Oxygen Cylinder

Oxygen is a colorless, tasteless and odorless gas, whose molecule consists of two oxygen atoms (the chemical formula is O2). Oxygen is part of the atmosphere, water and more than 1,400 minerals such as silica, silicates and aluminosilicates, marbles, basalts, hematites and other minerals and rocks. Oxygen makes up between 50 and 85% of the mass of plant and animal tissues because it is contained in the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that make up living organisms. Oxygen is liquefied at a temperature of -182.96 °C, and it acquires a light blue color, freezes at a temperature of -218.7 °C, turning into light blue crystals. Gaseous industrial oxygen is obtained from atmospheric air by low-temperature rectification, after compression and cooling by purifying it from impurities of other gases, as well as by the method of water electrolysis.

APPLICATION:

• In metallurgy for steel production;
• in flame cutting and metal welding;
• in the space industry as an oxidizing agent for rocket fuel;
• in the food industry as a propellant and packaging gas;
• in the chemical industry as an oxidizing agent when creating oxygen-containing compounds;
• in agriculture to create an optimal microclimate in greenhouses;
• iin the manufacture of oxygen cocktails for weight gain in animals, as well as for oxygenation of the aquatic environment in fish farming.

Requirements for transportation, storage and use of gaseous industrial oxygen cylinders are established by the Federal standards and regulations in the field of industrial safety "Regulations of industrial safety for hazardous facilities using equipment operating under excessive pressure", GOST 26460-85 "Products of air separation. Gases. Cryoproducts. Packaging, labeling, transportation and storage", GOST 5583-78 "Industrial and medical gaseous oxygen. Technical Conditions (with Amendments N 1, 2, 3, 4)", fire safety standards, as well as other laws and regulations and international agreements in force on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Cylinders are not hazardous cargo until they are taken into use, but in any case they should be transported in conditions that exclude mechanical damage.

Cylinders filled with gaseous industrial oxygen shall be transported by any mode of transport in accordance with the Regulations on Hazardous Goods Transportation applicable to this mode of transport.

Transportation within the enterprise must be carried out on spring transport vehicles, trucks in a horizontal position with gaskets between the cylinders to protect against impact.

Wooden bars with cut out slots for cylinders, as well as rope or rubber rings of thickness not less than 25 mm (two rings per cylinder) or other spacers can be used as gaskets. During transportation, the cylinders must be stacked with valves in one direction.

Cylinders may be transported in special containers, as well as without containers in an upright position, always with spacers between them and secured against possible falling.

Oxygen cylinders must be transported with caps screwed on.

Cylinders designed for storage and transportation of gaseous industrial oxygen must not be used for storage and transportation of other gases, and it is prohibited to perform any operations that may contaminate their internal surface and degrade the physical and chemical properties of the gas.

It is forbidden to make any modifications to the cylinder bodies using welding or mechanical tools, which can lead to damage to the integrity or appearance of defects that degrade the technical characteristics of the cylinders.

When using cylinders for gaseous industrial oxygen it is not allowed to install them in the places of people passage, movement of goods and passage of vehicles. Cylinders must be located at least 1 m away from radiators and other heating devices and at least 5 m from heat sources with open flame.

Before filling the cylinders for gaseous industrial oxygen, they must be checked for the absence of impurities of combustible gases with a gas analyzer.

The nominal pressure of oxygen in a full cylinder at 20°C should be 14.7 MPa (150 kgf/cm2) or 19.6 MPa (200 kgf/cm2).

The gas in the cylinders must not be completely consumed when in use. The residual gas pressure in the cylinder must be at least 0.05 MPa (0.5 kgf/cm2).

Valves in oxygen cylinders must be screwed in with the use of sealing materials, the ignition of which in oxygen environment is excluded.

A simplified formula can be used to determine the remaining amount of gas in the cylinder: VO2 = V x PO2, where VO2 is the volume of oxygen in the cylinder (l); V is the cylinder capacity (l); PO2 is the pressure of oxygen in the cylinder according to the pressure gauge (kgf/cm2).

As an example, you can determine the amount of oxygen in a 40-liter cylinder with a residual pressure of 100 kgf/cm2: 40 x 100 = 4,000 liters (or 4 m3).

Also, when using, it is always necessary to remember that the pressure of oxygen in the cylinder changes with the temperature. For example, a cylinder filled with oxygen at a temperature of +20 °C to a pressure of 150 kgf/cm2, when the temperature rises to +40 °C will have a pressure of 160 kgf/cm2, and when lowering to 0 °C - 140 kgf/cm2, to -20 °C - 130 kgf/cm2, to -40 °C - 120 kgf/cm2.

Cylinders with gaseous industrial oxygen can be stored both in special rooms and in the open air, in the latter case they must be protected from atmospheric precipitation and sunlight. Oxygen and combustible gas cylinders must not be stored in the same room.

Cylinders with shoes or concave bottoms should be stored in an upright position. Cylinders must be installed in special sockets, cages or secured by a barrier to prevent them from falling.

Cylinders that do not have shoes can be stored in a horizontal position on wooden frames or racks, with devices that exclude rolling out.

When stored in open areas it is allowed to lay cylinders with shoes in stacks with gaskets made of rope, wooden bars, rubber or other non-metallic materials with shock-absorbing properties, between horizontal rows.

When laying cylinders in stacks, the height of the latter should not exceed 1.5 m, the valves of the cylinders must face the same direction.

Oxygen cylinders must be stored with caps screwed on.