Transporting Gas Cylinders

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I have a friend that lost his son(50yrs old) because he didn't take the time to install the safety plugs, carry the cylinders in a open veichle, secure the cylinders and not smoke, on some 7.5gal propane cylinders he just had filled.

He had them filled and loaded them into a van unsecured. Turned a corner on the street and and one of the cylinders fell over and the valve hit a piece of pipe he was carrying opening the valve to a good hard flow. He heard the gas escaping turned his head to see what it was and BOOM. His ciggerate ignited the gas. He jamed on the breaks, going 15mph, got out of the van and fell to the ground. The ME said he had inhaled the fire ball burning 70% of his lungs in one breath. He lived for about 8hrs in extreame pain before he died!

Talk about a freak accident because these cylinders also had the safety collar on them protecting the valve and the valve just didn't open a small amount, it opened to a very high flow as this all happened in 15sec!
The other stupid mistakes he made were just that and he'll never make them again!

There is a reason for safety rules and this story proves that.

T_Bone

It's very easy to get hurt
But we have to work very hard not to get hurt!

T_Bone

My experience is that while most dealers post large notices saying that they won't load cylinders into an enclosed vehicle, in practice they ignore this rule.

It is illegal for a gas house to place an acetylene cylinder in a car or any enclosed vessel. Some tanks valves will develop a bad seal and leak with age or abuse. If placed in an enclosed vehicle you would have the same effect when the dome light or trunk light came on as in the case of the natural gas leak in a building that is ignited by a light being turned on or an appliance starting. There are other considerations as well.

It is also a fact that a cylinder of acetylene that was placed on it's side should stand upright for at least 24 hours prior to use and that it should never be used while laying on it's side. I personally am not comfortable transporting them in any position but upright and secured. (Can't stand the thought of my wife spending my life insurance money on some younger guy.)

Before Acetylene (C2H2)is pumped into a cylinder, the cylinder is filled with a substance that absorbs acetone. Quite often this substance is pith (made from corn stalks) or fullers earth. The bottle is then filled with C2H2 and the theory is that each molecule of C2H2 has a molecule of acetone on each side which keeps the C2H2 stable at pressures over 15#. If the cylinder is laid on it's side for a period of time, the acetone drains to one side leaving some of the C2H2 unstable. Also, if you draw more than 1/7th of the capacity of the cylinder per hour, you risk drawing the acetone out with the C2H2. Thus the reason for using manifolds. A flame containing acetone will take on a purplish hue and leave an oily resiue.

If you examine the cylinder closely you will also notice two small threaded plugs. These are located in the top of the cylinder on either side of the valve or else on the bottom side of the cylinder protected by the bottom collar. Those are safety plugs that are filled with an alloy that melts at 212°F. In the event of a fire, this alloy will melt and release the contents of the cylinder. This prevents the tank from blevying.

When I teach a safety class on oxy-fuel apparatus in a school or manufacturing facility these are just a few of the things those in attendance will learn. There is much more to know about this matter and the manifolds mentioned earlier. There is a good chance that your oxy-acetylene torch is the most potentially lethal item on your property.

Must be something to it.... Keith's still here and he does a fair amount of cutting.

It's still best to keep them vertical but in a pinch, you can lay one down for a short time and then stand it up for use.

Using an accetylene bottle on its side is a sure way to meet Jesus, face to face.

Laying an acetylene tank on it's side at any time can cause it to destabilize whether you are using it or not. If a cylinder of acetylene is on it's side, the minimum time required for it to be in the vertical position is 24 hours.

Just because some people cheat death once or many times does make the practice right or safe. I have often times seen acetylene gas in the hoses cranked up to 25 psi even though it is very possible for it to self ignite in the hose above 22 psi. Just because some of these guys get away with it does not make it any safer.

This falls along the same line as those people who choose to not wear their seat belts. Many people got away without them in the past but this morning I got to see a guy impaled on a tree limb 20' off the ground. He was driving without his seat belt, his wife, passenger in the same car walked away without injury because she had her belt on. Think about it!