Effects of acetylene cylinder

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Thu 31 May 2007 13:28
Effects of acetylene cylinder - nortones2
Regular readers might recall lengthy discussion abut Mway stoppage, where a van containing oxy-acetylene cylinders was quarantined for a long spell. This link relates to an event in Wolsingham, County Durham where an explosion cost the driver his life, and damaged surrounding properties: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6706871.stm There is an appeal to help the family of the unfortunate driver, BTW.
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Thu 31 May 2007 14:04
Effects of acetylene cylinder - milkyjoe
i hope you need a licence for that stuff, you wouldnt want some nut case al-queda sympathysers getting hold of the stuff
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Thu 31 May 2007 15:20
Effects of acetylene cylinder - Screwloose
i hope you need a licence for that stuff you wouldnt want some nut case
al-queda sympathysers getting hold of the stuff


Nope; all you need is an account with a supplier. I know many certifiable nutters that regularly use the stuff.

It's probably more the extreme pressure in the bottles; [3200psi] rather than the combustibility of the gas, that causes the explosion.
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Thu 31 May 2007 16:25
Effects of acetylene cylinder - nortones2
Acetylene is an explosive substance, not least because it decomposes violently when under pressure/ heated/shaken. In the gas bottle it is dissolved into acetone or other carrier, within a porous "honeycomb" compound to stabilise.
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Thu 31 May 2007 15:30
Effects of acetylene cylinder - bell boy
You dont need a licence but you do have to register to be able to have the bottles
The main thing is never put them on their sides and always use the correct spindle key to open the valves and obviously you should purge the pipes after each use.
On a similar thing, i was at (ive deleted the name to protect the innocent) a year back for their xmas fair and next to the ice rink there was a cafe in a tent (big one), they were using propane the largest size ,but they had these on their sides and the liguid was freezing the bottle necks up as it would,i spoke to the manager and explained how dangerous this is if a flame went back up a pipe to the now running liquid,he listened to the advice and acted on it.

no comment on why the cylinders blew up in the van an inquest will do that,just thought i would advise best practise for gases
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Thu 31 May 2007 16:12
Effects of acetylene cylinder - spinner
In addition to the highly explosive mix it forms with oxygen, acetylene is very unstable and as such is stored in the tank in a material soaked with acetone.
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Thu 31 May 2007 18:40
Effects of acetylene cylinder - Ruperts Trooper
I've heard that acetylene "self heats" which makes it particularly dangerous - don't ask me to explain it though.
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