Cylinder gas is pressurized gaseous substances for ease of handling and use. They can remain as a gas or become liquid. Bottled gases are color-coded according to the substance they contain, but colors can vary from country to country. Some gases are dissolved in a solvent solution to prevent explosions.
Cylinder gas refers to gaseous substances that have been placed in pressurized containers for ease of handling and use. These substances are typically gaseous at regular atmospheric pressure and can remain as a gas or become liquid once inside a pressurized vessel. Other bottled gases are highly explosive when compressed, so they are dissolved in a substance such as acetone rather than simply pressurized. Gas cylinders typically use color to distinguish type and other factors such as toxicity, although colors can vary from country to country. In some countries, such as the United States, the term cylinder gas is used more commonly than bottled gas.
At standard temperature and pressure (STP), the substances contained in the bottled gas will take the form of gaseous matter. The gas bottling process involves placing a larger volume of these substances into a vessel than would otherwise fit in the STP. This creates a pressure inside the bottle that is higher than normal atmosphere. Some substances remain gaseous under this increased pressure and would need to be cooled before becoming liquid. The common welding gases that fit this mold are oxygen and argon.
Other bottled gases become liquid under increased pressure at standard temperatures. Some welding gases that fit this profile include butane and propane. These gases are not commonly used in oxygen-fuel welding like other substances, although injector propane torches can be used to create fast, clean cuts. This is because the inner cone of a propane or butane torch typically doesn’t burn as much as other gases, but the outer cone is very hot.
Some gaseous substances at STP become incredibly volatile under pressure. Acetylene is an example of a common welding gas that is highly flammable in gaseous form but becomes explosive in liquid or solid form. For bottling acetylene or similar substances, they can be dissolved in a solvent solution. Solvents such as dimethylformamide (DMF) and acetone are often used to store acetylene as a bottled gas. In this case the bottled gas remains in solution until a valve is opened, at which point the acetylene or other material can become gaseous again.
Bottled gas and gas cylinders are usually color-coded according to the substance they contain, although these procedures can vary from country to country. In Europe, acetylene can be identified by a brown color, while oxygen cylinders use a white colored shoulder. This type of color coding is not required by federal law in the United States, so different systems exist in various jurisdictions. The type of gas in a cylinder can sometimes be identified by colour, but other more reliable methods are recommended to be safe.
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