Is there much risk that propane could leak at the compressor and start a fire?

From: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Propane fired airconditioning

> I think you are confusing using propane for the power source vs. versus
> using propane as the refrigerant. Propane does work as a refrigerant as it
> is easy to compress into a liquid and then let it vaporize into a gas. It is
> the "latent" heat of vaporization that makes mechanical refrigeration
> practical.
> 
> Dennis
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Sharon Mendonca
> Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 6:12 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Propane fired airconditioning
> 
> My husband just heard from someone in Canada the other day (a mechanic) and
> he said that they are already starting to convert AC units to propane,
> especially on farm equipment.  He said that originally AC units were propane
> then went to R12 and that didn't work too well for the environment and then
> 134a, which also didn't work well on conversions, so now they're about ready
> to start using propane again.
> 
>   Sharon & Bob Mendonca
>   88 Westy
>   88 Vanagon GL
> 

----- End Original Message -----