As a side benifit could the expanding gas be used for cooling?
Definitely. One of my former competitors made a side income trucking refrigerant grade propane. When R-12/R-22 went away a guy in Florida came up with a perfectly workable auto AC based on a closed propane cycle. It was rule a fire hazard and never went anywhere.
Us good ol' boys in west Texas have used wet lines off the fuel tank to chill hot beer for 50 years. Crack the valve just enough to let liquid out, the liquid is immediately going to its 40 degree below boiling point, takes about a gallon to put flecks of ice in a case of beer. Don't overdo it or you get beercicles. Advice; do this at a safe remove from the communal campfire and gloves are a good idea, this stuff will frostbite your fingers in a half a heartbeat.