Propane Flaring SOP

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Permalink Reply by Larry Lasich on January 24, 2010 at 10:29pm

I think that you are talking about Tech level stuff. At least under NFPA 472-6.6.4.1(3), I don't see flare off as a HazMat Ops tactic. The one thing that I remember from my Ops Instructor, Dr./Professor Culbertson "In Ops you try not to get the shmutz on you, in Tech, you expect to get the shmutz on you. Stay out of the shmutz!". If you get hold of your Regional HazMat team, they should have the SOP that you are looking for. I worry that if you are operating outside of the standard, you will be accepting a lot of liability if the hazard doesn't behave.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Roe on January 25, 2010 at 10:25am

Yes the shmutz is bad. I should state the full time staff are trained to DG ops level.....we just dont have an organized Haz-mat team. We are currently working on Haz-Mat SOP's as well. LPG situations we would be dealing with are from trailer rollover or worksite incident. Anything biiger such as cargo transport on the hi-way is going to binocular ops, until the carriers haz team takes care of the situation.
We have dealt with leaky tanks for a number of years but recently decided that flaring would be better than letting it leak somewhere safe...ish! Situations we have come across are BBq fires were tank has flared and continues to leak, MVC with holiday trailer (leaking valve), 100lb LPG cylinder with fire damage etc... so nothing huge.

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Permalink Reply by Larry Lasich on January 25, 2010 at 12:46pm

The only time I've ever gone to something of that size, we had to call the gas company. THey flared it of while we stood by. Big waste of our time, would have been much better if we could have done that when we arrived.

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Permalink Reply by Todd McKee on January 25, 2010 at 7:47pm

Plug it, off load it, and be done with it,don't to put your guys in this situation! Just my thoughts and my thoughts only! Your friend, Todd McKee

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Permalink Reply by Dave Roe on January 26, 2010 at 9:59am

Thanks for your reply Todd, Curious about plugging the leak - what size container are you reffering too? What device or material are you using to plug a pressurized vessel?
Thanks

Dave

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Permalink Reply by Todd McKee on January 26, 2010 at 2:42pm

Hey Dave!

You may think this is crazy, but it truly works,you need a ladder patch and a wet towel.
Place the towel over the h*** and tighten down the ladder patch, the water will freeze and create a seal. The tighten ladder patch will help with the sealing under pressure (sometimes I will wrap the rubber part of the patch with the wet towel). The plugging method is almost the same method, you still use a ladder patch but it is a three holed ladder patch that has "T" handled plugs with screw tighteners. This is a VERY VERY short reply and it does take additional training to properly accomplish each task. However, in my opinion only I think this is much safer than flaring. I have done both methods with a leaking MC331 tank and have worked very well. Train on it let me know what you think! Your friend, Todd McKee


Dave Roe said:

Thanks for your reply Todd, Curious about plugging the leak - what size container are you reffering too? What device or material are you using to plug a pressurized vessel?
Thanks

Dave

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Permalink Reply by Dave Roe on January 26, 2010 at 7:08pm

Hi Todd,

Those are some pretty big tanks. We would have the transport company deal with those (transfer, flaring, shape charge). We are developing our SOP for the utility cylinder 20lb to 100lb. You do bring up a very valid point in training to cork the big tanks though - I will have to talk it over with the chief and see if that is something we want to entertain.

Do you have any training material on the patch?

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Permalink Reply by Frozenhosehead on January 26, 2010 at 7:24pm

Here's a slideshow I found online called Hazardous Materials Leak plugging Guide While alot of this is intended for the Tech level it is a pretty good guide and can probably be incorporated into some hazmat SOP's. It has good picture examples for training use and slides 17 and 18 show a ladder patch and of it in use on a large tanker.

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Permalink Reply by Todd McKee on January 27, 2010 at 1:38am

Looks like Brad set you up with materials, if you go to www.indiansprings.com there is some information there for the patch as well. The wet towel method and the ladder patch is a lot easier to do on a 100lb tank than the MC331. The University I teach at stays away from flaring on those tanks. The only other suggestion I would have is to drive slow the leak with eventually stop! HA! Take Care! Todd Here is my number feel fre to call me 740 507 8802

Dave Roe said:

Hi Todd,

Those are some pretty big tanks. We would have the transport company deal with those (transfer, flaring, shape charge). We are developing our SOP for the utility cylinder 20lb to 100lb. You do bring up a very valid point in training to cork the big tanks though - I will have to talk it over with the chief and see if that is something we want to entertain.

Do you have any training material on the patch?

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Permalink Reply by Dave Roe on January 31, 2010 at 12:52pm

Excellent resources - thanks gentlemen

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