Where to Get Welding Gas & How Much Should You Pay?

IIn past decades, stick welders did not have much information about gases with regards to welding. This whole concept changed with the invention of TIG and MIG welding machines and their constant rise in usage. Gas is now considered a common commodity in most welding workshops. But how much does welding gas cost? If you’re just setting up shop, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll break down where to get welding gas and the costs associated with it.

Welding gases can be outsourced from various vendors depending on your location and the type of gas you require. Most vendors provide the option of free delivery for local orders and charge a few bucks for regional deliveries.

Welders use welding gases for several reasons, with the main one being shielding the arc from impurities such as dust. Gases are also used to heat metals during welding and to keep the welds clean.

Inert gases are known for not causing any changes to the materials. They also remain in the same state during welding. This ability makes welding more comfortable without weakening or distorting the welds. Reactive gases are the opposite of inert gases. They react by changing their states and causing changes to the materials. This property makes these gases ideal for enhancing the fusion of metals.

What is a CO2 Tank Cylinder?

You might have noticed that most bars and pubs use a CO2 tank cylinder, where the drink is to be served. CO2 tank cylinders are used to pressurize the beer draft system. CO2 tank cylinder which is used for brewing, are mostly made from aluminum. They also come in steel tank is a variety is sizes.

The quality of a CO2 tank cylinder should be really good. It all depends on what type of tank you have because it will surely affect the taste of your drink. Once you get the idea of how to use your cylinder properly, you can easily make new beverages with lots of bubbles, and you can also design plans for your beverages, keeping safety in mind of course.

Well here is the perfect answer to your question. CO2 gas forced into this cylinder, the more it’s forced, and the more inner molecules get close to each other. The molecules inside the cylinder get so close that crowding of gas happens and the movement of the molecules become very slow. When the molecules slow down, they lose heat energy and hence get cold.

When the temperature reaches 880 psi (pounds per square inch), the molecules release enough heat energy to get cold enough to turn into liquid. When these liquids go through some temperature changes, like an increase in temperature, the volume of the liquids expands. In the liquid state, CO2 can be stored in it a lot more than in the gas state. In short, you get to store a huge amount of CO2 in the tank cylinder.

Pressure plays a huge role in this cylinder. It’s all about the pressure; it is the key thing to note. To provide a push for your draft beer system, the pressure has to be nearly 880 psi. Initially, at this pressure, only CO2 is stored inside the tank cylinder, but once you open the lid of the tank, some of the CO2 is released in the form of vapors and turns back to its previous state that is gas. This gas is then allowed to flow into the gas side of your draft beer system.

Unlike growlers, CO2 tanks don’t have a good system of insulation. They have to be handled with a lot of care. A sudden temperature increase can expand the liquid inside it; hence, it can make the tank so hot that it can burn your fingers. So safety measures should be taken properly. This can be done by having a CO2 regulator; the regulator controls the high pressure of the gas to a manageable and prevents the tank from heating up drastically.

Nitrogen gas applications

Nitrogen is not reactive and it is excellent for blanketing and is often used as purging gas. It can be used to remove contaminants from process streams through methods such as stripping and sparging. Due to its properties it can be used for protection of valuable products against harmful contaminants. It also enables safe storage, usage of flammable compounds and can help prevent combustible dust explosions.
The applications of nitrogen compounds are naturally extremely widely varied due to the huge size of this class: hence, only applications of pure nitrogen itself will be considered here. Two-thirds of nitrogen produced by industry is sold as the gas and the remaining one-third as the liquid. The gas is mostly used as an inert atmosphere whenever the oxygen in the air would pose a fire, explosion, or oxidising hazard. Some examples include:
Food industry
Nitrogen gas is also used to provide an unreactive atmosphere. It is used in this way to preserve foods. As a modified atmosphere, pure or mixed with carbon dioxide, to nitrogenate and preserve the freshness of packaged or bulk foods (by delaying rancidity and other forms of oxidative damage like changing colours). Pure nitrogen as food additive is labelled in the European Union with the E number E941.
Light bulbs industry
Bulbs should not be filled with air since hot tungsten wire will combust in presence of oxygen. You can’t maintain vacuum either or external atmospheric pressure will break the glass. So, they must be filled with non-reactive gas like nitrogen. We can use inert gases like argon or helium instead of Nitrogen, but they are more expensive & rarer than nitrogen.
Fire suppression systems
Fire suppression is achieved by reducing the oxygen concentration where the fire will extinguish, while remaining at a level acceptable for human exposure for a short period of time.
Stainless steel manufacturing
There are various instances when nitrogen can be added to steel during steelmaking such as melting, the ladle processing and the casting operations. Nitrogen effect on hardness, formability, strain ageing and impact properties.
Tire filling systems
Nitrogen is used to inflate race car and aircraft tires, reducing the problems caused by moisture and oxygen in natural air. Nitrogen is less likely to migrate through tire rubber than oxygen, which means that your tire pressures will remain more stable over the long term. That means more consistent inflation pressures during a use as the tires heat up.
Aircraft fuel systems
In some aircraft fuel systems nitrogen is used to reduce fire hazard.

Welding Gas Cylinder (Sizes & Tank Specifications)

MIG and TIG welding methods are two of the most popular ways to weld materials. They offer great control and precision and can be used on a wide variety of materials. However, for relatively inexperienced users, these methods could pose a very big problem.

The one thing you would not want while welding is to run out of gas. As a result, you should have an idea of the time you will spend while welding. Choosing a gas cylinder is no easy task especially if you are still coming to grips with welding. Hence, in this article, we will be helping you choose a gas cylinder that will fit your needs.

Argon is an inert gas and can maintain a stable fire arc, which makes it a very popular choice in MIG and TIG welding. However, Argon/CO2 mixture is also commonly used as well as CO2 alone. This is because pure argon is more expensive as compared to a mixture of Argon and Carbon Dioxide. Proper ventilation is a must when working with these gases as they can remove oxygen.

However, AR/CO2 mix will splatter more compared to pure Argon. Using high inductance (decreases short-circuiting and lengthens arc time) is better for CO2 than for Argon. 75% CO2 25% Argon or 85%CO2 15% Argon is the widely used mixing ratio. If you don’t have issues with your weld not being the cleanest, this mix will suit you.

Compared to Argon, Helium has better thermal conductivity and higher ionization potential. Thus, it is possible to achieve a lot of heat when working with Helium. The density of helium is lower compared to Argon and it is possible to obtain higher flow rates.

As a result, a helium-argon mixture might provide better welding speed at the cost of stability. Also, Helium mixtures are quite costly as well but the increased productivity makes up for it. Helium is the most popular shielding gas to use with Aluminum and Stainless Steel.

How to Handle and Store Acetylene Cylinders

Unlike most industrial gases, Acetylene is a type of gas that is dissolved into a solvent to keep it safer and more stable. Due to its chemical composition it is an extremely useful gas for the chemical industry but for commercial cylinder applications, is mainly used in cutting and welding processes. It has a burning temperature up to 5,700℉ (3,148℃), when burnt with oxygen. Also, pure samples of the gas can decompose violently. Due to all these reasons, critical understanding and steps need to be taken when handling and storing acetylene gas cylinders. This post provides information you need to know on the topic.

A Brief about Acetylene Cylinders

While many people may logically conclude that acetylene is stored in standard high pressure cylinders which are hollow in construction and gas storage use, this point is not true. Acetylene cylinders are a separate, dedicated and special type of cylinder that is used to store and transport the gas above pressures of 5 psi (.3 bar). A standard acetylene cylinder has a length of 30” (76.2 cm) and has a 10” (24.4 cm) diameter. The cylinder’s construction comprises the following materials and components:

1. The exterior of the cylinder is all steel in construction.

2. The interior of the cylinder body is constructed of either a fire resistant or monolithic filler material known as the ‘porous mass’.

3. The porous material is saturated with acetone or dimethyl formamide (DMF).

4. Older cylinders have fuse plugs in the bottom of the cylinder.

5. The top of the cylinder comprises brass valves, a metal cap, and often safety fuse plugs.

Knowing the composition and traits of an acetylene cylinder will help a user understand and safely handle and store acetylene cylinders.