The new ISO 6406 standard cuts the allowed general corrosion and line corrosion tolerances on cylinder casings from 25 to 10 per cent, while isolated pit corrosion tolerance is cut from 40 to 20 per cent.
Geoff Cutler of Q Tech Solutions says this has raised new questions about the lifespan of cylinders and the associated safety, legal and commercial implications.
‘In the gas cylinder industry there is factor known as ˜missing cylinder syndrome where the owners just do not know or arent bothered where some cylinders are. Thousands of untracked and unmonitored cylinders ˜disappear in the constant exchange of equipment and end up unaccounted for.
‘End-users continue paying rental on these missing cylinders and this is used as a bargaining chip when negotiating new supply contracts, with cylinder owners offering to write these off. Alarmingly, the written off cylinders can remain in use for years afterwards without undergoing the legally required regular maintenance checks or recycle through other suppliers and this is serious safety issue.’
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