1. Renton Fire Dept. What could have kept the Titanic from sinking?
Look out have binoculars
Slowed the speed
Better steel in the hull
Over confidence of captain
Few life boats
All of these components made it possible for the ship to sink. If a person were to take away any one of these elements the disaster may not have happened.
Many important things have to happen just right to make this operation successful. Equipment, training, procedures and team work are just a few. Any one of these (or other components) having failure can result in catastrophe.
Many of us take pressurized cylinders for granted. Proper safeguards and maintenance make the use of pressurized air possible.

2. Compressed Air Fill Station OperationBy
Tom Curtis
3 years in SCBA Program
Visual inspector Certification from PSI
Rebuild Technician from MSA
Fire Service Instructor

3. Objectives Demonstrate external visual inspection
Identify safe filling techniques
Identify safe transportation guidelines

4. SCUBA cylinder rupture
Riviera beach Florida
February 1, 1998
What Happened:
Chris Hawkins, my 18 year old nephew, worked at the Force E dive shop located in Riviera Beach, FL as a technician. His job responsibilities included, among other things, filling scuba cylinders. On February 1, 1998, a regular customer came into the shop to have his aluminum Walter Kidde scuba tank topped off before going on another dive. Chris examined the tank and found current inspection stickers. He took the tank and placed it in the water tub and connected it to the fill station. Store policy requires that all cylinders have their pressure checked before actually adding any air. Chris opened the scuba valve and was attempting to check the pressure when he heard a hissing sound. He assumed that it was a leaky O-ring in the valve which he had seen many times before in other tanks. He then fully submerged the tank into the water to check for bubbles. Before Chris could determine the origin of the leak, the tank suddenly exploded. Absolutely no air was added to the tank and the tank was not mistreated at any time. There were two other witnesses to this event. Both have stated on record that Chris did nothing wrong. Photographic evidence clearly shows that the fill station valve was in the OFF position at the time of the blast indicating that no air was added to the tank before it exploded. Also, the fill equipment itself had a special regulator that prevented overfills.

5. Chris sustained severe injuries in the explosion
Chris sustained severe injuries in the explosion. He lost the better part of his hand and his face was badly cut up. Ironically, the customer who owned the tanks and another employee (Paul) were standing less than six feet away from the tank when it suddenly exploded. Paul was blown about 20 feet backwards through the air, but was not seriously hurt. The blast from the explosion propelled another scuba tank right past Paul's head - luckily missing him. The customer was blown across a cluster of filled tanks and into a steel rail, but sustained only minor injuries. Chris was blown into a steel grate railing about 10 feet back from where the tank was. A large chunk of the exploded tank ripped a hole through the steel rail, ricocheted off a full oxygen tank, made a 90 degree turn and blasted out the front store window which was criss-crossed with commercial grade burglar bars. Fortunately, this failed to rupture the oxygen tank which could have killed them all.

6. Despite the fact that some officials are saying that Chris lost two fingers in the blast, they are not entirely accurate. Chris lost most of his hand in the blast including his thumb and index finger. If you draw a line on your hand, starting at the crack between your middle finger and your index finger, down your hand to the middle of your wrist and then over to the edge just under the base of the thumb, then you will have a better idea what he really lost. That is a lot more than just two fingers.
What Pressure is a SCUBA cylinder filled to?

7. SCBA Cylinder Rupture Allegan Fire Department September 4, 1997
Cylinder Ruptures at Allegan Fire Department
On September 4,1997, Fire Chief Joel Merchant of Allegan Fire Department and firefighter Lt. Areaux from Hopkins Fire Department were starting their day. They filled three cylinders in their MAKO Air Station and began to fill the remaining two. "All of a sudden, she cut loose" explains Chief Merchant. At 8:00 am a cylinder ruptured inside the fill station while Chief Merchant was standing directly in front of it and firefighter Lt. Areaux off to the side. No one was harmed.

8. At 8:10 am Chief Merchant called Paul Staples at Air Source One and said, "I have a cylinder that blew up and a fill station that saved my life this morning". The MAKO Air Station contained both fragments of the cylinder, all pieces of valves, handles, connections and the steel trays the cylinders sat on. The Fill Station showed external dents but no breech of the 1/4" plate steel unit. The schrapnel from the ruptured cylinder sheered the valve from the opposing cylinder and also dented it.
It is our opinion, there is no one to blame for this rupture. There had to be at least one stress crack in the neck of the cylinder that had caused the rupture. The cylinder had been hydro tested three years ago and was not over pressurized. The cylinder has special permit markings that should have been stamped with an exemption number at the hydro test facility and was not. Specific details regarding this ruptured cylinder are pending US-DOT investigation.
Due to the fact the filling process was done in a certified containment fill station, all people in and around the area were unharmed in this incident. The only thing that might have prevented the cylinder from rupturing would be visual cylinder inspections regularly. Traditionally there are two ruptures in the United States per year, in 1996 there were six and currently in 1997 this is the fifth. Such a dramatic increase cannot be ignored. Although the only real solution is to always keep the safest conditions in and around the work place as Allegan City Fire Department has done and provide proper training.
In the past, the number of SCBA and SCUBA cylinder ruptures reported averaged two per year. In 1996, FIVE cylinder ruptures were reported in the United States alone. This represents a 150% increase in cylinder ruptures. The five cylinder ruptures in 1996 are listed below (Please note that three of these ruptures occured during the fill process).
1. March 4, 1996 in California. During the transporting of cylinders a cleaning solution spilled onto the side of a Fiber Wrapped SCBA causing the SCBA to rupture.
2. July 18, 1996 in Alabama. During the fill process, a SCUBA cylinder ruptured into six  pieces causing property damage.
3. July 1996 in Rocksberry, New Jersey. An SCBA ruptured during the fill process. Three people were seriously injured.
4. September 1996 in Essex County, New Jersey. An SCBA ruptured during the fill process. Effects of rupture are unknown.
5. December 1996 in Florida. A storage cylinder ruptured which launched surrounding storage cylinders causing massive property damage.
Compressed gas cylinders are sleeping giants - a full standard size cylinder at a pressure of ~ 200 atm (2940 psi) contains the kinetic energy equivalent to a small anti-tank weapon. Cylinders whose valves were accidentally broken off have been known to fly in excess of 500 m and penetrate reinforced concrete walls. Breaking off a valve from a full cylinder is the ultimate accident and all operations should aim at absolutely avoiding this incident.

9. Cylinder Inspection Cylinder type
Show Composite and solid wall cylinder. Discuss construction and manufacture of each.

10. Composite Cylinder
Aluminum liner that is rapped by carbon fiber or fiberglass.
4500 or 2216 psi.

11. Solid Wall Cylinder
Low pressure
2216 psi

12. Cylinder Inspection Cylinder type Service pressure
Show where service pressure can be found on the cylinder. What are the pressures we can fill?
Show the connection for low pressure cylinders.

13. Look Here for Service Pressure!
The label of the cylinder will contain the service pressure. It is listed here as 4500 psi. The last numbers on the first line of the white labels. If you have questions about the service pressure DO NOT FILL.

14. Oxygen Cylinder Stamped information on the dome.
Includes: service pressure, serial number, manufacture and permit number.
This an oxygen cylinder manufactured by Catalina.

15. Low Pressure Cylinder Gauge.
Can we attach and fill a low pressure cylinder to 4500 psi? Yes the connections will fit and many low pressure cylinders have been found to have more then the allowed pressure.
This is where many of us find the cylinder has a different service pressure. A better place to find out this information is on the label.

16. High Pressure Cylinder Gauge
Again, this has the same connection as the low pressure cylinders.

17. Cylinder Inspection Cylinder type Service pressure Hydro test date
80% of all cylinders that fail visual fail the hydro test as well
20% of condemned cylinders fail the test.
Traditionally hydro test dates have been
Composite cylinders – 3 years
Solid cylinders – 5 years
All composite cylinders are limited to a 15 year service life
Steel and Aluminum have an unlimited service life (5 year hydro)

18. Stamped Hydro Test Date
Stamped on dome of solid wall cylinders
A hydro date is stamped on this aluminum cylinder on the cylinder. Our SCBA cylinders have been stamped on the neck. The stamp will indicate month and year of hydro test. (10 00)
Show where the dates are marked.
When re-hydroed the date is affixed with epoxy to the body of the cylinder.

19. Cylinder Inspection Cylinder type Service pressure Hydro test date
Manufacturer
Show different manufactures of cylinders we carry and ones you may see.
SCI and Luxfer
Sample cylinder
Low pressure
Oxygen
This is important. Our past practice was to hyrdo test composit cylinders at 3 years and aluminum cylinders at 5 years.

20. SCI Cylinder Three year hydro
This is a SCI cylinder. It has a three year hydro date. We currently have 180 scba cylinders. Most of these are manufactured by Luxfer. (5 year hydro date) The six other cylinders are manufactured by SCI. (3 are H30’s and 3 are H6’s)

21. What’s more, this DOT-authorized, extended retest cycle doesn’t just apply to new Luxfer cylinders – it’s retroactive to existing Luxfer cylinders manufactured to DOT exemption DOT-E 10915

22. Luxfer Cylinder
Five year hydro

23. They May Look the Same!
Take the time to look for the manufacturer and hydro date.
I you don’t look at the label, both the cylinders look the same. They are the same color, same MSA label, same construction, same gauge.

24. Aluminum Cylinders 5 year hydro
All aluminum cylinders have 5 year hydro test intervals.

25. Cylinder Inspection Cylinder type Service pressure Hydro test date
Manufacturer
Cuts and gouges
Any cuts or gouges of --- or more in the gel coat need to be sent to RAP to repair. Any cylinder showing a break in the fiber will be destroyed.
Have students identify type, service pressure, hydro test date and manufacturer of cylinders. (life of cylinder)

26. Cuts, Gouges and Scrapes.
.005 inches.
Sent to the shop for gel coat repair.

27. Break Just 10 Min. Be Back At:

28. Fill Station Operation
Safety rules
Hearing protection
Respect the “whip”
Keep area clean

29. SCBA Connection
Rated at 4500 psi

30. SCUBA Yoke
Most rated at 3000 psi

31. Low Pressure SCBA Adapter
“Pop off” regulator is set for 2216 psi.

32. Low Pressure SCBA Adapter
The adapter has the same 4500 psi rated connection as the high pressure whips.

33. Station 14 SCBA Fill Station
Open donor cylinder bank first.
Crack fill gauge to proper rate.

34. Oxygen Fill Station Regulated fill rate of 300-600 psi/min.
Will have vacuum system installed.

35. 300 to 600 psi Per Min One unit on this gauge is 100 psi
It should take 10 to 20 seconds for each 100 psi unit
To fill a high pressure SCBA cylinder from 0 psi it will 10 min.

36. Filling a Cylinder Cylinder inspection Cylinder connection
Open cylinder valve
Open lowest donor cylinder bank first
Open the fill valve at 300 – 600 psi/min

37. Handle With Care. Would you use an artillery shell as a wheel chock.
Kinetic energy stored in a full 80 cubic foot cylinder exceeds one million foot pounds.
This is a cylinder rupture caused because it was being used to block the tire of a fire engine. (more believable truck) The driver probably did not respect the potential power in the cylinder.

38. Transportation of Cylinders
Regulations for commercial transporters
Practical application in the fire department would be:
Vertical
Protected contact with other cylinders
Transportation of cylinders by fire department. The DOT regulations (49CFR ) have a section on transporting pressure vessels. Those regulations. apply to commercial movement of cylinders. They are, in any case rather general. A prudent technician who is not a commercial transporter would draw from the commercial transport rules as they might be practically applied. Essentially, the DOT regulations say the cylinders are to be transported vertical (most fire trucks these days have near horizontal slots). Each cylinder is to be secured so it will not contact adjacent cylinders or valves in a harmful way. Cylinders should be placed on an essentially flat floor. Bottom line seems to be that the cylinder be secured in a manner that will prevent it from falling, banging, or flying out a fire truck slot when the truck goes around a corner.

39. The End