptan. Now when you’re using propane you get just enough of a whiff of it to remind you that you’re using propane, but if you get a smell of the inside of an empty propane tank? Well, something about the liquid propane residue that remains, some miracle of science and chemistry, creates a density of Ethyl Mercaptan that is shocking. Room-fillingly shocking. Clothes throwing away shocking. Many showers worth of shocking.
A couple years ago I had my first “truffle” experience with some truffle cheese and was like cutting back into that propane tank. Not the same in scale, but certainly in type. Tremendously similar smells. Since then I’ve been sad and thought I just managed to ruin truffles for myself. This article has given me hope.
- SnowHill9902 4y agoThat’s how many industrial fires start.
- aperson_hello 4y agoThis. Grinding = sparks. Sparks + propane remnants = explosions
- riffraff 4y agoah, that resonates with my experience with obviously fake truffle aroma: to me it always smelled like gas.
- orangepurple 4y agoI seriously hope you filled that propane tank full of water then drained it completely and left it upside down before cutting into it. Hole pointing down. This is an extreme fire and explosion hazard because propane sinks to the bottom of the tank.
- nemo44x 4y agoIt also gets into the pores of the steel which can be enough to explode.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y agoSteel has pores???
- baldeagle 4y agoTechnically, it has grains. As it hardens, the liquid steel stuff clumps together not too unlike bread, with the boundary and grain size / mix being factors that affect the quality of the steel. https://thermalprocessing.com/metal-urgency-determining-austenite-grain-size/ https://thermalprocessing.com/metal-urgency-determining-aust...
- lightedman 4y agoMore like cast iron, and some lower-grade steels. Higher-grade steels tend to have their pores closed off, the grains welded shut/together as a part of the mechanical processing.
- nemo44x 4y agoSorry, not being technical. The pits is probably a better way to put it. Point being just because the tank is empty doesn’t mean it’s safe. Should still fill with water.
- throwaway892238 4y agoFWIW if you need to cut into a tank like this, a sawzall is a bit safer as you can operate it more slowly and "tear" the metal open. But the safest tools are like a giant can-opener for use on things like oil drums. Angle grinder... I can't imagine sparks not happening.
- Nathanael_M 4y agoIt was in my buddy’s shed. If it is a tale of wisdom you seek, turn back now.
- Pinus 4y agoOnly tangentially related, but: Some years ago, there was a flurry of reports of "gas smell" in places around the English Channel, and gas works engineers all over south-eastern England and north-western France scurried about their networks looking for leaks, finding none. Eventually, the leak was found — in the factory that produces the smelling agent!
- fbdab103 4y agoI love imagining this scene. Alice: I'm telling you, there is gas everywhere! This place is about to blow! Bob: I have been up and down the block three times, and the sniffer is not picking up a thing.
- Nathanael_M 4y agoHahaha, this is a great story! Goes to show how pungent that stink is.
- nemo44x 4y agoYou should fill the tank with water before doing something like that. You could have killed yourself.
- Nathanael_M 4y agoI learned that like 15 minutes too late during the Googling process of “Why do I smell so very bad after cutting open a propane tank with an angle grinder”.
- jamal-kumar 4y agoI'm sorry but what compelled you to do that? Cutting into an empty propane tank with an angle grinder? You like being in close proximity to explosions or something?
- felipemnoa 4y agoA hold my beer moment! /s
- Ancapistani 4y agoI’ve seen it done to make barbecue grills. I’ve always used hot water heater tanks for that purpose.
- Nathanael_M 4y agoAhhh, a buddy and I were making a forge for knife making. I can’t defend my choices.
- bitexploder 4y agoI mean, it's just metal. As long as you make sure it is empty this is perfectly safe. Once a propane tank has reached the end of it's life as a propane tank it is completely reasonable to re-purpose them. You just have to be safe. Welders do this all the time. The scent they put in is actually somewhat flammable too. You take the valve out, leave it inverted, clean clean it out with soapy water, etc. It is a non-trivial process, but propane tanks are good steel.
- baybal2 4y ago
- shepherdjerred 4y agoThis is wild. Glad that you didn't explode yourself.
- no_wizard 4y agoExtremely curious why you guys were splitting open a propane tank
- Nathanael_M 4y agoTo make a forge for knife making.