Victor Oxy-fuel Safety

oxy-fuel processes such as heating cutting brazing and welding create a potential danger from flames Sparks and intense heat despite these hazards millions of people work accident-free every year by design manufacturers build safe equipment this decreases the likelihood of a potential incident however good oxy-fuel operators know that their own safety as well as the safety of those around them depends on proper and responsible use of oxy-fuel equipment this video will help you learn more about oxy fuel technology equipment operation and safety principles to explain these fundamentals are ken hydrants a welding and metal fabrication instructor and tim taylor a welding and cutting expert ken with all the people in the workplace whose responsibility is it for safety it's not about what you're doing and what your official job title is just remember safety is everyone's responsibility and I agree 100% it's everyone's responsibility Victor has gathered additional material to support this video when you see this torch tip icon look for additional training material on this DVD as well as in your training kit now let's get started the four most common oxy-fuel processes are cutting heating welding and brazing the technology fundamentals and safety principles apply equally to each of these processes the foundation for all oxy-fuel processes is commonly called the triangle of combustion or fire triangle combustion requires three elements fuel oxygen and heat it's your responsibility to control each of these elements now here's our first safety tip Good Housekeeping is important ken will you tell us a little bit about Good Housekeeping Good Housekeeping simply means keeping your work area free of combustible materials items such as oily rags paper flammable liquids and trash cans need to be removed from the area remember you're going to have sparks and those sparks can hit anything in your work area what about smoking tim has should go without saying that there's no smoking around cylinders but it needs to be reinforced also never use matches or lighter to light the torch the only approved tool for lighting a torch is the spark lighter Tim can you tell us some of the obvious hazards associated with oxy-fuel cutting and heating sure of course the most obvious is the flame itself and the sparks it produces however also will produce a small amount of infrared rays we know we must protect our eyes as well as our skin now let's start with eyewear I prefer a face shield with a shaded lens however if you do use this make sure that you use the appropriate safety glasses underneath you can use goggles or I know can you prefer this the safety glasses that's right um anyone is fine what else do we need ken what else should I be looking for well you definitely need to wear the appropriate gloves and clothing in fact the clothing I recommend you wear a pair of blue jeans and a denim shirt cotton duck material is also okay but I'll tell you in addition to wearing those what I like to wear is a lab coat or a welding jacket but you need to be sure to button up the collar of your shirt as well as the sleeves and for obvious reasons you never keep paper in your pocket while using a torch and you never roll up the sleeves of your shirt or cuff your pant legs as they provide a perfect area to catch Sparks and slag what about boots when it comes to shoes you can't beat a good pair of leather boots but Tim whatever you do don't wear boots made from synthetic material as molten metal will burn right through them that's a good point Ken and you know there's a lot of companies and will allow you in the door was on a good pair of leather steel toed boots that's right wherever and whenever you work remember these safety fundamentals understand the triangle of combustion keep your work area clean always use proper personal protective equipment wear appropriate clothing if you work in your street clothes choose tightly woven fabrics made from natural fibers wool is naturally flame-retardant but never wear polyester fleece or other flammable synthetics lastly make sure appropriate fire extinguishing equipment is easily accessible and that you know how to use it depending on where you work there may be additional safety requirements so check with your safety manager or supervisor everyone knows what a cylinder is but do you know how to properly identify handle and place a cylinder in your work area let's start with identification a common mistake is to assume a cylinder color indicates a specific gas Tim there really aren't any standards when it comes to a cylinders color are there you're right there isn't unfortunately there's not distributor or gas supplier companion cylinders any color you want simply for identification good example we have an acetylene here that's green and an oxygen this orange it could just as easily be black and red it really doesn't make a difference we want to make sure that we don't try to identify the contents by the color of the cylinder in fact to identify a cylinders contents just read the label and if there's not a label on your cylinder don't use it you need to contact your gas supplier and ask him to take it back cylinders also have a United Nations or UN gas identification marking on their label here are some common UN ID numbers you'll also find these in section 14 transport information of material safety data sheet careless handling can turn a gas cylinder into a projectile whenever you handle a cylinder keep these five fundamentals in mind before moving a cylinder install the cylinder cap if there is one use a cart designed to transport wonders place cylinders in a safe location whether protected from sparks flames and heat sources don't block equipment or people once in place secure the cylinders in an upright position to prevent tipping or falling lastly inspect the valve look for signs of damage and always ensure the valve is free from oil and grease many shops have multiple gases on site some of the common gases used with oxy-fuel cutting and heating include oxygen acetylene propane and natural gas and propylene because each gas has its own safety precautions properly identify any gas before using it remember the triangle of combustion oxygen is one of the components let's talk about storing oxygen while oxygen comes in many containers it could be a compressed cylinder Compute bundle little cylinders together sometimes called a bank or a six-pack or 12-pack it'll come it can also come in a liquid container which would be liquid oxygen and it can be portable it'll come in pipelines it can come in tube trailers you can also come in a large ball tank much like you'll see at the hospital and the biggest mistake is to use oxygen in a place of compressed air you never want to do this because it could create a fire hazard some of the areas oxygen gets misused most often include using oxygen with pneumatic tools or using oxygen to blow dust off your clothing or your work area or using oxygen as ventilation in a place of error let's stress this safety point again never ever use oxygen in place of air now let's discuss fuel gases which are another component in the triangle of combustion the most widely used fuel gas is acetylene other fuels are commonly referred to as alternate fuels these include LP gases or liquefied petroleum gases which include propane propylene and butane they also include compressed gases such as natural gas and methane the first thing to know about acetylene is that the basic structure of an acetylene cylinder is very different from other cylinders the cylinder contains a porous mass which is saturated with liquid acetone the acetylene gas is then pumped into the cylinder and absorbed into the acetone as you use the gas its released from the acetone because of its nature there are several important safety considerations specific through settling your first consideration is always use and store the acetylene cylinder in an upright position and remember never use acetylene above 15 pounds pressure acetylene will have a tendency to disassociate above 15 psi and can cause a chemical reaction that's why on all of the acetylene regulators you notice a red line at 15 pounds pressure the withdraw rate is really important to your right can it is it's very important you can only withdraw 1/7 of the cylinder volume for example this particular cylinder has 280 cubic feet in it so what I would do is divide that by 7 giving me 40 useable cubic feet per hour of gas remember never use more than one seventh of the cylinder volume remember these four safety facts about acetylene always secure acetylene cylinders in the upright position never use acetylene above 15 psi never exceed the 1/7 withdrawal rate rule and never transfer acetylene into any other type of cylinder or storage container alternate fuels include natural gas and propane as well as propylene natural gas and propane are colorless and odorless gases so that they can be detected by smell gas producers add mercaptan which gives off a rotten egg smell propane is available in cylinders of various sizes all the way up to large outside bulk storage unlike acetylene these cylinders are shells only propylene is a colorless highly flammable gas and has an odor similar to garlic it's marketed under dozens of brand names many of which have additives alternate fuels do not have the pressure limitations withdrawal rate issues or upright storage requirements associated with acetylene if you need more detailed information about gasses or cylinders contact your local gas safety standards clearly state that pressure reducing regulators shall be used only for the gas and pressures for which they are labeled because different gases have different volume and pressure requirements manufacturers engineer regulators for specific gases for instance Victor edge regulators are color-coded and labeled for easy identification green for oxygen read for acetylene orange for LP gases such as propane and propylene gray for carbon dioxide black for inert gases such as argon and nitrogen and yellow for air before we get into the procedure for installing regulators and hoses remember this critical fact pure oxygen can reduce the kindling temperature of petroleum-based lubricants to room temperature leading to violent combustion because of this never lubricate any component of an oxy fuel system if you encounter oil or grease stop call your welding supply distributor or other qualified service personnel and have them inspect and clean the farm your first safety check is to be sure that all the valves threads and seats are free of oil and dirt inspect the fittings making sure they're not dinged up or damaged in any way we'll do this on both the cylinders and the regulator's now in the regulator if the nut on this regulator does not match the fitting on the cylinder it means you've got the wrong regulator you need to find the correct one because you never want to change the fittings on a regulator before we attach these regulators there's one good safety process I want you to follow for sure always stand on the side of the cylinder and clear the front of it what we're going to do is crack this just a little bit and closer back off what has happened is I've cleared this valve assembly of all combustibles or any contaminants I'll do the same for the field you shut her back off now we're ready to attach the regulator's as we install the regulator's be sure to use the right tool of an open-ended wrench a crescent wrench will work as well but never use a pliers or a pipe wrench always use the right tool for the job now ready to install the hose keep in mind that there's three grades of holes available there's an AR grade and an RM grade those are used for acetylene there's also a tea grade which is used for any fuel gas and is the only grade that's allowable for alternate fuel take a look at the hose and inspect it you notice that the nuts on this are a little bit different the settling hose which is typically red will have a groove across the nut which indicates left-hand threads the oxygen hose which is typically green will not have that groove because it's a right hand thread and inspect the hose make sure there's no oil or grease as always and give it a good check to make sure there's no cracks anywhere in the system if you find cracks or you find some oil or grease or you see some damage in the hose change it do not use the hose now it's time to attach the hose gasps hoses need purging to remove any potential contaminants that could have entered the system during manufacturing since the last time they were used or during prolonged storage this contamination if not removed could be forced into your equipment and potentially cause clogging failure or provide a source of combustion however before you can purge the hose first open the gas cylinders using these specific techniques we'll first start with the oxygen one of the things remembers make sure that the oxygen knob and the acetylene are backed out all the way then you want to make sure that you're standing with the oxygen valve between you and the regulator open it up slowly once it's stabilized then you want to open it all the way the oxygen cylinder valve is designed to seal in the fully open and the fully closed position now we repeat this with some differences on the acetylene against and on the side and open it slowly now we only want to open us about 3/4 to one full turn and the only reason behind that is in case of an emergency downstream I can get over here and shut this off quickly now to purge a hose turn in the adjusting knob to about five psi and allow it to flow for a few seconds depending on a length of hose that time may vary and back out the adjusting knob after you've allowed adequate flow and repeat the process for the other hose these safety basics are worth repeating never use a regulator or hose other than for its intended gas check with the current regulations if you have any questions get in the habit of inspecting all fittings and connections always always ensure that they're free of oil grease and dirt slowly crack cylinder valves and allow pressure to stabilize before opening further when opening a cylinder be sure to stand on the side opposite the valve always purge cylinder valves and hoses through of contaminants never open an acetylene valve more than one turn leave any tools needed to operate the valve in place which will help with quick shutoff should you need it before looking closer at torch handles we need to explain a few terms and understand some of the hazards associated with oxy fuel equipment the terms are reverse-flow flashback backfire and sustained backfire reverse flow is when either the oxygen enters the fuel gas side of the system or the fuel gas enters the oxygen side of the system this occurs when there's a restriction of one of the gases or an imbalance of pressure this can be caused by a clogged or blocked tip or allowing one of your cylinders to run out of gas if a reverse flow condition exists a flashback can occur flashback is the return of a flame through the torch into the hose and even into the regulator it could potentially reach the cylinder this condition could cause an explosion anywhere within the system flashback arrestor x' are designed to prevent the flame from traveling beyond the point of the arrestor flashback arrestor x' contain a sintered filter which prevents a flame from passing through the filter element backfire is the return of a flame back into the torch which produces a popping sound the flame will either extinguish or reignite at the tip this is normally the result of accidentally bumping the tip against the workpiece operating the tip too close to the workpiece or allowing the tip to become overheated the last event is a sustained backfire this is when a backfire occurs and continues burning in the torch this condition may be accompanied by a popping sound followed by a continuous whistling or hissing sound some of the causes for this are improperly maintained equipment overheating of the equipment or improper pressure settings for the equipment being used this is a typical

Channel: Norco Marketing

Views: 128,537

Rating: 4.8330936 out of 5

Keywords: Oxy-acetylene, safety, torch, fuel, oxy-fuel

Id: 3_C_kFil93E

Length: 20min 4sec (1204 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 30 2012