[TheForge] Gas Cylinder Safety (was: Freak accident)

[Saint Phlip]

Then Bruce, I'm sure you understand why I almost had a heart attack
when one of the SCA fighters was trying to go off into the woods with
her oxygen cylinder on her back...

Those few of you who don't know, our people indulge in a martial sport
where they hit each other with heavy sticks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4usT4icLTs0

I could just see someone cracking the oxygen cylinder in the middle of
the woods. Yes, it was fairly small, but a lot of people did not
understand why I was so concerned...

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 10:01 AM, Bruce Freeman <freemab222 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dave is right about caps -- don't expect them to fit perfectly.  I
> have seen many instances when the cap that was on the cylinder as it
> came from the gas supplier did not fit well at all.  Usually they are
> too loose, but sometimes they're too tight.  I'm not sure what threads
> they use on those things, but I suspect there's more than one
> standard, or that the standard is not too strict.  (Test the fit of
> the cap when the cylinder is delivered, and refuse delivery of any you
> can't loosen by hand.  If the delivery man gives you shit about
> refusing delivery, tell him to back off or you'll phone his safety
> officer.)
>
> I’m going to get a little preachy, below, for which I apologize now.
> Please think of it this way – you are all my friends to a greater or
> lesser degree, and I don’t have enough friends that I would care to
> lose any to preventable accidents.  I certainly do NOT intend to
> criticize Ron, who is to be commended for pointing out a possibly
> embarrassing error and warning the rest of us not to do as he did.
> However, Ron’s account only touches the surface of possible injuries
> from mishandling compressed gas cylinders.
>
> In my experience, people who should know better treat compressed gas
> cylinders much too cavalierly.  I am no expert on this subject, but I
> have worked around such cylinders all my career (as a chemist) and I
> know a good deal about them just because of trying to keep my own skin
> intact.
>
> The caps for those cylinders should always be replaced when the
> regulator is removed.  The purpose of the cap it to prevent the valve
> from being broken off the cylinder.  Should that happen, the cylinder
> becomes an unsteerable rocket.  This is no joke.  This really happens.
>
> The absence of the regulator may actually make the cylinder safer (or
> not) but the presumption is that when the regulator is removed, the
> cylinder will be transported; and when a cylinder is moved from one
> place to another, the regulator should always be removed and the cap
> replaced
>
> The principal function of the holes in the cap is to release gas while
> the cap is in place.  That can happen, for example, in a fire, when
> the overpressure valve vents some or all of the cylinder contents.  In
> general, that should be the only function for those holes.  Resist the
> temptation to put anything into them -- like a lever for loosening a
> stuck cap.  There are a few types of cap wrenches that are designed to
> insert into those holes to give a little torque when removing a cap,
> but REALLY the cap should be unscrewed by hand alone, using no
> additional torque.  If you use a wrench, FIRST be sure that the
> cylinder itself is secured and cannot tip or rotate, and SECOND that
> the wrench you use CANNOT touch the valve inside the cap.
>
> While on the subject, let me mention that many workers do not secure
> cylinders properly.  Often they don’t secure them at all.  Cylinders
> should be secured from tipping or falling using a chain or stout
> strap.  A bungee cord doesn’t cut it.  Short cylinders may be clamped
> into a broad base that doesn’t actually secure the cylinder, but goes
> a long way to prevent tipping.  Always secure cylinders properly
> before removing cylinder cap.
>
> Finally, always remember the hidden hazard of gas injection.  If a
> pinhole should exist on the cylinder valve or high-pressure side of a
> regulator, a stream of gas at high pressure will exit the cylinder.
> If you have acute hearing, you may be able to hear this, but don’t
> count on that.  Even a soapy water test may not reveal such a leak,
> because the gas flow is so fast as to prevent bubbles from forming.  A
> pressure-drop test (change in pressure with time when there should be
> no gas consumption) may reveal such a leak.  Therefore as a general
> rule, don’t grasp or come too close to a high-pressure gas line.  Even
> 100 psi can inject gas under the skin, and severe damage can result
> from such an injection.
>
> --
> Bruce
> NJ
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-- 
Saint Phlip

So, you think your data is safe?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/schneier.google.hacking/index.html?hpt=T2

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

Priorities:

It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.

.I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary
notices I have read with pleasure. -Clarence Darrow