Southern Africa Compressed Gases

AssociationFOCUS

Vol. 10 No.4. June 2015

Bus that runs on Human Wastepg. 1

Safety Alertpg.1

Hydrogen Tech to take flightpg.2

International Standards Updatepg. 3

British Standards Updatepg4

Forthcoming Eventspg. 4

Things You may have missedpg.4

Acknowledgementpg. 4

Disclaimerpg. 4

CONTENTS

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BUS THAT RUNS ON HUMAN WASTE

Recently there have been several incidents involving improperly installed or poorly maintained carbonated beverage systems that have created hazardous concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in enclosed areas causing restaurant patrons, employees, and first responders to get sick or die.

Carbon dioxide in the gaseous state is colourless and odourless and not easily detectable. Carbon dioxide can be deadly even when normal oxygen levels are present. Reaching hazardous levels of carbon dioxide can occur quickly and without warning and result in serious health effects or death.

SAFETY ALERT - CARBONATED BEVERAGE SYSTEMS

“The bus clear ly shows that human poo and our wasted food are valuable resources,” , she said.and developers of the Bio Bus stated that the bus does not produce a smell

A new bus which has begun operating in the UK uses a fuel that will never ever run out. The 40-seater ‘Bio Bus’, which runs between Bristol Airport and Bath, is powered by methane gas stored in tanks on the roof.

The methane gas is produced by human waste and food waste. The carbon dioxide is extracted and the mixture given a little kick by propane.

One tank of the gas – equivalent to the waste output of five people in a year – can fuel the bus for a 300 kilometre journey. The gas is being produced at a Wessex Water sewerage plant run by energy firm GENeco. Company director Mohammed Saddiq told the Daily Mail that vehicles such as the Bio Bus “have an important role to play in improving air quality in UK cities”.

“But the Bio Bus goes further than that and is actually powered by people living in the local area including, quite possibly, those on the bus itself” he said.

Up to 10,000 passengers are expected to travel on the service every month. Charlotte Morton, the chief executive of eco-friendly group the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association, told The Guardian that food waste should be collected rather than going to landfill.

A small British company that has developed a material that can safely store hydrogen has clinched a development contract with a large aerospace supplier that will see its technology trialled as a means of providing on-board auxillary power.

A proportion of the fuel used on an aircraft is converted to electricity in an auxilliary power unit and used for vital electrical systems as well as functions such as heating, lighting and air-conditioning while the plane is on the ground.

Cella Energy has developed a hydrogen-storage material capable of releasing large quantities of the gas when heated to temperatures above 100°C. It can be produced at scale and at low cost in volume production. The aerospace firm has been granted exclusive rights to the technology in its sector for a year while it tests the feasibility of using it on an aircraft.

Stephen Bennington, managing director at Cella, which was spun-out from the Science and Technology Facilities Council in 2011, said: “This is an exciting development. We are pleased with the deal, which will be announced in a couple of weeks’ time. We get a back licence from the arrangement that allows us to use any IP that is developed from the aerospace work in other sectors. It is a good deal for us.”

Cella’s production process takes a material with one of the highest useable hydrogen contents by weight and turns it into a composite by incorporating a polymer. The material forms a microporous plastic-like solid which can be pressed, shaped or extruded into any form and to fit any space. The material production uses commercially scalable methods and Cella is capable of making 50kg of the material per day.

Each gram of material produces up to a litre of hydrogen gas, giving it a very high specific energy. The substance can be packaged into a cartridge that, combined with a fuel cell, has two to three times the specific energy of a lithium-ion battery, or to make system comparable to 700 atmosphere-compressed hydrogen, but without the same safety concerns or infrastructure cost, said the firm.

Bennington said that he saw a potentital application of the technology in the UAV sector. Below a certain size, UAVs are electrically driven and typically use lithium-ion batteries as a power source. Due to the increasing sophistication of the electronics packages these systems carry, they are very power-hungry, which strongly limits their flight time and range.

“For military applications, our solution is particularly compelling as the use is often off-grid and there is the ability to switch a used cartridge for a new one in seconds even when wearing gloves at night. These selling points should enable us to benefit from the UAV market’s growth, which is currently driven by the increasing reliance of armed forces on UAVs to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance missions and the emergence of civilian applications such as land surveying and security.” He added: “We will be flying a prototype UAV using our material by the end of September.”

Bennington said that the material could also be used for back-up and emergency power systems that Cella is developing with its aerospace partners. For example in remote locations, particularly developing countries, the theft of diesel and diesel generators used as emergency power for telecoms towers is an issue. An auxiliary power unit using Cella’s material would have little resale value as it cannot be used in any other device. “The emergency power sector holds potential,” he said. “Our material is very stable – there is no decay as long as it is kept below 50°C. So you could leave it alone for a couple of years and still have power when you need it.”

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HYDROGEN TECH TO TAKE FLIGHT

International Standards Update

Standards Published

ISO TC44 Welding and Allied Processes

ISO2503:2009/Amd.1:2015 Gas Welding Equipment – Pressure Regulators and Pressure Regulators with Flow Metering Devices for Gas Cylinders used in Welding, Cutting and Allied Processes up to 300-bar (30MPa) – Amd.1ISO7291:2010/Amd.1:2015 Gas Welding Equipment – Pressure Regulators for Manifold Systems used in Welding, Cutting and Allied Processes up to 300-bar (30MPa) – Amd.1

ISO TC58 Gas Cylinders

ISO21172-1:2015 Gas Cylinders – Welded Steel Pressure Drums up to 3000-litre capacity for the Transport of Gases, Design and Construction Part 1: Capacities up to 1000-litres.ISO13341:2010/Amd.1:2015 Gas Cylinders – Fitting of Valves to Gas Cylinders.ISO10286:2015 Gas Cylinders – Terminology.

ISO TC 158 Analysis of Gases

ISO7504:2015 Gas Analysis – Vocabulary.

CD’s Registered

ISO TC58 Gas Cylinders

ISO/CD13769 Gas Cylinders – Stamp Markings.ISO/CD15996 Gas Cylinders – Residual Pressure Valves – General Requirements and Type Testing.

ISO TC 158 Analysis of Gases

ISO/CD12963 Gas Analysis – Comparison Methods for the Determination of the Comparison of Gas Mixtures based on one and two point Calibration.

DIS Circulated

ISO TC58 Gas Cylinders

ISO 11114-1:2012/D Amd. Gas Cylinders – Compatibility of Cylinder and Valve Material with Gas Contents – Part 1: Metallic Material – Amd.1

FDIS Circulated

ISO TC58 Gas Cylinders

ISO/FDIS 11118 Gas Cylinders – Non-Refillable Metallic Gas Cylinders – Specification and Test Methods (Rev of 11118:1999).ISO/FDIS 16964 Gas Cylinders – Flexible Hose Assemblies – Specification and Testing.ISO/FDIS 17871 Gas Cylinders – Quick Release Cylinder Valves – Specification and Type Testing.

ISO TC158 Analysis of Gases

ISO/FDIS 6142-1 Gas Analysis – Preparation of Calibration Gas Mixtures – Part 1: Gravametric Method of Class 1 Mixtures (Rev of ISO6142:2001 and ISO6142:2001 Amd.1:2009).

Quality Management

ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems is changing this year. The new version will be published in September 2015.

ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems is also being revised. This will be published in September 2015.

NOTE:

Advanced access to both these standards is now available.

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The information contained in this document was obtained from sources believed to be reliable and is based on technical information and experience currently available from members of the Southern Africa Compressed Gases Association and others.

However, the Association or its members, jointly or severally, make no guarantee of the results and assume no liability or responsibility in connection with the information or suggestions herein contained.

Moreover, it should not be assumed that every acceptable commodity grade, test or safety procedure or method, precaution, equipment or device is contained within, or that abnormal or unusual circumstances may not warrant or suggest further requirements or additional procedure.

DISCLAIMER

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Southern Africa Compressed Gases AssociationAlbert Spencer - Cell: 082 451 0057PO Box 1334, Kelvin 2054 South Africa e-mail: sacgass@iafrica.com Website: www.sacga.za.org

gasworld

AcknowledgementWe would like to thank gasworld for permission to reproduce some of the information published in their monthly magazine in some issues of Gas Focus. Why not visit their web site at www.gasworld.com and see what services they have to offer and possibly subscribe to their monthly magazine?

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The information contained in this document was obtained from sources believed to be reliable and is based on technical information and experience currently available from members of the Southern Africa Compressed Gases Association and others.

However, the Association or its members, jointly or severally, make no guarantee of the results and assume no liability or responsibility in connection with the information or suggestions herein contained.

Moreover, it should not be assumed that every acceptable commodity grade, test or safety procedure or method, precaution, equipment or device is contained within, or that abnormal or unusual circumstances may not warrant or suggest further requirements or additional procedure.

DISCLAIMER

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Southern Africa Compressed Gases AssociationAlbert Spencer - Cell: 082 451 0057PO Box 1334, Kelvin 2054 South Africa e-mail: sacgass@iafrica.com Website: www.sacga.za.org

gasworld

After missing for six months, the Maine Coon cat, Tequila, was finally reunited with his owner radio presenter Sasha Martinengo. Tequila was handed in to a Vet Hospital near Johannesburg. He was micro-chipped and has settled happily back home.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

All the Queen’s horses and all the Queen’s men could not stop a Household Calvary trumpeter from taking a tumble when his horse slipped in Hyde Park, London. Luckily the man and horse only suffered wounded pride.

Alyssa Carter aged 8-years-old has raised R300,000 ($25,000) to help protect rhinos. With family support she sells chocolates and cookies and, so far, she has bought two specially trained dogs used to catch poachers.

A metal detector found a hoard o f A n g l o -S a x o n c o i n s i n Buckinghamshire thought to be worth £1 million. Once valued by independent experts they will be sold to a museum and a reward paid to the finder and the landowner.

BRITISH STANDARDS UPDATE

Standard Published

BS PD 5500:2015 UK Pressure Vessels Code

This invaluable reference tool for the Design and Assessment of Unfired Pressure Vessels started a new 3-year publication cycle in 2015.

FORTHCOMING INTERNATIONAL EVENTSth nd th16 – 22 August 2015 ICR 2015 – 24 IIR International Congress of Refrigeration, Yokohama, Japan

www.icr2015.org/about.html

rd th23 – 24 September 2015 Valve World Expo & Conference Asia, Suzhou, China www.valve-world.net/vw2015

th th th11 – 14 October 2015 6 World Hydrogen Technologies Convention, Sydney, Australia www.whtc2015.com