Gas cylinder welding fire - GIF

Gas cylinder welding fire. Looks like the guy was unharmed, except for perhaps some scorched eyebrows and the shame of eternal internet fame.

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Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...4612#post80241
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...4315#post79736
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...7085#post84989
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...3122#post98114
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...3413#post99029
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...3576#post99483
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...020#post100536

YOU'RE FIRED! Unfortunately this happens all to frequently around scrap yards, usually with workers who have not been on the job for very long and do no thave much if any experience with disposing of gas cylinders. The fault lies with the supervisor or company policy though, but mostly with improper training. Well run recycle establishments keep all pressurized type cylinders for disposal within the confines of a thick walled concrete enclosure these cylinders first are checked to seen if they are empty then they are mechanically punctured once any possibility of explosion is removed then a qualified worker will use a very long torch to cut the cylinder up into small er pieces. There is still the chance of a fire but not one that would be devastating.
That guy was extremely lucky not to have been killed. A few years ago a scrapper delivered a load to the recycle place across from where I used to live. Apparently he had hidden several propane cylinders in the load when the workers started cutting it up one or more of those cylinders exploded killing 2 workers and injuring a couple others. The materials were traced back to the scrapper and charges were brought against him.

My brother in law (BIL) is a lawyer. He had a client about 35 years ago, that purchased 55 gallon scrap barrels. He used an OA torch to cut the top off. Unfortunately one of the barrels had flammable product still in it, with the bungs still intact. The barrel launched like a rocket, as the bottom bulged to where it tore loose, and it sprayed this liquid on him as the explosion was occurring. The barrel came from the oil fields. The original product manufacture and the scrap yard were held liable. The manufacture because a few labels required by OSHA were never in place (it did say flammable), and the scrap yard because they should have removed the barrel end with a "can opener" to prevent morons from making themselves Frankenstein's. The guy was mad at my BIL because he won millions (don't recall how big), some as upfront, and some as a structured settlement (he wanted the whole payout). My BIL, told him you didn't get this money because you were smart. The guy blew through the money buying antique cars.

At the blacksmith shop I worked at as a teen we used to de-head lots of barrels to sell as burn barrels, but we had a special made tool we used that Clarence the blacksmith had made it looked somewhat like a huge can opener. I would hook it under the rim then work it around the drum until the end was cut free. Clarence didn't care if it was full of water he wouldn't allow a torch near one until the head was first removed by his tool.

The difference between ignorance (above) and stupidity (below).

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mama says stupid is as stupid does

Not sure what we have here. I wonder if this is a fuel theft gone wrong.

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To clarify (and someone please correct me if I've got this wrong) - to cut open a vessel that may have once held fuel, you first fill it with water. Then you can grind or saw away as much as you want, correct?

Tep water would have prevented what happened , but the way he did it removed both ends much faster

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jon

Not sure what we have here. I wonder if this is a fuel theft gone wrong.

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To clarify (and someone please correct me if I've got this wrong) - to cut open a vessel that may have once held fuel, you first fill it with water. Then you can grind or saw away as much as you want, correct?

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I wouldn’t want to ever answer this positively! The problem is unless you know 100% what was in the tank and if any of that stuff remains you just can’t be positive you are safe. These days you can buy new steel barrels pretty cheap and even brand new propane tanks so I really can’t understand trying to recycle these barrels with the unknown histories.

Some people like to make barbeque pits out of 55 gallon drums. While they work perfectly fine I can’t for the life of me understand why somebody would use a mystery drum. Not only do you have the fire risk you have no idea what you are putting into your food.

My Dad and a few other guys organized a Volunteer Fire dept in a small town we lived in when I was a little kid. There was a service station that also sold commercial type fuels, heating oil, buld motor oil etc. They met with the Fire Dept and told them one lf their large gasoline above ground tanks had a leaking hole in it, and they almost had it empty and wanted the fire dept. to stand by while they welded-up the hold. It was a large vertical tank of probably 5000 gallons of so.

My Dad told them to let him know what day they were going to do it that he was going to another town. They asked why and he told them it would obviously explode. They asked him how to do it and he told them to either weld it full or better still weld it full of water. They did it full of gas, and when the little flame went out they knew the hole was sealed.

This guy is lucky that the top of the barrel didn't split his torso like a a circular saw blade.

The son of the Blacksmith at the shop where I worked as a kid got called to hot tap a high pressure nat gas line while under pressure. He and I went out I ground the pipe clean then he welded the nipple in place then the gas company screwed the ball valve on then they screwed in a piercing tool into the valve. I much larger version of the freon puncture device you would use to add freon to your car's AC they screwed it in then backed it out closed the valve and removed the tool not a bit of Nat gas was lost from the 3000 PSI line.
I've repaired a lot of cracks in fuel tanks on equipment. Not the easiest thing to do diesel is oily and makes it hard tro weld but if you burn hot enough and keep the fuel level above the weld it works OK but not for the faint at heart or inexperienced you can get yourself and others killed.
When it comes to cutting open a used propane tank filling with water is not good enough as the propane permeates into the metal. Even if the valve has been removed and the tank has been open to air for a number of years filling it with water then cutting into it with a torch it will still huff always cut from bottom up and keep water filling it until you have it nearly cut all the way open and even then it could explode. I've seen guys steam clean the 250 and 500 gallon propane tanks for several hours getting the tank hot to the touch then filling them with a solution of baking soda and water and letting them set for a few days before cutting them open while forcing CO2 in them. Personally I stay away from cutting them with a torch or grinder all together. I have filled them with water then drilled a hole nad used a saber saw by cutting from the top. Not TOO much danger in that since there is little to now air space
As far as Making BBQ grills out of things like this especially Propane tanks a huge hot fire needs to be built in them many times and kept hot for hours and hours to ever get the smell out.
I made a BBQ grill for an oilfield company a long time ago out of a 1000 gallon pressurized fuel tank. the steel was about half an inch thick We must have burned a cord of wood in it with forced air to get it hot enough to burn the fuel out of the steel. It was fine after that
But in capping by far the best way to make BBQ grils out of drums is like previously posted use a new of whats is known as a virgin drum

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jon

Not sure what we have here. I wonder if this is a fuel theft gone wrong.

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To clarify (and someone please correct me if I've got this wrong) - to cut open a vessel that may have once held fuel, you first fill it with water. Then you can grind or saw away as much as you want, correct?

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That depends on whether you are trying to remove a section of your barrel or a section of your legs.

The knowledge is limited, but stupidity is endless..

An Aussie perfected cutting the top out of used 44 gal petrol drums with a gas axe way back in the late 1940's.
All you have to do is change the air fuel mixture, you do this by inserting a compressed air hose into one of the open holes at the top of the drum, turn on the air pressure and all the harmfull exploding vapours are blown out of the other open hole.

Into it with a gas axe/angle grinder/whatever and do what you want to the drum now.

Don't believe me, then you better do a google for a fella by the name of Kurt Johansson from Alice Springs.
After the 2nd WW the yanks left hundreds of thousands of old petrol drums behind just laying around the countryside, so Kurt went out and retrieved them, did what he had to do and on-sold them making a lot of money out of it.
He even invented the self tracking trailer, so a Road Train virtually follows in the path of the first trailer.