Gas cylinder launches like rocket in junkyard - GIF

Gas cylinder launches like a rocket in junkyard.

<video controls autoplay loop> <source src="https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net/junkyard_opening_gas_cylinder.mp4" type="video/mp4"> Your browser does not support the video tag. </video>


Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...473#post142839
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...608#post139591
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...568#post117613
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...616#post102044
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...479#post117039

And on the next episode of "You Stupid.....Mutha....Forgers...."

That guy walking out the door must have p*ssed his pants or more!

Ralph

I'd go back and choke check the nimrod that placed it on the ground without its cap. In a doorway, where something clearly fell across the valve body like a guillotine. The dumb in that set-up was astrological in quantity.

it's me or there was a Guy sitting on the bottle, white t shirt ?

I was following a truck across the viaduct in downtown Auckland years,(1979), ago when a large bottle of Oxygen fell off the back. I saw it start to go and hit the picks.
It hit the ground bounced did a 1/2 circle and took off across the harbour. A friend who worked at the Navel Dockyard on the other side of the harbour said it hit the sea wall. That is a Hell of a long way. Probably skipped a couple of times.

Long time ago in a career far, far away, at a remote nuclear reactor site i was taking deliver of the weekly stock. One of the bottle was Sodium Hexaflouride. Its a REAL dense gas, the densest i ever managed. This also means that they are extremely heavy. Considerably more than O2, Acetylene, H2, He, NH3, or any of the other myriad consumable you find around a remote research h nuclear reactor.

So, the yokel unloading the pallet of five cylinders neglected to check his manifest for the weight of this pallet and "ASSumed" the forklift that he had on the back if his flat bed was up to the task.

Nope.

Long story short.

He dropped the pallet as soon as it cleared the step bed. Lift plunged forward to the ground, and two cylinders that didn't have their caps all the way on broke the valve bodies.

These two cylinder flew over a mile each.

This guy did NOT get the chance to drive the truck home. We made his supervisor drive out.

That's why there are rules for lashing / chaining all pressurized cylinders to the wall or a stable cart. Imagine if LP cylinders didn't have that collar on the top protecting the valve, and the idiots that buy those cylinders for their grills, the Darwin awards would likely go into the millions per year! It would be a daily news report or tally, (in my best newscaster voice) "It was a good day in suburban areas, only 7 deaths due to mishandling of LP cylinders, tune in tomorrow for our daily LP fatality update". This is exactly why the GHS has a special classification and pictogram for pressurized cylinders!

Ive gotten oh somany of those propane tanks that had bad /hard,dried,cracked,chunks missing seals in them. but they did have a fresh coat of paint and new blue rino plastic wrapper!!! one of my kids Friends parents home 3 blocks from me burned down due to those propane tank ****/dead seals...I kinda doubt the propane company was held responsible.

When I used gas in my grill back in the day, I had a baling wire loop full of new seals for just that reason. I always used Worthington tanks though, better made. I learned that from trying to change a forklift tank outside in January... frozen seals are just as bad. We always kept a box of warn, fresh seals and changed them every time we changed a tank in the winter.

Anyone who trusts those seals without inspecting before each use, gets what they deserve. Let Darwin sort em out.

blue rino says they inspect and rebuild as well as pressure check & leek check every tank...what a pile of **** that is.

Well spotted! Bet he's worse for wear...

Dad was a volunteer fireman in a rural area where we lived when I was really young. There was a house fire that wasn't too far from our house. We could see the glow in the sky from it from home. Dad said when he got there that the house had two of those upright propane tanks sitting next to the house. He said as they were fighting the fire they both "vented" and took off like missiles straight-up in the air. They went straight up and at some altitude exploded like a hydrogen bomb. It was a very loud explosion and a huge fireball.

(15) MythBusters: Air Cylinder Rocket - YouTube

I turned out to a rollover a few years ago, where there was 6 G size oxy cylinders "hissing". The valves had cracked, but not sheared off. I stood them up so any forces were pointing down, and laid safe cylinders around them so they couldn't tip over towards the road, but instead fall over so the tops were facing the road (projecting away from the scene/ us, casualties)
None of the cylinders let go, but did hiss continuously for the 30mins or so I was on-scene.
FWIW, the cause of the incident was a 8x5 caged trailer behind a 4WD work truck, the drawbar of the trailer broke away from the body (doing 80 kph (50mph) and the rest of the trailer rolled and the load came out the top of the cage - the load was all cylinders of industrial gases (oxy, acet, LPG (propane), and maybe an argon or two)