@MagisterChemist @Kingofthekush420 is there a membrane filter we can use to purify our butane as it leaves the bulk tanks going to our clean system?
8 Likes
This is exactly why we purify gas after it hits our bulk tank. The pre-bulk test should only serve to confirm what is coming off a truck into the facility. During processing all levels are monitored constantly so we know where we start and where we end. Then spot testing individual cylinders to confirm lack of contamination during filing from bulk tank to end user tank. Our COA’s are generated from the bulk tank, after processing, but immediately before filling.
3 Likes
Depends what you’re trying to clean / remove
Benzene no, it’s too small
2 Likes
We’re working on something.
2 Likes
GasLogix -
Are you still offering this grade of Cortland N-butane?
Cortland Energy COA at 99.996.pdf (121.3 KB)
It varies depending on what Cortland is able to procure of course and that exact batch is long gone. That looks like a particularly clean batch but I wouldn’t say that level of purity is super uncommon.
Edit: I responded to @GasGuy-QEG’s inquiry in haste when I originally posted this comment and did not adequately think my answer through. For clarity, what is not “super uncommon” is seeing batches of gas test at 99.99% purity for hydrocarbons that would not be considered impurities.
Shhhhh. And get out of my brain
2 Likes
I think it’s possible in regards to the heavy greases/metals that constitute what’s left behind when you distill (that is, mystery oil). Not for this benzene contamination though.
2 Likes
Absolutely. I didn’t mean to imply that this would replace our other purification processes, just an additional method to offer protection against contamination.
1 Like
Well no, i think it could replace distillation. Distillation won’t remove benzene either. It can only remove the non-distilling compounds, which membranes may well be equally capable of removing.
2 Likes
Agreed!
This is wildly funny dude…
3 Likes
Yes we do spot testing, but not on every cylinder. Our bulk tank stays homogenized just as the gas in the cylinder does along with additional inline filtration.
COA’s are supplied by our bulk facility. Additional lab testing consistently shows same or higher purity after being filled into LP239 with proper cleaning and purge as we do for all our cylinders.
1 Like
So what’s with this?
And spot testing is exactly that, not every cylinder.
2 Likes
So if…
and…
together with…
then wouldn’t the COA’s be invalid for the tanks the end user receives? Or the clean chain of custody is good enough?
5 Likes
I got a question for all the gas sellers in this thread… @SolventDirect, @GasGuy-QEG, @GasLogix-Adam.
@SolventDirect likes to use this analogy above… The clean mug ad… Lets look at this a different way…
What if the mug is super clean (i.e. consumer solvent tanks) BUT THE TRAIN CAR AND MASSIVE HOLDING TANKS (i.e. Pot of Coffee) look like a pot of toxic sludge???
My real question is how often are the train cars and massive storage tanks decontaminated??? i hear this can be years between cleanings… Is anyone here drinking out of a clean cup if there is MUD in it??
Also…
If these hydrocarbons
Then one would have to assume there is no benzene buildup since it stays homoginized with the other gases… why do you need to clean out the heavier hydrocarbon buildup??
8 Likes
This is part of the reason testing at every stage and post-fractionating purification is critical! We cannot control the entire supply chain for these gasses (e.g. we don’t own the pipeline/train tanks or set the standards for the fractionating plants). What we can identify and control is what comes into our facility, what happens to the gas whiles it’s there, and the condition it leaves in. In my mind, this makes a “chain of custody” somewhat irrelevant if you don’t have the ability to test on site AND remediate the impurities that testing reveals AND spot test end user tanks once you’ve confirmed the gas going into them is clean. The real answer is that it takes all of these methods in combination for us to feel confident in the product we’re sending out to y’all.
9 Likes
Nobody in the industry, nobody, would open-up a bulk hydrocarbon tank for routine “decontamination”. So long as the unit remains in the same gas service and was never contaminated with stench or other chemical agents, there is no reason to open them up. If the tank should happen to get hit with a stench agent, it would have to be taken out of service for these gases.
Because there are no C6 molecules in Diversified N-but, Iso-but or Pro, AND because blends of hydrocarbons remain blended, with no separation over time, there is no reason for a bulk tank to become scuzzy coffee cup.
I try hard to be pleasant and kind, but have to address the Cortland 99.996% pure n-butane, referenced above as not being “super uncommon”. Are we really to believe that the media / pixie dust they use to purify the butane is so effective that total impurities report at 0.004 mol% as claimed on their Certificate of Analysis??? That’s 40 ppm impurities??? No way. Can’t happen, doesn’t happen. The stench of bullshit is overwhelming.
Enjoy the long holiday weekend.
6 Likes
7 Likes
so no big tanks are ever decontaminated??? why do we need to decontaminate smaller tanks?
1 Like