Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pyrdc!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: gonzalez@bbn.com Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Gas Cylinders Message-ID:Date: 16 Aug 89 16:15:46 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 50 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 304, message 6 of 10 In a recent issue of this digest, Michael Warfield comments on color codes for gas cylinders. The facts he presented are largely correct, but here is some more detail. The information below is from 1982 issue of the Airco Industrial Gases (AIG) Data Book. AIG markets compressed gases for a variety of applications, including wafer semiconductor fabrication. Airco Welding Products (AWP) markets the other equipment needed for gas and arc welding. Both are headquartered at 575 Mountain Avenue in Murray Hill, NJ, directly across the street from Bell Labs. Lovely neighborhood. Anyway, here's the data: Oxygen: USP (medical) oxygen is supplied in green cylinders with green caps. All other standard grades are supplied in orange cylinders with orange caps, with an aluminum ("silver") collar to specify higher pressure. Specialty grade comes in aluminum cylidner with orange collar. Nitrogen: For all standard grades, lower half of cylinder is painted orange. Upper half is red or aluminum, depending on grade. Blue band in middle denote prepurified nitrogen. Cap is orange, except for 2485 psig (as opposed to 2200 psig), which is aluminum. Specialty grades come in aluminum cylinders with with collars. White shoulder band denotes 6000 psig (3000 or less is normal). Helium: All standard grades have brown body with orange collar. Silver shoulder band indicates 2200 psig, as opposed to 1800 or 2485. Specialty grades have aluminum cylinder with brown collar. Brown shoulder band indicates 6000 psig. Carbon Dioxide: All grades have aluminum body with orange, green, blue or brown collar indicating grade (beverage, industrial, welding and "siphon"). Acetylene: Black cylinder and cap. Compresed Air: Only specialty grade is listed. It is aluminum with white collar and orange shoulder band. Oddly enough, I had never given much thought to those cylinders by the telephone poles. You can bet I will, now. -Jim.