Originally Posted by
JohnDThompson
A nice thing about acetylene is that it is less dense than air, and thus tends to disperse if it leaks or is otherwise un-burned. Propane is denser than air and will accumulate in low places, and thus can be dangerous.
My brother used to work in the far north and the entire crew was 10 miles from their camp when they heard a big bang and a huge flash.
There was a propane leak at one of the many large tanks they had on site and over the day it filled and crept through the site until it hit the mess hall and met the flames one of the cooking stoves... he saved a piece of the helicopter as a memento as it was also blown to bits along with the camp.
...
It is all dangerous stuff and safety precautions are key... I would much rather deal with propane than acetylene in my little shop as filling my propane can be done when I go top up the petrol in the car and my oxygen tank is a smaller 40 which I can move and transport easily for filling.
We run larger tanks out at the main shop since it is a ways out and have a van to transport the larger O2.