Acetylene cylinder manifold assembly

Abstract

A system and method for simultaneously filling or discharging a plurality of acetylene cylinders. One embodiment provides an acetylene cylinder filling / dispensing assembly comprising a manifold connected to a plurality of acetylene cylinders for simultaneously filling or discharging the plurality of acetylene cylinders, the manifold having an acetylene gas inlet / discharge coupling connectable to an acetylene gas supply to deliver acetylene gas from the acetylene gas supply to the plurality of acetylene cylinders.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to acetylene cylinder assemblies and more particularly to an acetylene cylinder filling assembly for simultaneously filling and then discharging a plurality of acetylene cylinders. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] In general, acetylene gas is distributed in individual acetylene gas cylinders which are adapted to the particular characteristics of acetylene gas. Each individual gas cylinder is typically filled and transported to the site where it can be utilized. As a result, much effort is expended to handle a large volume of individual cylinders during the transport and filling process. [0005] Typically, an acetylene gas cylinder contains a porous mass which is inserted into the cylinder during manufacturing. The porous mass fills the gas cylinder to prevent the acetylene gas from collecting in significant volumes inside the cylinder. If significan...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] One embodiment provides an acetylene cylinder filling and discharging assembly including a manifold connected to a plurality of acetylene cylinders for simultaneously filling and / or discharging the plurality of acetylene cylinders, the manifold having an acetylene gas inlet / discharge coupling connectable to an acetylene gas supply, i.e., an acetylene generator or pipeline, to deliver acetylene gas from an acetylene gas supply to the plurality of acetylene cylinders. The plurality of gas cylinders and the manifold assembly are mounted on a frame member. The frame member enables transportation of the entire assembly from a filling location to a use location.

Problems solved by technology

As a result, much effort is expended to handle a large volume of individual cylinders during the transport and filling process.

If significant volumes of acetylene gas would begin to decompose, it could cause an explosive decomposition of the acetylene gas to take place leading to detonation of the gas cylinder.

Moreover, a conventional acetylene gas cylinder only provides for a limited gas capacity which depends on construction parameters and cylinder dimensions.

A major drawback of re-filling acetylene gas cylinders in larger acetylene bulk applications is that the assembled acetylene gas cylinders need to be disassembled and re-filled separately.

This process is cumbersome and time consuming and increases the resolventing cost.

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