Vaporizers for Propane Tanks

Often times, commercial and industrial propane applications using high demand LP Gas equipment will incorporate propane vaporizers to satisfy appliance BTU requirements. The use of vaporizers is common when equipment or appliance demand exceeds the vaporizing capacity of the tank. Simply put, vaporizers supply the necessary amount of propane gas when the tank can’t keep up with the downstream appliance demand on its own. However, placing a much larger tank, with higher vaporization capacity would not be practical. LP Gas vaporizers work with liquid propane at a location apart from the tank with liquid being piped to the vaporizing equipment for gas vaporization.

Propane Vaporizers

LP Gas Vaporizer Purpose

When expressing appliance demand in gallons of propane per minute (GPM), a propane vaporizer will likely be necessary. Propane vaporizers operate utilizing liquid propane to produce vapor (propane gas) for downstream equipment. Vaporizers serve to meet the demands of equipment because the environmental conditions present challenges to container vaporization capacity. Such environment conditions include cold temperatures. This is because LP Gas appliance vapor requirements are extremely high.

Installation of vaporizers is not possible without changing the propane withdrawal method of the propane tank. Propane tanks supply vaporizers with liquid. Therefore, the temporary installation and use of a vaporizer is not always practical or efficient.

Propane Direct Fired Vaporizers

Direct fired propane vaporizers utilize a flame that directly heats the liquid propane. This turns it to gas for use in downstream, high vapor demand equipment. Liquid propane is piped from the tank to the vaporizer.Then, heating takes place and the propane gas vaporization accelerates.

What makes a direct fired vaporizer unique is that supply of the gas for the heat source is by the same tank(s) supplying the liquid for vaporization. Simply put, the propane for supplying the heat as well as the liquid propane for vaporization both come from the same tank.

Indirect Fired Propane Vaporizers

Indirect fired propane vaporizers utilize heat from a supplemental source to heat the liquid propane for its acceleration of vaporization. Unlike direct fired vaporizers, this type of vaporization equipment heats the liquid propane with an external source of heat, not with gas from the same propane tank.

If the propane flame from another propane tank were to heat the liquid, the equipment would still technically be an indirect fired vaporizer. It’s not the type of fuel that categorizes a vaporizers as direct and indirect. It is the fuel source that determines the vaporizers classification.

Vaporizing Burners

The simplest form of propane vaporizer is a vaporizing burner. Vaporizing burners use the properties of propane to burn vapor when directly released into the open air.

An example of a vaporizing burner would be a liquid propane flame torch. The liquid line runs from the LP Gas container to the torch. Once the liquid reaches the atmosphere, it vaporizes and once ignited will produce a steady stream of flame.

These type of vaporizers are common in controlled burns for brush and vegetation removal/management. There are other types of vaporizing burners. However, this depiction of a liquid service flame torch is the best example of a propane vaporizing burner.

 

For more information, or to schedule your propane tank installation, contact us here at Texas Propane with the link below!