The ProcoverPlus Product Information

Why Use a Metalized Cover?

The reason is Called Emissivity! It is commonly believed that if you paint something white it will be cooler, in fact numerous agencies and codes call for pressurized fuel tanks to be painted white. The fact is that paint (the hydrocarbon molecule) is a very good absorber of infrared energy. It is also this infrared wavelength that is responsible for the vast majority of the energy that heats things up, like propane tanks. The belief that a white painted surface will be cooler than say black painted is true. If you were to paint something black, for a 8-14 micron infrared wavelength it would absorb about 95% of the energy that hits it. The same surface painted white would absorb about 92%. The reality is that this isn't really that much of a difference. An unpainted rusty tank absorbs 82%, but a tank with the heat reflective metalized cover absorbs ONLY 5%. That amounts to a 1800% difference! That is why you want to use a metalized cover for these pressurized fuel tanks. It is also why the same material is used by firefighters in their firefighter suits, and industry uses it for heat protection in numerous heat-related applications.

There are a variety of benefits that come from using this new invention. The first and foremost is safety. All tanks are fitted with something called a pressure relief valve. If the pressure in a tank gets too high it opens to let gas out so that the tank won't rupture or explode. Under normal conditions the valve is closed but because pressure is a function of temperature, the more heat absorbed by the tank the higher the pressure. If the tank is sitting in the sun (and not near an open flame) the escaping gas only adds to the smog levels, but if it is sitting near a barbecue it becomes a potential accident. Out of the 5.5 million propane barbecues sold each year there are about 5,300 incidences of this kind. This invention will help to reduce those numbers.

The other safety issue is that faced by firefighters. Propane tanks are very often incorrectly stored inside a garage or near a building to keep them out of the weather. To a fireman this amounts to a potential bomb full of shrapnel. Just like the firefighters' heat reflective suits protect them from the heat so does the heat reflective tank cover protect the tank. The cover also acts as a weather shield protecting the tank from the elements. As a side benefit people will be less likely to store their tanks inside, thereby again reducing the risks to firefighters.

Another issue are tanks used in mobile home and RV parks. After the last earthquake in Los Angeles a fire started in a RV park and one witness said it sounded like a war zone with bombs going off. What had happened was the initial fire heated up a propane tank that vented, then exploded and spread the fire to other RVs who's tanks also exploded. Heat reflective propane tank covers would have helped prevent this from happening.

On the subject of barbecues and pollution. In Southern California a major point source of pollution has been identified with charcoal lighter fluid, and because of this many people are changing over to clean burning propane. Nationally 84% of family households own a grill. Of those 57% are propane and of the charcoal grill owners 37% will next buy gas. This means that the majority of homes will have propane grills with at least one tank and most likely a spare. In Southern California that's well over 20 million tanks. According to Richard Fredenburg, LP-Gas Engineer with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, "...propane tanks will vent when they get hot...". In the Los Angeles area it gets hot all the time all year round, as it does in the Summer in numerous other places across the country. That means a lot of unburned hydrocarbons going into the atmosphere. The heat reflective propane tank cover would also help prevent this. Currently this point source of pollution has been unaddressed.

Overall propane is a very safe fuel...my invention makes it safer and environmentally more friendly.

Written by Frank Bartels, Mechanical Engineer
Inventor of the heat reflective tank cover.

Contact Information: Frank Bartels
e-mail: fbartels@procoverplus.com