EcoRenovator - View Single Post - Propane (R-290) for heat pumps?

BradC · 01-31-12, 05:10 AM

Yes, having the correct bottle helps. This is a standard 9KG propane cylinder with a two valve stem I got from the UK. It has model aircraft brass tube as the dip tube, so it's pretty invincible. I bought 2 valves, so I've done a 9KG and a 4KG bottle. Very handy for liquid charging systems.

Low temperatures would certainly help the process. My current issues with that are :
- It's sitting between 25 - 40C in Perth at the moment.
- My freezer is not big enough for the 9KG bottle
- Even if my freezer *were* big enough my Wife would kill me
- Even in winter we never see below 0.

I have thought about stuffing the bottle in a big cooler and packing it with dry ice and ethanol (like I used to do to recover refrigerant). I'll put that off if I can as dry ice is not cheap around here.

I'm running the cylinder in an extended cooling cycle at the moment. I'll wrap it in towels and stuff it in an esky to see how cold I can make it get itself.

I'm not sure about the resolution of the dry-eye. They are supposed to react differently with HC than they are specified to do with HCFC & HFC. I'm trying to get hold of a real Sporlan dry-eye designed for HC, but nobody stocks them here and I can't find any on E-bay.

Given the qty of water we are talking about. My 162 (16 CU In of dessicant) drier should pull it *all* out and then some. I suspect I just need to get it cold enough to help the water separate and it'll suck it out of the bottle when I invert it.

I can't believe they want $50 a kilo for HC refrigerant. These guys must wear an eye patch and have a parrot on their shoulder! Oh well, back to camping gas cans for R600a and BBQ's galore for R290

<Edit>
Extended cooling managed to get it down to ~50psi, which is about -1.1C. Obviously more insulation required (I just sat it on blocks and wrapped it in beach towels).

Will try again tomorrow.

<Edit again>

Sticking with Mineral oil. It's easy to dry out with a vacuum and it's less than 1/4 of the cost of any of the synthetics. In addition all the scrounged compressors I have are either for R12 or R22 and all have Suniso 4GS oil in them (which I have 4 litres of in the garage).

Oh, and no Methanol in propane here. We just don't get freezing issues no matter how wet it gets.

01-31-12, 05:10 AM	#156
BradC Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Western Australia Posts: 148 Thanks: 1 Thanked 48 Times in 34 Posts	Yes, having the correct bottle helps. This is a standard 9KG propane cylinder with a two valve stem I got from the UK. It has model aircraft brass tube as the dip tube, so it's pretty invincible. I bought 2 valves, so I've done a 9KG and a 4KG bottle. Very handy for liquid charging systems. Low temperatures would certainly help the process. My current issues with that are : - It's sitting between 25 - 40C in Perth at the moment. - My freezer is not big enough for the 9KG bottle - Even if my freezer were big enough my Wife would kill me - Even in winter we never see below 0. I have thought about stuffing the bottle in a big cooler and packing it with dry ice and ethanol (like I used to do to recover refrigerant). I'll put that off if I can as dry ice is not cheap around here. I'm running the cylinder in an extended cooling cycle at the moment. I'll wrap it in towels and stuff it in an esky to see how cold I can make it get itself. I'm not sure about the resolution of the dry-eye. They are supposed to react differently with HC than they are specified to do with HCFC & HFC. I'm trying to get hold of a real Sporlan dry-eye designed for HC, but nobody stocks them here and I can't find any on E-bay. Given the qty of water we are talking about. My 162 (16 CU In of dessicant) drier should pull it all out and then some. I suspect I just need to get it cold enough to help the water separate and it'll suck it out of the bottle when I invert it. I can't believe they want $50 a kilo for HC refrigerant. These guys must wear an eye patch and have a parrot on their shoulder! Oh well, back to camping gas cans for R600a and BBQ's galore for R290 <Edit> Extended cooling managed to get it down to ~50psi, which is about -1.1C. Obviously more insulation required (I just sat it on blocks and wrapped it in beach towels). Will try again tomorrow. <Edit again> Sticking with Mineral oil. It's easy to dry out with a vacuum and it's less than 1/4 of the cost of any of the synthetics. In addition all the scrounged compressors I have are either for R12 or R22 and all have Suniso 4GS oil in them (which I have 4 litres of in the garage). Oh, and no Methanol in propane here. We just don't get freezing issues no matter how wet it gets. Last edited by BradC; 01-31-12 at 07:40 AM..