Cylinder Rupture at Dive Shop in Washington

[DandyDon]

Sounds like a nurse tank, kept outdoors. shrapnel flew as far as 50 yards, blew a hole in the dive shop wall, ruptured several other air tanks that were stacked up against the back of the building.No injuries...

Compressed air explosion damages west Olympia store | Local News | The Olympian

 

[Doc Harry]

Sounds like a nurse tank, ...

What is a "nurse tank?"

Judging from the photos the tanks look like HC-4500s. If I were a betting man, I'd betcha that the tanks were out of hydro and exploded while the bank was being filled.

 

[DandyDon]

What is a "nurse tank?"

Judging from the photos the tanks look like HC-4500s. If I were a betting man, I'd betcha that the tanks were out of hydro and exploded while the bank was being filled.

I guess that's an agriculture term, maybe not used elsewhere. It's the big tank used to fill smaller tanks, in particular portable ammonia tanks.

I thought it was a storage tank that exploded, but maybe it was a smaller one...?

 

[akdeepdiver]

Dive shop damaged after oxygen tank explodes | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News

Cylinder rupture at a Dive Shop in Washington. Luckily no one was hurt. From the photos it looks like it was a high pressure steel storage bottle (Cascade) or ASME cylinder. (NOT a Aluminum tank made of 6351-T6 Alloy)

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[Doc Harry]

I thought it was a storage tank that exploded, but maybe it was a smaller one...?

I think it was a storage tank, too - see my post above.

 

[DandyDon]

I think it was a storage tank, too - see my post above.

Yeah, I was thinking of one big tank - and I have seen some shops use those, and you were thinking of a bank of tanks about the size that welders use for oxygen - 300 CF high pressure? The news story mentioned 3,000 psi, but either a large tank or a bank - they store higher pressures than that don't they? Was that what you meant by 4500?

 

[Doc Harry]

The big blue tanks in the photo looks like HC-4500 tanks
Often used for banking gas
I pump mine to 4,500 PSI although I think the rated pressure is higher than that

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

... according to what I read elsewhere, Waynne said it was a stage bottle that blew ... I don't know anymore than that yet ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Doc Harry]

All that from a stage bottle? Makes you appreciate proper cylinder maintenance and inspections, huh?
So was it a 6351 or out-of-date cylinder, or an inattentive compressor operator who over-pressurized the cylinder?

 

[Diver0001]

Sounds like a nurse tank,

Don, we call those "buffer tanks" in diving.

R..