Metallurgical failure analysis of an exploded CO2 gas cylinder

Abstract

Abstract A gas cylinder, containing carbon dioxide (CO2) in a manifold of sixteen cylinders, exploded in an outdoor building construction site at midday within two hours of its arrival from a filling station. It was to be used for construction welding. The seamless gas cylinder that exploded was made of low alloy steel with a tempered martensitic microstructure. Observation revealed the presence of discreet localized external corrosion which weakened the gas cylinder extremely. A study concluded that the midday outdoor heat had apparently increased the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas within which in turn led to the sudden catastrophic explosion of the weakened corroded gas cylinder.