Cylinder overfilling prevention and cylinder safety

What to know:

Cylinder overfilling prevention and cylinder safety

A-Gas New Zealand operations manager, Nick Volz, reinforces the importance of the safe handling of refrigerants, focusing on the prevention of cylinder overfilling.

“At A-Gas, safety is at the forefront of everything we do,” says Nick. “We are committed to pursuing zero harm across all our operations to ensure the safety of our colleagues, customers and the environment.”

For this reason, A-Gas is taking a proactive approach, raising awareness about topics such as cylinder overfilling prevention and the safety of cylinders within its business ecosystem to increase the safety of the industry.

Cylinder safety is a big part of the business. Here, Nick shares his top tips to prevent overfilling cylinders. “Together, we can prevent critical accidents during all phases of handling gas cylinders,” he says.

Cylinder overfilling prevention

Overfilling cylinders which exceed the allowable weight/ mass permissible and working pressure can cause deformation and lead to the cylinder’s inability to withstand the working pressure and reduce its integrity.

Overfilling compressed gas cylinders can lead to several risks of harming people, property, and the environment, such as:

• Explosion of the cylinder due to mechanical damage, weakness, or over-pressurisation.

• Fragmentation of the metal cylinder upon explosion.

• Exposure to released gas, which may have harmful properties (asphyxiant, toxic, corrosive, flammable).

• Cold burns.

These risks may result in critical accidents during the filling, storage, transportation, receipt or processing practices.

To avoid risks of harming people, property and the environment due to cylinder overfilling, it is essential to consider the following:

• Respect the filling and pressure limits defined for the cylinders. All cylinders containing mixed refrigerant gases have defined limits of 80% max capacity, and you can find them marked on the cylinder.

• A-Gas advises its customers to refer to local standards for other types of gases. Respect the allowable weight/mass permissible for each gas and cylinder.

• Do not overfill; this can result in a risk of explosion. It is also illegal transport.

• Do not use a damaged cylinder – for example, if there are dents, bulges, cracks or any other visible signs of damage, including valve damage. Refer to the images below for examples of what to look out for.

• Register the contents and the weight/mass of the filled cylinders and share them with A-Gas. Mark this on the cylinder as well.

Please share this important information with anyone who handles or works with gas cylinders. For further information, visit agas.com/nz/.