Explosion of E cylinder of Oxygen

[Aaron_W]

I'm wondering if penetrating oil was used prior to disassembly, O2 under pressure reacts violently with oil.

That seems likely. Instructions with O2 tanks and regulators are pretty emphatic about not using lubricating oils in the parts or to seal connections, so using WD40 or similar to get the stem off seems an equally bad idea.

I'm kind of baffled, he was trying to remove the valve while the cylinder still had pressure in it?

The valve wrenches for these are usually brass, plastic or zinc alloy presumably for their non sparking nature, so a standard steel adjustable wrench probably didn't do him any favors.

Cylinders are stored energy, even compressed air can do a lot of damage. I was a Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) tech for several years, and I remember one of the instructors telling us about showing up at a fire station to certify the testing equipment just as somebody knocked over an air pack cylinder breaking off the neck. He said that cylinder went through an interior cinder block wall, sailed across the apparatus bay in front of him and exited the building through an exterior cinder block wall. In that particular incident he said through luck there were no injuries but many had to change their pants.

 

[jwmay]

I'm wondering what would have been an appropriate method of dealing with a valve that wouldn't open. Take it to a distributor? I'm also wondering if he thought it must be empty since he couldn't get anything out of it through the valve. And finally, who else here actually knows a person in their department who you imagined would be the guy to do this? My brain filled in for that guy in the story with a coworker seamlessly. It just put him right there wrenching on that cap like this was a story about him. Ha!

 

[MikeInOr]

I'm wondering what would have been an appropriate method of dealing with a valve that wouldn't open. Take it to a distributor? I'm also wondering if he thought it must be empty since he couldn't get anything out of it through the valve. And finally, who else here actually knows a person in their department who you imagined would be the guy to do this? My brain filled in for that guy in the story with a coworker seamlessly. It just put him right there wrenching on that cap like this was a story about him. Ha!

I was wonder the same thing... what is the correct way of dealing with a tank full of oxygen and no way to empty it?

I have a hard time believing that the technician thought the tank was empty. I can tell immediately if my aluminum CO2 tanks are empty just by picking them up. Steel welding tanks are not so easy to tell because they are a lot heavier and the weight of the gas is a much smaller proportion of the overall weight.

I will admit to not knowing an oxygen tank could be so explosive before watching the video. I figured they would go flying around like an uncontrolled rocket but I did not think they would explode. I think the video did show signs of the the e-cylinder bounding off the wall which would be indicative of the tank being in one piece?

 

[Firstram]

I have a hard time believing that the technician thought the tank was empty. I can tell immediately if my aluminum CO2 tanks are empty just by picking them up. Steel welding tanks are not so easy to tell because they are a lot heavier and the weight of the gas is a much smaller proportion of the overall weight.

CO2 tanks are filled with liquid and are filled by weight. Essentially every other gas bottle is filled with high pressure gas and filled by pressure. The weight doesn't really change from full to empty. Don't assume a tank is empty because doesn't feel full!

 

[Ken from ontario]

I'm kind of baffled, he was trying to remove the valve while the cylinder still had pressure in it?

If I understood it correctly, the technician was trying to slightly loosen the valve to let O2 leak out very slowly.

 

[vocatexas]

Yeah, that's not likely to be the outcome you get at 2200 psi.