Give Props to Propane

Your lift truck fleet is probably very reliable. So reliable, in fact, that it becomes easy to overlook basic things like daily maintenance and safety considerations. When it comes to propane, remembering safety is important. Fortunately the elements of propane safety are easily conveyed and easily followed.

You probably have all the necessary propane handling practices integrated into your overall safety program. Your lift truck operators know that propane is flammable. It’s flammability that makes propane useful. But it also flags propane as a safety concern, and a periodic refresher about proper handling is always a good idea. Keep in mind, though, this article is not intended to replace or supersede bona-fide safety training (which should be part of any facility’s standard practices).

MSDS

In the United States, OSHA requires that MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) information be made accessible to any user of any potentially harmful substance used in the workplace. It covers chemistry, exposure risk, first aid and other essential facts. The associated risks of any chemical used in the workplace should be known by the workers before engaging in the work.

A propane MSDS should be posted and made available to everyone in the facility where propane is used. It is up to the employer to provide the resource. It is up to the workers to familiarize themselves with the material.

The Cylinders

Normally, lift trucks and similar vehicles/machines are fueled from either of two different sizes of portable and mountable cylinders. The cylinders have capacities of either 33.5 or 43.5 pounds of liquefied propane (generally referred to as 33 pounders and 43 pounders).

If the cylinders are filled by a propane supplier, and delivered as packaged propane, you can generally rely on the supplier to have filled them properly. It may be good practice to weigh each cylinder at delivery to verify proper fill (see steps below).

Some facility operators prefer to have propane delivered to a bulk supply container, and refill their own cylinders from the bulk container. This approach may have cost benefits if propane consumption is high. However, it should not be undertaken without thorough training of personnel to include:

• Fill technique

• Cylinder inspection

• Bulk container inspection

• Fill hose and valve inspection and maintenance

• Other finer points of bulk dispensing

• Consult your Safety Officer, propane supplier and local officials (zoning, land use, fire department, HazMat, etc.) for additional information.

Cylinders of less than 200 lb water capacity should only be filled by weight (using the standard 0.42 conversion factor, 200 lb water capacity converts to 84 lb propane capacity). Cylinders should never be filled by depending on the overfill protection device (OPD) to stop the filling process.

The fill level of any filled, in-process, or empty cylinder can be easily checked:

1. Weigh the filled cylinder (e.g., 57.9 lb)

2. Subtract the tare weight - typically stamped TW on the cylinder neck (e.g., 24.4 lb)

3. The difference is the weight of the contained propane (in this example, 57.9 minus 24.4 equals 33.5 lb of propane)

Never overfill a propane cylinder―the minimal extra “runtime” between cylinder change outs is not worth the risk involved. An overfilled cylinder is a dangerous cylinder.

Liquid propane expands significantly with modest increases in temperature. An overfilled cylinder does not have room for that expansion. A cylinder that is overfilled may look perfectly safe in the shade of a storage area in the cool morning, but when that cylinder is put on a lift truck and is exposed to the hot afternoon sun, it could easily experience a 50 degree temperature increase. That will cause the pressure in the cylinder to increase and potentially cause the relief valve to activate, releasing propane into the atmosphere and causing a potential explosion risk if there is an ignition source nearby.