Today I’ll be discussing safety precautions in gas welding and other similar processes. Previously, some articles were published on types of gas welding, their advantages, and disadvantages.
Contents
Safety precautions in gas welding
Consideration of safety precautions in gas welding in industries or fabrication shops. It is important to know and imply the safety regulations. Since the gas welding process uses gases like acetylene and oxygen to produce flames. Acetylene is flammable and hazardous. It has the ability to ignite and condense. Whilst, oxygen helps other substances to burn faster. It does not catch fire but can explode if exposed to fire.
Now you see the source of gas welding flames is just like a time bomb when they mix. Serious care must be taken to avoid acetylene flame and oxygen from meeting in one of the holes.
Read more: 5 Different Types of welding Joints
This article contains all area of safety precaution in gas welding which includes:
- Personal protective equipment
- Storage and handling
- Environmental safety
- Work and equipment safety. In addition,
- General safety tips
Personal protective equipment
Eye goggles or safety glasses should use to protect the eye from infrared radiation. Protecting clothing such as a flameproof apron, gloves, cap or helmet, and booth should be worn before welding.
The apron should be well-fitted to avoid fraying. The shirt should be long sleeves and trousers should be long enough to cover the top of the booth. Protective clothing should be free from oil or grease. All these clothing should be in good condition before operators or students use them.
Storage and Handling Safety
Cylinders should not be exposed to heat and should be securely chained to prevent them from falling. they should be kept away from flammable and combustible materials, same as in an upright (vertical) position. they should be stored in a well-ventilated area, Acetylene and oxygen cylinders should be stored separately. It should not be a drag, but rolling on a slow movement on the bottom edges.
Read more: 4 Basic Types of welding positions
Valves on cylinders should be closed before moving. Regulators and protective caps should be kept in place. Keep hands off grease or oil when opening or closing valves and regulators
Environmental safety
Industries or shops where gas welding is used should have proper ventilation, lighting, walkways, store, escape routes, safety posters, etc. The floor should be kept clean, and free from water grease, and oil. Fire extinguishers should be easily accessible and welded jobs should be properly stored.
Set of gas welding equipment should be at least 10,000 cubic feet away from each other. The ceiling height should be at least 16 feet from the ground. Finally, all equipment should be inspected before welding.
Read more: 11 different types of welding process with the aid of a diagram
Operation and equipment safety
Flame arrestors must be fitted in acetylene and oxygen cylinder lines. One of them should be fitted beside the low-pressure regulator and the other near the touch. Higher pressure should release more oxygen than acetylene to avoid the acetylene flame from going back. However, acetylene should not be used when welding at a pressure exceeding 1 bar of atmosphere gauge to avoid explosion.
Whenever a backfire occurs, the oxygen valve should be closed first and acetylene should follow immediately. It should be rectified before operations continue. In case of a flashback (explosion in gas hose), the first thing to do is to set both cylinder valves apart. Whenever a flashback occurs, all hoses should be replaced with new ones.
Read more: different between welding and brazing joining process
Fittings should be used to securely tighten all hose connections. Finally, there should be working time for the acetylene cylinder. The reason because using acetylene at a high temperature can cause exposure. The time of use will be determined by the size of the cylinder.
That is all for this article, where the safety precautions to be carried out in gas welding are explained. I hope you get a lot from the reading, if so, kindly share with other students. Thanks for reading, see you next time!
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