History of Composite Material in LPG Cylinder
LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) is a fuel that comes in cylinders that are pressurized to keep the gas in liquid form. The LPG from past years is being manufactured in our country from steel. The weight of an empty LPG cylinder is 15.3 kg and weighed about 29.5 kg when full. However, with advancements in technology, LPG cylinders can now be made with a composite material which is lighter and safer than steel.
Composite LPG Cylinder Perfect for Household Application
In household applications, thrust should be given towards the use of low-density materials so that the weight will come down. With the advancement of low-density material like Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP), it can be thought of producing LPG cylinder with composite materials to reduce its weight.
The Differences of LNG, CNG and LPG: https://safaritechsholdings.com/the-differences-of-lng-cng-and-lpg/
Bhandavi and Rao carried out finite element analysis of composite cylinder and steel cylinder subjected to internal pressure. It concludes that the weight of the cylinder can be saved enormously by using FRP composites. The stress value is also well within the limit of capability of materials. This gives clear justification for its uses in household applications.
Ashok and Harikrishna stressed in the innovation of alternative materials of LPG. They carried out elemental analysis of LPG made of steel and FRP composite. They compared weight and variations of stress and deformation for LPG and composite.
Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) Composite
Keeping the issue of reliability and weight in view, the high-end composite material technology can very well be implanted in design of household LPG cylinder. Any pressure vessel made of metallic materials has a major drawback of bursting. For example, when steel gas cylinder catches in fire, it explodes heavily. But comp0site gas cylinder does not explode (instead it will leak) due to porosity formation of materials.
Comp0site LPG Cylinder Asset for Kitchen in Future
The concept of lighter and transparent fiber glass to be used in domestic cooking gas was introduced. It also have the characteristic of can be see through, light weight, safe, eye-catching and environmentally friendly cooking gas cylinder made of fiber glass will be an asset for kitchen in the future.
Design and Finite Element Analysis of FRP LPG Cylinder: https://www.interscience.in/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1066&context=ijica
Apart of imparting maximized strength and optimized safety, composite cylinder also offers additional advantages like non-corrosive construction, high strength weight ratio, lightweight and explosion proof. The cost of FRP raw materials is definitely more than conventional steel material but the other advantages justify its use for household purpose.
Heavy-weight Steel Gas Cylinder
Leak before fail approach of design for composite cylinder is advantages in term of safety and reliability. Composite cylinder has low electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance. It was observed that besides less weight, stress is also less for composite compared to steel cylinder.