Why you should never try to take an oxygen cylinder apart. Also, NEVER EVER use oil on any oxygen cylinder or any oxygen hose fittings!
Dangers of an Oxygen Cylinder
- Thread starter DustyRusty
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leveraddict
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Should I smoke fine Turkish tobacco and/or have any open lights around oxygen zylinders?
Also, is it OK to run acetylene through copper pipe in excess of 15psi?
Also, is it OK to run acetylene through copper pipe in excess of 15psi?
Oxygen is the most dangerous compressed gas most of us will deal with! You should treat it with respect, and keep oil, grease and other flammables away.
As for running acetylene in copper tubing, DON"T. Going from memory, check out NFPA 51 IIRC, it will form copper acetylide which is a high explosive.
Regards
Thanks for posting! Its always good to be reminded how dangerous pressure vessels can be. BTW that was a small cylinder
GreensvilleJay
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night shift at STELCO, guys would whack the valves off o2 cylinders to see how far the 'torpedos' would go into the bay...
Reminds me of some lunch time fun back a number of years ago. Used to fill one gallon ziplock bags with oxy/acetelene. Put a masking tape fuse on them and set them in a pine tree out in the yard. Made for some loud fun. Then one day one of the bags exploded while filling from static. It was inside the shop and we all though our ear drums were gone and it actually blew the shirt off the guy filling it. Luckily no blood and gore and we all retained our hearing.
You might want to try and find an on-line copy or google copper acetylide to see if the copper alloys (brass, bronze or other non-ferrous alloys) are also dangerous. I have always run acetylene in black iron. Sorry I don't have a definite answer on the brass. Though I'm still in the welding field, its been a few decades since I messed with fuel gas piping systems and my rememberer ain't what it used to be.
Regards,
Its OK, my question was bait. I already knew about copper plumbing and acetylene forming unstable compounds.
The 15psi "low side of the regulator" limit applies to all compositions. Acetylene is a fragile molecule and sensitive to shock therefore 15psi is the max pressure out of the regulator. All acetylene regulators have a red band after 15psi on the low side gauge.
The More You Know!
Thanks, spotted the bait
and knew about the 15psi limit, didn't know about the copper though. Wikipedia: " When dry, copper acetylide is a heat and shock sensitive high explosive, more thermally sensitive than silver acetylide. Copper acetylide is thought to form inside pipes made of copper or an alloy with high copper content, which may result in violent explosion. This was found to be the cause of explosions in acetylene plants, and led to abandonment of copper as a construction material in such plants."I've used high pressure 8 gang acetylene manifolds in the past. regulator was downstream of the cylinder valves ahead of a flashback arrestor. Also, in the cylinder, acetylene is dissolved in acetone. The insides of those are filled with what looks like open cell foam. Withdraw rates from the cylinder greater than 1/7 or 1/10 depending on who's spec you quote, can result in acetone being dispensed. Without the acetone, things can go boom at the cylinder pressures. So, don't go trying to heat something up with your largest rosebud on a little C2H2 cylinder.
Regards
Additionally do not store an acetylene cylinder on its’ side and then expect to use it anytime soon.
If it ever ends up on its’ side…stand it back up vertically for 24 hrs before use…or the gas cannot be properly regulated.… and yes, NEVER try to use acetylene at pressures higher than 15 psi.
If it ever ends up on its’ side…stand it back up vertically for 24 hrs before use…or the gas cannot be properly regulated.… and yes, NEVER try to use acetylene at pressures higher than 15 psi.
Not that it changes the safety warnings, but..details
An E cylinder is of aluminum construction, and used for portable BREATHING oxygen.
Details like blowing the top off and burning the inside , threads etc are not likely with a steel industrial cylinder. (but that does not lessen the "blow up" significance).
The "valve" shown on this of cylinder is actually the distribution manifold and is fitted to the cylinder valve with a rather cheesy plastic donut seal. The fitting and sealing is accomplished with two small alignment pins and a tee handled screw clamp.
IF the distribution manifold clamp threads galled and seize (and I have had this happen to me) and an attempt was made to loosen the manifold clamp while the cylinder valve was still OPEN (big mistake) !! The rapid release of raw O2 would immediately start the plastic sealing ring on fire. BOOM! explosion! More so if any type of penetrating lubricant were applied to the seized threads prior to the big wrench.
The fellow lost his limb. that's sad.
Work smart!
HVACRoger
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That was a medical tank, which is commonly known as an E tank or E size. Today they are usually aluminum, but in the old days, they were steel. I still have about a 1/2 dozen of the steel tanks that were filled but never put into service. I have a few antique ambulances and they were the tank that was used back in the 1960s. My cars are a 1962 Chevrolet, a 1969 Cadillac, and a 1978 Cadillac, and they are all ambulances. I was told that they should be empty, and a hole should be drilled into the side of them, but I am not going to be the one drilling the hole even when the tanks are empty.
Acetylene is dissolved in acetone in the tanks. When the tank is tipped etc, the solution is disturbed making regulation erratic. Yes, it applies to all sizes of tanks.
But this situation does NOT apply to Oxygen tanks. O2 is stored as compressed gas. No acetone involved.
HVACRoger
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Damn, ever since I been in the HVAC game we have always carried extra small tanks we use for brazing stored under tool boxes or in tank holders in vans in the horizontal position until we swapped them out in our totes. Guess I have been lucky last 42 years!! Now our big shop tanks were never placed in horizontal position, ie cutting torch sets. Will see that I stop doing that! Thanks for the info