Adversity Liberates new GOrilla 1500

A post from a few weeks ago discussed "the liberating force of adversity" and the paradox of great innovation in difficult times. This week's release of the new West Cryogenics 1500 gallon GOrilla is another prime example. While this vessel has been on the books for development a long while now there was a major challenge in trying to work the design in between so many competing priorities.

Well- get a little break from the mad rush of things and see what you get......

Once again, West Cryogenics has managed to innovate at a level not regularly matched. The new GOrilla will include all the standard features found on the existing 500 gallon and 850 gallon GOrilla portable cryogenic vessels:

- Combo Top Bottom Fill

- Robust Pressure Building System

- Road Relief Valve Allowing for Liquid Transport

- Gas Output with Economizer and External Vaporizer

It will also have an auxillary 2" liquid withdrawal line for those who want to add pumping systems for liquid delivery. Rated at 250psi mawp this vessel will afford flexibility to serve both gas feed and liquid delivery systems for liquid oxygen, nitrogen or argon. And- it can be paired up with its smaller 290 to 500 gallon cousins, cryogenic liquid cylinders or gas cylinders for an almost unlimited variety of Hospital and Medical Emergency Backup and Rapid Deployment applications or fitted with mixers for direct distribution of blended welding gases.

No- West Cryogenics does not enjoy economic downturns at all. But- once again- a little downturn has provided a great opportunity for innovative development.

There has been a tradition of using downtime to come out even stronger for the future and no one at West Cryogenics can see a reason to break that tradition this time.

Progress Paradox

“And I must say: I find the liberating power of adversity to be one of the more disquieting facts of life.”
- John H. Lienhard

In Episode 1603 of The Engines of Our Ingenuity, Lienhard discusses the adverse life, imprisonment, and great grief of Galileo. It seems that absent the opportunity provided by Galileo’s isolation he might never have performed his world changing work that has done so much to shape modern engineering, material science and astronomy. And, Lienhard’s writing as well as numerous other texts, such as “Selling Soap. Literally” in this month’s Fast Company, go a long way to show how adversity can spawn innovation.

West Cryogenics’ move into manufacturing is a case in point. Long interested in developing and producing new products, the company was always “too busy” to move forward in this area. The downturn following the 9/11 tragedy and some other unexpected turns created a unique moment where time, talent and market converged allowing for development of West’s Ultra Series liquid delivery vessels. The follow up development of GOrilla portable cryogenic vessels and packaged systems along with Dragon vaporizers has now positioned West Cryogenics as a nationally recognized manufacturer of quality solutions for cryogenic liquid argon, oxygen and nitrogen delivery and gas use systems.

T. Boone Pickens’ writing introduced me to the phrase “It’s root hog or die.” And that is often the case. Current rooting is leading to the development of several new product lines, systems, and relationships that will not only sustain through tough times, but also create opportunities to thrive in times of plenty.

None of us wish for tough times to make us better and the fact they can is indeed disquieting. It is also a reassurance for those who have stared into the abyss and found inspiration, innovation and purpose that we might otherwise have been too busy to see.

Overfilling Portable Cryogenic Liquid Vessels

There are several negative consequences that can result from overfilling portable cryogenic liquid vessels used for transport or delivery of liquid oxygen, nitrogen or argon. While there are also concerns with 4L-DOT liquid cylinders and stationary bulk tanks this article is more focused on horizontal vessels from approximately 119 gallons up that are used for medical oxygen delivery, construction and demolition or other portable applications.

If you fill portable horizontal cryogenic tanks do you always stay in close attendance while filling?Do you use the Full Trycock as your indicator for when to stop? Or do you have a “full” mark on your liquid level indicator to tell you when to stop filling that is well below the point that liquid would come out the vent?

If you answered “yes” to these questions then you are less likely to have some of the problems that are common with overfilling.

First, let’s note that most portable horizontal cryogenic liquid vessels are fitting with a Full Trycock. This line and the vent are to be fully open when transfilling liquid into the portable vessel. The trycock and vent lines run into the top of the vessel. The Trycock line is lower inside the vessel than the vent so that liquid will come out the trycock before reaching the vent. Shutting off the fill as soon as liquid starts to come out the trycock reduces the incidence of liquid getting all the way up to the fill line.

It is not uncommon to hear of situations where the trycock was not used or the liquid source was not shut off quickly enough. Liquid was then allowed to flow out the vent. This can result in:

a) Liquid running up through a roof or side vent and ruining paint or cracking the metal or windshield of a vehicle in hot weather.
b) Uncontrolled liquid oxygen flow running to areas which will be saturated increasing fire risks;
c) Liquid being trapped in the vent line when the fill line and vent line are closed with inadequate head space left in the vessel.

Incident “C” is a common reason for vessels building excessive pressure. Liquid trapped in the line will rapidly vaporize creating pressure in the vessel and causing it to vent excessively. It can also result in blown head safety rupture disks. Users often mistake this overfilling for a vacuum related problem as the net result (over pressuring) is very similar.

A lot of discussion occurs in this post about the importance of fully venting cryogenic liquid vessels when they are filled. This means that after shutting off the liquid fill source you need to vent until there is no evident positive air flow from the vent line prior to closing it. There are few more important things that can be done to help prevent premature and excessive venting of cryogenic liquid vessels. Venting will also help correct some of the ills of over filling and hot filling.

But- Is product wasted when we vent fully?

Nitrogen Pipeline Purge and Testing

A few client calls have been received recently related to the possible combined use of high pressure nitrogen tube bundles and liquefied cryogenic nitrogen as sources for higher volume testing requirements. The most specific application related to the use of high pressure nitrogen gas for high pressure purging and testing of pipelines. Nitrogen offers significant advantages for this application over water or air by providing an inert atmosphere with a very low dew point. Ie- It is dry, clean and reduces oxidation. As with any compressible medium, nitrogen has significant risks associated with it in the event of a pipe or component failure. It is therefore very important that high pressure gases only be used for testing by professionals with carefully reviewed and administered operational safety procedures.

The discussions related to testing or purging with pipeline pressure requirements at 1200-1800 psi. Total volume requirements ranged from 50,000 to 150,000 cubic feet of nitrogen. A conventional simple approach for these applications is to roll up with a high pressure (~3000psi) tube trailer and directly transfer nitrogen from the trailer to the pipeline. There is inefficiency here as only a certain percentage of the gas in the tubes will be available for the pipeline at the pressure needed. Cascading of the tubes increases the consumable gas from the tubes, but still leaves a significant residual.

Getting pressure up is directly related to the volume of molecules you can get into a space. One thought on pressurizing pipes is to use portable liquid nitrogen vessel (ex- 850 gallon GOrilla) to provide the initial low pressure mass of molecules into the pipe. Once the pipe is up from atmospheric pressure to the level that can be reached from the liquid source then tubes can be used to get to the required test pressure. The advantage of this approach is that each vessel source is used for what it actually does best. That is- Volume from the Liquid Vessel and Pressure from the Tubes.

Alternatively, for a project requiring multiple tube/liquid sources for a series of tests some added efficiency could possibly be achieved by adding a high pressure pumping system to the liquid source. The tubes could be used to provide fast flow and pressure to the pipeline. The portable liquid nitrogen vessel could be used to replenish the tubes between tests. It could also be used to discharge an initial volume of molecules into the pipeline. This approach could be advantageous in cases where it is more convenient and cost effective to deliver liquid to a site for refilling the portable cryogenic vessel than it is to swap out or refill tubes. There is also a good possibility that an 850 gallon GOrilla-type vessel with trailer, vaporizer pumping system and power source is less expensive that a tube trailer with comparable volume. Use of less expensive portable cryogenic vessels in place of high pressure tubes (where feasible) could allow more valuable assets to be used where they are required.

There is also the side benefit that the portable cryogenic vessel could be used for many other applications when not tied to high pressure testing and purging. The ability to keep capital invested in cryogenic vessels working for pipeline freezing, liquid delivery, welding purge, harvest, or high volume cutting applications warrants consideration. This is particularly true in the event that the highly versatile liquid and gas use vessel requires less capital investment, less ongoing testing/ recertification cost and provides more positive financial return than a set of tubes holding a comparable volume of nitrogen.