Disposal of USA Navy Acetylene dumped on property Not Car related but Fly Tipped

[Mark Gregory]

Someone dumped these cylinders on my father in laws property.

What is the Law to be able to take them to a scrapyard.

I have heard they have to be cut in half to go to a scrapyard.

Is there a special company that does this work ?

There is some comments below I got off the internet.

They seem to weighted with concrete at the bottom so they do not fall over ?

 

 

VINTAGE US NAVY Acetylene Tank - 

 

 

I have heard there might be asbestos on the tanks too.

 

To many new laws out to say for sure as the all gas suppliers have changed the way they do business about 3yrs ago. Acetylene is now classified as hazardous waste so the cylinder will be hard to get rid of if in fact it can't be refilled.

 

Part of the disposal problem stems from the fact that even though your tank has no more acetylene it still has acetone in it . Acetylene is not gas cmpressed into a container like oxygen. It is dissolved under pressure in acetone like carbon dioxide is dissovled under pressure in club soda. It can only release 1/7 th of the tank volume of actylene per hour in the event of a broken valve.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Mark Gregory (see edit history)

[hwellens]

Call a place that refills them. They must have to deal with expired certified dated cylinders. Maybe take them off your hands.

[Restorer32]

Over the years I have made a bit of a hobby checking the inspection dates on acetylene and oxygen cylinders that come thru our shop. So far the earliest date I have found is 1917,  maybe 20 years ago. 

[1912Staver]

The big co2 cyls on our shipboard fire system had some really old manufacturing dates as well. Lots of re- test date stamps.  A manifold of 20 - 30 large size Cyls.  Number depended on the volume of the engine room on the different ships I worked on.

Our fleet had about 30 ships, I have worked on about 1/2 of them over the years. Many of the Cyls were a lot older than the ships they were installed on. I guess back in the 1960's and 70's the supplier would just send down what they had on hand. All

the newer ships ; mid 1990's onward, had a set of new Cyls when built. That set would stay intact and all go out for re- testing as a set , then replaced back into the manifold as a set.

 

Greg

Edited July 27, 2020 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Mark Gregory]

Thanks for everyone's help.

I came across this video at the 3 minute mark it shows how to open one.

You use a pipe cutter like you cut a piece of copper pipe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYs-ipnnvTk

[JACK M]

There used to be a guy down the street from me that made bells out of old cylinders.

Very loud wind chimes of sorts.

I liked to hear them on a windy day.

[Rusty_OToole]

I was told that a gas company would give you a free year's demurrage on your tanks if you turned in a set that was out of the system. Check with some local suppliers, you could have something valuable. I would NOT monkey with them, I would turn them in even if I got nothing out of it.

[SC38dls]

If you are going to cut them be sure all the gas is out. If you get that metal hot with compressed gas still in them they can explode. I would think you should fill them with water before putting any cutting tool on them. Similar to the way a gas tank is cut. 
dave s 

[Laughing Coyote]

If they still have U.S. Navy markings on them, technically they still belong to them. I would reach out to them and tell them what you got.  Let them know you have a concern about any toxic or harmful chemicals that may still be inside and you don't feel comfortable about disposing of them. Let them deal with it. Safety first. 

[Bhigdog]

10 hours ago, Mark Gregory said:

Someone dumped these cylinders on my father in laws property.

What is the Law to be able to take them to a scrapyard.

I have heard they have to be cut in half to go to a scrapyard.

Is there a special company that does this work ?

There is some comments below I got off the internet.

They seem to weighted with concrete at the bottom so they do not fall over ?

 

 

VINTAGE US NAVY Acetylene Tank - 

 

 

I have heard there might be asbestos on the tanks too.

 

To many new laws out to say for sure as the all gas suppliers have changed the way they do business about 3yrs ago. Acetylene is now classified as hazardous waste so the cylinder will be hard to get rid of if in fact it can't be refilled.

 

Part of the disposal problem stems from the fact that even though your tank has no more acetylene it still has acetone in it . Acetylene is not gas cmpressed into a container like oxygen. It is dissolved under pressure in acetone like carbon dioxide is dissovled under pressure in club soda. It can only release 1/7 th of the tank volume of actylene per hour in the event of a broken valve.

 

Around here they just would be dumped in a creek or one of my fields..................Bob

[Mark Gregory]

I will try and see if the Navy wants them back.

Someone suggested water jet cutting to cut up the old cylinders.

No sparks with that system.

[dustycrusty]

 Speaking as a connoisseur of the evergreen lunch bag acetylene bomb gag, it takes very little acetylene to make a very big boom!  Unless you have access to a water jet, cutting them would be risky business. Take them to a welding shop and they can dispose of them for you.

[Joe in Canada]

You can not buy large cylinders so I would see what company rented them out so try to return them if possible.

Edited July 28, 2020 by Joe in Canada (see edit history)

[28 Chrysler]

The old acetylene bottles had horse hair instead of the cardboard that is inside of the modern tanks. Carbon builds up and needs to be cleaned out, the cardboard is a doable mess.

[Restorer32]

 Son of a friend of mine thought it would be fun to fill a large balloon with acetylene and light it off.  He ended up with serious 2nd degree burns on his chest.  If he had been holding the balloon higher he likely would have been blinded.  We used to have great fun messing with calcium carbide stones and water.  Almost blew my mom's sink off the wall.  Turn a clay flower pot upside down over a couple pieces of carbide, drip in a little water then wait a minute or two for the acetylene to build up.  Now toss a lit match toward the hole in the bottom of the pot.  We never managed to send a pot into orbit but a 6 ft flight was common.  Back then we could buy 1 lb cans of calcium carbide at Sunny surplus. Went thru a lot of it.

[Zimm63]

My brother blew up a vacuum cleaner with carbide.  

 

We played with it too, as kids.  He was told to clean up his room and sucked up some carbide.  Didn't even consider that sucking up a half glass of water would cause the explosion it did.  Quite an explosion, dirt everywhere, very startled brother, and really annoyed parents.  I was in my room across the hall at the time.  Opened the door, saw the dirt and foot prints where he had gone up the hall.   Closed the door.  Not my problem.  

 

Its a standing story at family gatherings.  I found a similar vacuum in my MIL's basement some years ago and asked him if he wanted to try it again.  Nope.  

 

Over 50 years ago and I remember it as clearly as if it was yesterday.  

[Restorer32]

As a youth I was into "speleology" (cave exploring) and we used carbide lights on our helmets. Came back from s day caving and decided to clean out the carbide tank on my light. I washed it out it Mom's sink. I then tried the spark lighter on the reflector. Apparently I dropped some carbide down the sink. The explosion almost took the utility sink off the wall. It was several hours before I could hear clearly again. Acetylene needs to be treated with caution.

[Zimm63]

2 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

As a youth I was into "speleology" (cave exploring) and we used carbide lights on our helmets. Came back from s day caving and decided to clean out the carbide tank on my light. I washed it out it Mom's sink. I then tried the spark lighter on the reflector. Apparently I dropped some carbide down the sink. The explosion almost took the utility sink off the wall. It was several hours before I could hear clearly again. Acetylene needs to be treated with caution.

 

I suspect your Mother was yelling loudly enough that you could hear her though.  

 

You and my brother should get together and  share war stories.