Flash back arrestor

[ZackV]

Hello all,

 

I am in the process of building my own propane forge and tested it and it work however a friend suggested i look into a flashback arrestor. I just wondered if this was recommended without oxygen being added to the mix.

 

Thank

 

Zack

[timgunn1962]

Flashback arresters are usually used in Acetylene lines because Acetylene can undergo explosive decomposition in the absence of Oxygen. Propane cannot, so flashback arresters are not needed. 

Flame arresters (a different thing) are usually used in lines that may carry a fuel/air mixture and are intended to stop a flame travelling along the line. This is usually because there is deliberate fuel/air mixing or because there is an identified fault condition that could cause a fuel/air mixture to be present. In many cases, it is because the line may sometimes be under suction.

For a Propane-fuelled Naturally-Aspirated burner, there is not usually a mechanism by which the fuel line could be filled with a fuel/air mixture, so a flame arrester is unnecessary.

Some blown burner designs may have failure modes that would allow a flammable mixture to fill a line: for example, if the blower fails. It is usually much cheaper and easier to design the fault mode out than it is to fit a flame arrester. A solenoid valve in the gas line that is powered open only when the blower is running, for example.

[ZackV]

Lovely thank you for the advice.