The question was asked: "And is part of the burn product an acidic?" I think part of the problem with idealized solutions is that they sometimes don't take into account seemingly unimportant real-world effects. For instance, city gas that's plumbed to homes isn't even a constant mix. These differences are so great that regulated utility companies adjust their price per cubic foot to hold the $ per heat value unit constant. The presence or absence of impurities which when heated in the combustion process produce nasty stuff like sulfuric acid, is tiny in terms of their quantity, but important in their effects if you let it condense on your metal equipment. It can eat a non-stainless steel heat exchanger through in a single heating season! I think that if the propane we buy didn't have any other molecules hiding with it, we wouldn't have any acidic combustion byproducts other than carbonic acid, which we usually call carbonated water. That's the same mild acid plant roots use to eat through some rocks like limestone. Give it time and it will eat. But I just buy the stuff they sell at the propane vendors. If anyone wants to catch a few ml. of propane combustion flue gas precipitate and test its ph., please post your findings. Until we have that kind of information, I suggest it's prudent to error on the side of caution. John |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.