Nitrox in steel tanks ?

[emoreira]

Hi, I'm not Nitrox certified, but I could not find this answered anywhere.
Is it possible to charge Nitrox in a steel tank ?
I've seen many pics of divers with Nitrox tanks, but always are Alu tanks.
Perhaps, the increased amount of oxigen in a Nitrox blend makes it more dangerous to use a steel tank.
Please clarify.

 

[cbrich]

Yes, you can put Nitrox in a steel cylinder. You can even put pure oxygen in a steel cylinder; oxygen cylinders from a gas suppliers are in steel cylinders. I have put Nitrox in my steel several times, without any issues.

 

[Panga Man]

No problem using steels with nitrox. Just make sure they are O2 clean.

 

[Doc Harry]

Theoretical, these is an increased risk of corrosion during long-term storage (>3 months) of oxygen-enriched gasses in steel clyinders when compared to aluminimum. But this theoretical risk is based on a very small and extreme study done about 40 years ago by a small university.

In that study, about a dozen steel and aluminum cylinders filled with a pint of either fresh or salt water, then either pressurized or left unpressurized, and then baked at 103 degrees for 3 months to accelerate corrosion. A review of the resulting corrosion data revealed that steel cylinders were much more prone to corrosion than aluminum, and that, all else being equal, increasing the pO2 (either from higher storage pressures or use of enriched-oxygen gasses) also accelerated corrosion in steel cylinders.

 

[rongoodman]

No problem using steels with nitrox. Just make sure they are O2 clean.

No particular need for the tank to be O2 clean unless the shop is doing partial pressure blending, in which case the tanks is exposed to pure O2.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Take a look at the TDI Intro to Tech ad at the top of the form. The diver on the left has rather prominent nitrox stickers on steel tanks. Not sure about the diver on the left. I have more steel tanks than aluminum and dive nitrox in all of them.

 

[Tortuga68]

What TDI ad

 

[oldogre]

Medical Oxygen comes in steel cylinders.

 

[scubadiveilat]

As long as the tank is certified and inspected to be filled with Nitrox, there should be no problem.

 

[Necklinsberg]

I'd be more concerned with aluminum & nitrox (I say only partly in jest). Aluminum burns very prettily in the presence of oxygen (remember chem lab?).

(For full disclosure -- I believe that steel tanks are much better than aluminum ones since they don't flip buoyancy as they empty).


But seriously, you may want to review this from Luxfer -- Aluminum scuba cylinders in oxygen-enriched and oxygen service - Luxfer: Setting The Standard Worldwide