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Re: [APD] Inverting CO2 tank

At the CO2 flow rates we are talking about I doubt that any orientation of the tank would cause trouble. However, CO2 tanks are at a very high pressure until near empty, and that should cause one to be cautious about not following recommendations from people who use CO2 in other applications where higher flow rates are used. And, of course, CO2 is a "poison gas" which should also cause one to exercise caution in using it. One post here a few days ago mentioned an 18 month old toddler having adjusted the CO2 valve while doing typical toddler exploration. Surely that too suggests certain precautions that are necessary.

On Thursday, February 17, 2005, at 06:20 PM, S. Hieber wrote:

Running an outlet tube up past the tank and putting the
regulator on the end of that is one way to keep the
regulator up above the tank.

But hey, have you guys laid a tank down to see if what you
are saying is true? That the regulator freezes and and the
CO2 doesn't flow right, etc.?

Try a little empircism; you might be surprised.

sh
--- Dennis Dietz <ddeitz4843 at charter_net> wrote:

S. Hieber wrote:

The frosting is from the rapid escape of the
presurised
contents and doesn't really have much to do with the
tank's
orientation.

sh

I had around 300lbs left in my tank, so I took of the
regulator and let
'er rip. The bottom half of the tank frosted. From a
dead 
sleep my two
cats ran out of the house like bats outta hell from
the
noise.

Whee waaah.

Chris.

Well, actually I believe it would. The frost line yes,
is a direct
result of the depressurization. The tank was left in
the standing
position and depressurized. The frost line appered from
the liquid line
and crept downward with it until the tank was empty,
which makes sense.
If the tank was upside down and the valve opened, the
same would happen,
but the frost line would move outward, towards the
empty side of the
container as the gas escapes. I do believe that liquid
C02 might jet out
of the valve however.

So the effect is the same, there's just this notion of
"right side up"
that we have to contend with and is giving us all this
trouble. If the
tank were on it's 'side', valve 'upward' and pressure
released, the
frost line would appear horizontally across the tank
and move 'down'
until empty.

So what kind of valve is used in space? The tank
contents (if liquid)
wouldn't conform to one side of the tank opposite the
valve.

- Chris.

  All this is true but the real question is: Can the CO2
tank be layed down
and still work.   No.  If the tank is inverted to the
point where the liquid
CO2 is in able to escape through the valve, then it will
escape, either all
over you or into you regulator.  Either way, you and your
regulator will be
ruined because at 800+ psi and freezing temps.  A tank
could be tipped
slightly but its hard to see how much CO2 is in a solid
steel/aluminum tank.
Paint baller use them inverted all the time, haveing
larger 5-10 lbs
cylinders with just a braided pressure line and the
corret fitting to attach
to the small cylinders on the markers(guns) .  Turn tank
so valve is at
bottom, attach to the cylinder and open valve.  Liquid
CO2 will go fromthe
big tank to the small one.  They use little pocket scales
to judge when the
small one is full.  HTH:)


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