This is a lesson about how little mistakes can cost lives I learnt a few days ago & I must share my experience with you ...
The week before Christmas I ordered in 3 midi oxygen tanks from my usual trusted and faithful local supplier who is a middleman for a large company based in the Midlands here in the UK. They supply all sorts of industrial gases from argon to acetylene to whatever. Running a GTT Bobcat I use propane & oxygen (naturally). Having used up the first 2 tanks I hooked up the last one checked all the regulators, valves etc and all looked fine - the torch was silently running gas through so I thought right ho let's go.
So to follow POOP I turned the propane on - got the usual nice yellow billowy flame and gradually turned on the o2. Roar, Fizz fizz phut & the flame went out. Eh ? I thought what's up here ? Another go, same thing. Checked the pressure gauges, the valves, disconnected, reconnected, check check check. All ok.
Same thing roar fizz fizz phut & flame out. WTF I thought... I sat down vexed as anything and glared at the cylinder. Then I noticed there was little label that stated it was Nitrogen... OMG. The crazy thing was it was in an oxy cylinder - black body, green top as they always are from this supplier. Exactly like the other two I had used over the previous weeks.
The good thing is that nitrogen just put the flame out - so I was safe, but & this is a biggi - imagine if it had been something like acetylene. Funkibeads & half the house would have been vaporised possibly.
BUT then I got thinking what if I was not a flame worker - but a nursing home... There would have been a horrific tragedy. Indeed we were discussing this in here on live chat and one of the good folk there posted an article about a nursing home where they mixed up the o2 & Nitrogen and 2 residents asphixiated & 8 were poisioned. That really sent shivers up my spine. The thread is here:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=94751&page=1
So there we are for what it is worth - I'm going to keep my eyes wide open next time I take a delivery from anyone. Take care.
Greg Ash (Funkibeads)