www bzfxw com BRITISH STANDARD BS EN 12863 2002 Incorporating Amendment No 1 Transportable gas cylinders — Periodic inspection and maintenance of dissolved acetylene cylinders The European Standard EN[.]
BRITISH STANDARD BS EN 12863:2002 Incorporating Amendment No Transportable gas cylinders — Periodic inspection and maintenance of dissolved acetylene cylinders The European Standard EN 12863:2002, with the incorporation of amendment A1:2005, has the status of a British Standard ICS 23.020.30 BS EN 12863:2002 National foreword This British Standard is the official English language version of EN 12863:2002, including amendment A1:2005 It supersedes BS 6071:1981 which is withdrawn The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted by Technical Committee PVE/3, Gas containers, to Subcommittee PVE/3/7, Gas cylinder (receptacle) operations, which has the responsibility to: — aid enquirers to understand the text; — present to the responsible international/European committee any enquiries on the interpretation, or proposals for change, and keep the UK interests informed; — monitor related international and European developments and promulgate them in the UK A list of organizations represented on this subcommittee can be obtained on request to its secretary Cross-references The British Standards which implement international or European publications referred to in this document may be found in the BSI Catalogue under the section entitled “International Standards Correspondence Index”, or by using the “Search” facility of the BSI Electronic Catalogue or of British Standards Online This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract Users are responsible for its correct application Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity from legal obligations This British Standard, having been prepared under the direction of the Engineering Sector Policy and Strategy Committee, was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on August 2002 Summary of pages This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, the EN title page, pages to 26 and a back cover The BSI copyright date displayed in this document indicates when the document was last issued Amendments issued since publication © BSI August 2006 ISBN 580 40140 Amd No Date Comments 16330 August 2006 Replacement of text in 6.2.3 and addition of new Annex F EUROPEAN STANDARD EN 12863 NORME EUROPÉENNE June 2002 +A1 EUROPÄISCHE NORM November 2005 ICS 23.020.30 English version Transportable gas cylinders - Periodic inspection and maintenance of dissolved acetylene cylinders Bouteilles gaz transportables - Contrôle et entretien périodiques des bouteilles d'acétylène dissous Ortsbewegliche Gasflaschen - Wiederkehrende Prüfung und Instandhaltung von Gasflaschen für gelöstes Acetylen This European Standard was approved by CEN on March 2002 CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the Management Centre or to any CEN member This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German) A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the Management Centre has the same status as the official versions CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION C O M I T É E U RO P É E N D E N O R M A L I S AT I O N EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36 © 2002 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CEN national Members B-1050 BRUSSELS Ref No EN 12863:2002 E EN 12863:2002 (E) Contents page Foreword Introduction Scope Normative references Terms and definitions General Preparation of gas cylinder Inspection and maintenance Identification of content 11 Markings 11 Records 11 10 Disposal of unserviceable cylinders 12 Annex A (informative) Acetylene cylinders manufactured according to National Regulations 13 Annex B (informative) Procedure to be adopted when a cylinder valve is suspected to be obstructed 15 Annex C (normative) Description, evaluation of defects and conditions for rejection of acetylene gas cylinders at time of visual inspection 18 Annex D (informative) Tools and clearance gauges and diagrammatic illustration of the top of (monolithic and non-monolithic) acetylene cylinders 22 Annex E (informative) Inspection and maintenance of valves and their connections 24 Annex F (normatuve) Cracks on porous masses 25 Bibliography 26 EN 12863:2002 (E) Foreword This document EN 12863:2002 has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 23 "Transportable gas cylinders", the secretariat of which is held by BSI This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by December 2002, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by December 2002 This European Standard has been submitted for reference into the RID and/or in the technical annexes of the ADR Therefore in this context the standards listed in the normative references and covering basic requirements of the RID/ADR not addressed within the present standard are normative only when the standards themselves are referred to in the RID and/or in the technical annexes of the ADR In this standard the annexes A, B, D and E are informative Annex C is normative According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom Foreword to amendment A1 ｗｗｗ．ｂｚｆｘｗ．ｃｏｍ This European Standard (EN 12863:2002/A1:2005) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 23 "Transportable gas cylinders", the secretariat of which is held by BSI This Amendment to the European Standard EN 12863:2002 shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by May 2006 and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by May 2006 According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuvania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom EN 12863:2002 (E) Introduction Acetylene cylinders differ from all other cylinders transporting compressed or liquefied gases because they contain a porous mass and normally a solvent in which the acetylene stored is dissolved However, for special applications there exist some acetylene cylinders containing a porous mass and no solvent For the periodic inspection cycle, due regard should be given to the different types of construction of cylinders and porous masses The remainder of this document should be read considering these differences The primary objective of the presence of the porous mass is to limit an acetylene decomposition, should it be initiated, and thus prevent a cylinder incident If some porous mass is missing, or if a defect (e.g a cavity, crack or void of significant size) exists as a result of breakdown or subsidence of the porous mass, then the decomposition could progress at a rate which can cause a violent failure of the cylinder ｗｗｗ．ｂｚｆｘｗ．ｃｏｍ EN 12863:2002 (E) Scope This European Standard specifies seamless and welded steel or seamless aluminium alloy cylinders intended for the transport of acetylene in cylinders of water capacity up to 150 l and specifies the requirements for the periodic inspection and maintenance of acetylene cylinders, regardless of the method of manufacture of the shell This European Standard also applies to solvent free acetylene cylinders This European Standard also specifies a procedure to qualify existing gas cylinders for free movement between member states of the European Union (see annex A) Normative references This European Standard incorporates by dated or undated reference provisions from other publications These normative references are cited at the appropriate places in the text, and the publications are listed hereafter For dated references, subsequent amendments to or revisions of any of these publications apply to this European Standard only when incorporated in it by amendment or revision For undated references the latest edition of the publication referred to applies (including amendments) EN 1800:1998, Transportable gas cylinders — Acetylene cylinders — Basic requirements and definitions ｗｗｗ．ｂｚｆｘｗ．ｃｏｍ EN 1089-1, Transportable gas cylinders — Gas cylinder identification (excluding LPG) — Part 1: Stampmarking EN 1089-2, Transportable gas cylinders — Gas cylinder identification (excluding LPG) — Part 2: Precautionary labels EN 1089-3, Transportable gas cylinders — Cylinder identification — Part 3: Colour coding system EN ISO 13341, Transportable gas cylinders — Fitting of valves to gas cylinders (ISO 13341:1997) Terms and definitions For the purposes of this European Standard, the following terms and definitions apply 3.1 cylinder shell pressure vessel manufactured for storage and transport and suitable for containing a porous mass, a solvent, where relevant, and acetylene 3.2 complete cylinder cylinder shell ready to be charged with acetylene gas, which is complete with porous mass, solvent where relevant, saturation gas, valve, and any valve protection permanently fixed to the cylinder shell 3.3 porous mass single or multi-component substance introduced into, or formed in the cylinder shell, in order to fill it and due to its porosity allow the absorption of the solvent and acetylene gas The porous mass can be of two types a) a non-monolithic porous substance consisting of granular, fibrous or similar substances without the addition of any binding materials; EN 12863:2002 (E) b) a monolithic porous substance consisting of materials having reacted to form a compact product or of materials connected together through a binding compound(s) This type of porous substance may be manufactured with a controlled clearance between the shell and the substance (see annex D) 3.4 porosity ratio expressed in percentage of the volume of the solvent, which can be filled in the cylinder equipped with the porous mass, to the water capacity of this cylinder without porous mass (determined according to annex B of EN 1800:1998) 3.5 solvent liquid which is absorbed by the porous mass and is capable of dissolving and releasing the acetylene gas 3.6 saturation gas mass of acetylene dissolved in the solvent in the cylinder at atmospheric pressure and 15 °C 3.7 tare weight for acetylene cylinders the tare weight is expressed by indicating weights corresponding to: 3.7.1 tare A sum of the empty weight of the cylinder shell, the porous mass, the specified mass of solvent, the valve and the mass of all other parts which are permanently attached (e.g by clamping or bolting) to the cylinder when it is going to be filled ｗｗｗ．ｂｚｆｘｗ．ｃｏｍ 3.7.2 tare S TARE A plus the weight of acetylene required to saturate the solvent at atmospheric pressure and at a temperature of 15 °C 3.7.3 tare F for solvent free acetylene cylinders the tare weight is expressed by indicating a TARE F, where TARE F of an acetylene cylinder is TARE A minus the weight of solvent General 4.1 Requirements for inspection The periodic inspection of acetylene cylinders shall be carried out only by competent and trained persons who shall ensure that the cylinders are fit for continued safe use NOTE A competent person is a person who has the necessary technical knowledge, experience and authority to assess and approve materials for use with gases and to define any special conditions of use that are necessary Such a person will also normally be formally qualified in an appropriate technical discipline Due to the presence of a porous mass in the cylinder neither a pressure test (hydraulic or pneumatic) nor a visual inspection of the internal surface of the shell, is required by this standard Where cylinders are manufactured according to National Regulations and are intended to be qualified under the Transportable Pressure Equipment Directive (TPED) for free movement and use between member states of the European Union, additional requirements are specified in annex A EN 12863:2002 (E) 4.2 Intervals between periodic inspections A cylinder shall fall due for a periodic inspection on its first receipt by a filler after the expiry of the interval of years in the case of non-monolithic massed cylinders, or 10 years in the case of monolithic massed cylinders NOTE These intervals conform to the current RID/ADR regulations However additional initial inspection requirements for newly massed cylinders are required as follows: a) Non-monolithic mass For all newly massed cylinders an initial inspection according to this standard shall be either before years in service or before the first fill after the years have elapsed b) Monolithic masses For all newly massed cylinders an initial inspection according to this standard shall be either before years in service or before the first fill after the years have elapsed After the initial inspection according to either a) or b), the normal period as stated above shall apply Provided the cylinder has been subjected to normal conditions of use and has not been subjected to abusive or abnormal conditions rendering the cylinder unsafe, there is no general requirement for the user to return a gas cylinder before the content has been used, even though the test interval may have lapsed Preparation of gas cylinder 5.1 Removal of gas ｗｗｗ．ｂｚｆｘｗ．ｃｏｍ Before proceeding with the inspection, cylinders shall be depressurised of gas Cylinders shall be checked for pressure both before and after depressurisation Depressurization shall be carried out in a safe manner having due regard to the characteristics of acetylene Depressurisation shall be carried out over a period long enough to ensure a removal of all acetylene, except saturation gas (see clause 3.6) Precautions shall be taken because variations in temperature influence the quantity of acetylene in the form of saturation gas NOTE The absence of a positive pressure reading does not clearly indicate the absence of excess gas due to the possibility of a blocked valve (see annex B) In case of any doubts regarding the efficiency of the depressurisation cycle, the cylinder shall be weighed A cylinder weighing greater than the tare weight (see 3.7) stamped on the cylinder is not always a clear indication of the presence of excess gas Consideration should be given to the possibility of contamination, such as an excess of solvent or the ingress of water A cylinder weighing less than or equal to the stamped tare weight is not always a clear indication of the absence of gas under pressure Consideration should be given to factors such as a possible solvent shortage or external corrosion causing a loss of shell weight 5.2 Preparation for external visual inspection Each cylinder shall be cleaned and have all loose coatings, corrosion products, tar, oil or other foreign matter removed from its external surface by a suitable method, e g by brushing, shot blasting (under closely controlled conditions to ensure that there is no leakage of acetylene into the brushing or shot blasting cabinet) water jet abrasive cleaning, chemical cleaning or other methods Care shall be taken at all times to avoid damaging the cylinder and pressure relief devices where fitted NOTE The external visual inspection, in accordance with 6.1, can be carried out at this stage EN 12863:2002 (E) 5.3 Valve removal Before removing the valve from an acetylene cylinder it shall be determined that the cylinder has been completely depressurised as described in 5.1 If there is any reason to believe that a valve is blocked (e.g the lack of an audible release of gas when opening the valve) and that the cylinder may still contain residual gas under pressure, checks shall be made e.g by introducing an inert gas at a pressure lower than bar and observing its discharge If it is found that the valve is obstructed, then a suitable method shall be employed to remove the gas or the valve, taking into consideration the design of the valve and ensuring that all necessary precautions are taken having due regard to the hazards that can result from an uncontrolled operation (see annex B) Devalving shall take place in the open or in a ventilated area The temperature of the cylinder when removing the valve should be close to the ambient temperature within the inspection area, so as to avoid either excess venting of residual gas or ingress of air NOTE The cylinders should not be left open or without valves longer than necessary for the inspection 5.4 Removal of neck/core hole filters Acetylene cylinders usually contain neck filters/core hole packing, consisting of filter (or metallic gauze) and felts Neck filters and packing materials, placed between the top of the porous mass and the base of the valve stem, shall be removed, as appropriate, to enable an inspection of the porous mass in accordance with the inspection requirements of the porous mass manufacturer or the inspection body Some porous mass manufacturers equip monolithic mass acetylene cylinders with a wooden plug, which forms an integral part of the porous mass This plug, which is situated below the neck filter (or metallic gauze), shall be left intact and not removed for the purpose of the visual examination, provided that the wooden plug is in the right position, permitting the measurement of the gap in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions If on a previous inspection the wooden plug has been tampered with or removed by mistake or is not in the right position this plug shall be replaced with a new one in line with the porous mass manufacturer's approval/specification ｗｗｗ．ｂｚｆｘｗ．ｃｏｍ Special care shall always be taken when removing filters or packing material in view of the possibility of some restrictions at the neck with residual pressure underneath, which, if suddenly released, can blow the filter out with some of the porous substance and can cause injury NOTE The presence of fine carbon powder or other contaminants on the filters or packing material is indicative of a flashback having occurred Inspection and maintenance 6.1 Inspection procedure The external surface of each cylinder shall be inspected for: a) dents, cuts, gouges, bulges, cracks, laminations (as defined in Table C.1) or excessive base wear; b) heat damage, torch or electric arc burns (as defined in Table C.1); c) corrosion (as defined in Table C.2); d) other defects such as illegible or unauthorised stamp markings, unauthorised additions or modifications (see Table C.1); e) integrity of all permanent attachments Damaged valve guards, threaded neck rings and foot rings may be repaired or replaced as appropriate No welding or any heat shall be directly applied to the pressure containing part of the cylinder If welding is EN 12863:2002 (E) - water capacity; - type of porous mass; - type of solvent; - maximum acetylene charge; - tare (A or S or F) The inspection body should verify that this list contains all the necessary information to clearly define the cylinder shell and porous mass (see example of production testing certificate for the shell in the relevant annex of e.g EN 1964-1, prEN 13322-1 and EN 1975 and for the porous mass in EN 1800, for the above listed parameters only) A.3.2 The inspection body should verify that these cylinders are not on any relevant national safety related recall list Additionally if any restrictions of use apply they should be maintained for further use A.3.3 The inspection body should verify that the wall thickness of the gas cylinders is equal to, or greater than, the minimum wall thickness, as calculated in accordance with EN 1964-1, prEN 13322-1 or EN 1975, for the corresponding yield stress of the cylinder A.3.4 The inspection body should verify that the manufacturing certificates or equivalent records of the cylinder shells are available When manufacturing certificates are not available, the inspection body should verify that all relevant type testing and manufacturing batch testing have been performed It should also verify that the porous mass has been approved to a procedure equivalent to EN 1800, or to ISO 3807-1 or ISO 38072 A.3.5 The periodic inspection according to this standard should all be performed during the course of the requalification A.4 Special markings A gas cylinder passing the periodic inspection may only be stamped with the mark requirements under A.3 have been fully verified provided that the A.5 Inspection report The inspection body shall prepare a report for each type of cylinder All relevant certifications, new tests and inspections performed should be attached to this report 14 EN 12863:2002 (E) Annex B (informative) Procedure to be adopted when a cylinder valve is suspected to be obstructed B.1 If there is any doubt when the valve of a gas cylinder is opened that gas is not being released and the cylinder can still contain gas under pressure, a check should be made to establish that the free passage through the valve is not obstructed The method adopted should be a recognized procedure such as one of the following or one that provides equivalent safeguards: a) First check to establish that the total weight of the cylinder is the same as the tare stamped on the cylinder, adjusted if necessary to represent the condition of the cylinder being weighed (e.g Tare A is likely to require adjustment in most cases) If there is a positive difference, the cylinder can contain either liquefied gas under pressure or contaminants b) Introduce inert gas at a pressure of up to bar and checking its discharge c) Use the device shown in Figure B.1 to pump air into the cylinder by hand B.2 When it is established that there is no obstruction to gas flow in the cylinder valve, the valve may be removed B.3 When a cylinder is found to have an obstructed gas passage in the valve, the cylinder should be set aside for special attention as follows: Unscrew partially the valve within a glanded cap, secured and jointed to the cylinder and vented to a safe discharge The principles of a suitable device are illustrated in Figure B.2 This procedure should be carried out only by trained personnel When the gas, if any, has been released and the pressure within the cylinder reduced to atmospheric, the valve may be removed 15 EN 12863:2002 (E) All dimensions in millimetres 28 100 Key Rubber tube internal diameter × 13 outside diameter ground to olive shape and bonded Steel tube internal diameter × outside diameter Bond Rubber bulb (volume approximately 30 cm ) Hand pressure Figure B.1 — Device for detecting obstructed cylinder valve 16 EN 12863:2002 (E) Key Rubber gland packing Extractor casing Control valve Joint ring Clamp Figure B.1 — Typical device used for the removal of a damaged gas container valve 17 EN 12863:2002 (E) Annex C (normative) Description, evaluation of defects and conditions for rejection of acetylene gas cylinders at time of visual inspection C.1 General Gas cylinder defects may be physical or material or due to corrosion as a result of environmental or service conditions to which the cylinder has been subjected during its life The object of this annex is to give general guidelines to the gas cylinder users as to the application of rejection criteria Any defect in the form of a sharp notch may be removed by grinding, machining or other approved methods Due to the possibility of spark generation care should be taken on account of the presence of solvent and acetylene After such a repair, checking of the wall thickness, e.g ultrasonically, should be repeated C.2 Physical or material defects Evaluation of physical or material defects should be in accordance with Table C.1 C.3 Corrosion C.3.1 General The cylinders can be subjected to environmental conditions that could cause external corrosion of the metal There is difficulty in presenting definite rejection limits in tabular form for all sizes and types of cylinder and their service conditions The limits of rejection have been established following considerable field experience Extensive experience and judgement are required in evaluating whether cylinders that have corroded internally are safe and suitable at the time of remassing for return to service It is important that the surface of the metal is cleaned of corrosion products prior to the inspection of the cylinder C.3.2 Types of corrosion The types of corrosion generally may be classified as in Table C.2 18