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Title: Gas processing/The boiling behavior of LPG and liquid ethane, ethylene, propane, and n-butane spilled on water

Journal Article · · Hydrocarbon Process.; (United States)
OSTI ID:5101876

Boiling-rate calorimeter studies showed that unlike liquid nitrogen, methane, and LNG, LPG (84.7% propane, 6.0% ethane, and 9.3% n-butane; 442/sup 0/C bp), or pure propane, when rapidly spilled on water, reacted violently, ejecting water and ice into the vapor space; but in 1-2 sec, a coherent ice layer was formed and further boiloff was quiet and well predicted by a simple one-dimensional, moving-boundary-value, heat transfer model with a growing ice shield. Increasing the content of ethane and butane in LPG to 20% and 10%, respectively, had almost no effect on the LPG boiling, indicating that boiling may be modeled by using pure propane. Ethane, ethylene, and n-butane behaved quite differently from LPG. In spills of pure liquid propane on solid ice, the boiloff rate was almost identical to that predicted by the moving-boundary model.

Research Organization:
Mass. Inst. of Technol.
OSTI ID:
5101876
Journal Information:
Hydrocarbon Process.; (United States), Vol. 57:4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English