How to get propane smell out of a propane tank?

Justin SE IOWA · Jan 9, 2013

I have a 20lb propane tank that I made into an air tank a couple years ago. When I did that I rinsed it out with soapy water a few times but it still had the smell for a long time. I now want to build an air tank out of a 100lb tank and am wanting to know if there is a better way to get the smell out?

Fritz Maurer · Jan 9, 2013

Throw it in a bonfire.

David G · Jan 9, 2013

That smell is mercaptin, a little bit goes a LONG way, don't know if you will ever get it out.

old · Jan 9, 2013

Only 2 ways I know and the one will also hurt if a for an air tank. Uncap it and burn it but doing that can in turn make it unsafe for an air tank due to taking the temper out of it. #2 open it up and let it sit a year or so open the the air. I have 4 or 5 old tanks like that that do not smell any more but they have bee opened up for years

Janicholson · Jan 9, 2013

The odorant in propane permeates the steel of the tank. Putting it under a vacuum (with a AC service evacuator) for a day or so will get 90 % probably, but why try. it will be far below combustible if rinsed out. getting it up to 150 degrees after a rinse would drive some additional odor out of it.
Another possible method would be to coat the inside with fuel tank sealer. That would also reduce the rusting from condensation. Jim

robgIN · Jan 9, 2013

Contact the Mythbusters, maybe they know what will neutralize that. I think that was the compound that they found to be the cause of the foul smell when you pass gas. That was a classic episode, watching them capture Adams gas bubbles as they floated to the surface as he flatulated under water.

jdv · Jan 9, 2013

You might try steaming it out especially if you can
leave it for a while with the steam going in one
valve and out the other. Have neutralized nh3 tanks
that away before welding on them.

504 · Jan 9, 2013

The body shop down town hooked four of the up for the extra air volume, it took six months for the smell to go away.

Bob M · Jan 9, 2013

Invert the tank with the valve wide open (or remove the valve) and let it sit outside for a year or so.

It'll stink for a while - especially with the sun beating on it. But the smell WILL gradually disappear.

fixerupper · Jan 9, 2013

Many years ago I made a compressor out of an old 100 pounder and the stink lasted for years. I've heard it's the strongest stink known to man. Jim

Mark - IN. · Jan 9, 2013

Seems to me that smell will be in that tank for a long time. That liquid propane has spent a lot of time getting into the pores of metal inside that tank. I have heard that it will clear, and helping it would be to fill the tank with either water or soapy water and let i set for days, but even that is said not to clear it completely. Ou of curiosity, what is the pressure rating on a 100 lb tank? I have no clue.

Here is one from near home a few months back. A fuel dealer (gas, diesel, oil) that is also a fuel station for trucks and cars was having one of there oil tanks scrapped. A pretty big tank that had set empty for some time. I saw the tank after the mishap, and there is a picture here of the exploded tank that does not do it justice. You would have to physically see the tank that is still there, exploded. One of those tanks that is about 30' or so in diameter, about 20' or so tall. The fella went at it with a cutting torch, and that was a bad idea.

Be careful of long lasting flamable fumes and oders. Good luck.

Mark
A Day At Work You Would Like To Take Back

David G · Jan 9, 2013

I pulled this off the Internet

Give it a good slosh and shake with common laundry bleach, drain, rinse
with water, blow it out with air. If it still stinks, repeat. Give it
a final slosh with a little Vitamin C in water to kill any hypochlorite,
rinse well several times, finally rinse with DI water to remove chloride
(corrosion). Dry thoroughly by purging with air while heating.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 9, 2013

I've built several smokers and grills out of 120 and 250 gallon propane tanks over the years, I always fill them up with soapy water and add clorox and let them sit about one to two years and have never had an odor problem, I will drain the tanks one time during the process and refill once more with soap/clorox over the one/two year period.

Dan-IA · Jan 9, 2013

Going by what I can infer by reading the MSDS on
"Methyl Mercaptan", it would appear that repeated
rinsing is about your only approved solution. Nearly
every idea listed in this thread is specifically
warned against.

I like Janicholson's idea of applying a fuel-tank
sealer. That sounds like a good plan.

JMOR · Jan 9, 2013

Guess it isn't relevant, but just out of curiosity, why does the stink matter?

old · Jan 9, 2013

There is something they add to propane to make it smell so if you do get a leak say in your house you smell it and then do not light up something and then in turn blow your self to well from there you should understand. Over time the smell sort of soaks into the tank so it stays a very long time

rodgernbama · Jan 9, 2013

Chicken in an unplugged deep freezer would have to rank pretty high.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 10, 2013

That's a diesel tank that exploded, not a propane tank. Propane tanks are usually good for 250 PSI and although it's a good idea to steam them or purge them, if it's been sitting for a year with no valve all the propane would have evaporated a long time ago. The pressure in a propane tank comes from the fact the propane is actually boiling inside the tank at a low temperature.

bobs old iron · Jan 10, 2013

i had a freezer go bad, eletric plug,, it had 7 turkeys.....

Owen Aaland · Jan 10, 2013

Propane storage tanks are rated for 250 psi working pressure. When used for motor fuel tanks they may be either 250 psi or 315 psi depending upon where they are designed to be located on the vehicle. To pass inspection they must be tested at four times the rated working pressure.

UncleTom · Jan 10, 2013

There is an oil put in there that smells. I have taken them to the car wash and used hot soapy water on them with the valve taken out. I have a 20# for and air tank.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 10, 2013

maybe some skunk scent would cover it up

showcrop · Jan 10, 2013

I will suggest going at it with the old standby: commercial oven cleaner. put in a fairly strong solution and roll it around a few times allowing contact time and using hot water if possible. After draining rinse twice with mild acid solution to neutralize the alkalinity.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 10, 2013

The strongest, most offensive smell I have encountered is rotting human in the summertime, hands down. And I have moved piles of rotting turkeys and chickens with a crawler loader, not even close.

fixerupper · Jan 10, 2013

Unforgiven, I once knew an old WW1 vet who served in France. He told me one of the jobs he had to do was remove the dead from the battlefield. He said sometimes it was several days until it was safe to go out there.
Then all he said was he"s never forgotten the smell and he dropped the subject. He told this to me 65-70 years after he was in the war. Jim

Glen SW Wi · Jan 10, 2013

Look up treatments for your dog if he got too friendly with a skunk. The stink in skunk spray is a mercaptin. There is a remedy which uses hydrogen peroxide,Dove dish soap and something else.

If it takes the stink out of your dogs coat it should take the stink out of your tank.

This solution is the most recommended by people who know.

Brokenwrench · Jan 10, 2013

All the ideas here are good.

Mercaptan is oily so I wonder if keeping the solution you use as hot as possible wouldn"t have a better effect on breaking it down. Just be careful of fumes from the cleaner you use.

I used to haul propane and would hear tell of some railcars arriving at the yard unscented. They had a way to inject the mercaptan. The amount they put in to stink up a whole railcar was in a container the size of a coffee can.

Hal/Eastern WA · Jan 10, 2013

I agree. The worst I ever encountered was a suicide victim that had been in the river for several weeks, but then started floating from bacterial gas formation, and then beached. I don"t know how long the body had laid in the shallow water half exposed to the Summer sun, but he was REALLY RIPE! When we were trying to load the body into the body bag, his arm came loose in my hands. Really grossed me out! Especially since in those days, we had not thought to carry surgical gloves and were bare handed. I washed my hands over and over after that situation.

I used to carry a small jar of Vick"s Vapor Rub for such occasions. A little dab of Vick"s in each nostril really helped deal with the smell. I saw other guys put gasoline on their mustaches to mask the putrid body odors. It was an icky part of the job, and somebody had to do it.

A failed freezer with meat in it awhile is pretty bad too, and that is usually inside a building. My brother had a freezer that got unplugged, that he emptied and then left outside and open for a couple of years. It still stunk after all that time.

I always wondered if it is psychological or a physical fact that the odor of rotting flesh seems to stay with me for quite a while after I have come in contact with the odor, even if there is no possibility of there being any fluids on me. That was one part of working that I did not miss after I retired.

JMOR · Jan 10, 2013

(quoted from post at 15:21:22 01/10/13) I agree. The worst I ever encountered was a suicide victim that had been in the river for several weeks, but then started floating from bacterial gas formation, and then beached. I don"t know how long the body had laid in the shallow water half exposed to the Summer sun, but he was REALLY RIPE! When we were trying to load the body into the body bag, his arm came loose in my hands. Really grossed me out! Especially since in those days, we had not thought to carry surgical gloves and were bare handed. I washed my hands over and over after that situation.

I used to carry a small jar of Vick"s Vapor Rub for such occasions. A little dab of Vick"s in each nostril really helped deal with the smell. I saw other guys put gasoline on their mustaches to mask the putrid body odors. It was an icky part of the job, and somebody had to do it.

A failed freezer with meat in it awhile is pretty bad too, and that is usually inside a building. My brother had a freezer that got unplugged, that he emptied and then left outside and open for a couple of years. It still stunk after all that time.

I always wondered if it is psychological or a physical fact that the odor of rotting flesh seems to stay with me for quite a while after I have come in contact with the odor, even if there is no possibility of there being any fluids on me. That was one part of working that I did not miss after I retired.

in't no psychologist or anything, but I do think that knowing that it is human alters things.

JOHNNYfromMI · Jan 10, 2013

I worked in the gas, oil, and propane industry. I have worked in the racks where the oder was put in to the propane. When ever we opened the system up we would flood the inside with pure bleach, we keep bleach on every thing to keep from getting calls from the fire department. Its hard on your clothing but we were taken care of that by the company.

Mark - IN. · Jan 10, 2013

I didn't say it was a propane tank. I thought it was an oil tank, and after I posted, saw it was a diesel tank. Did you happen to click on the picture and enlarge it? Big tank, but also was a sign for diesel at $4.39.9 per gallon at the time. I used to buy from those guys at $1.34.9 per gallon. Times have changed.

Mark

How to get propane smell out of a propane tank?

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