From the oxygen and acetylene cylinders professional cutters and welders use at job sites, to the propane and LPG tanks RV owners take off-road to do their cooking and heating, gas bottles are in use all around us. Compact 20 CF (cubic foot) capacity bottles are common fuel containers for small caravan stoves, while a behemoth 500 CF bottle can supply an entire worksite with technical gas for an entire day.

Although all of these pressurized vessels serve different purposes, they still have one point in common. When filled, they’re all holding toxic or explosive contents that could be violently and instantaneously released if not adequately secured during transit or storage.

Regardless of where or how they’re being used, compressed gas bottles and cylinders have to be handled with the utmost caution. There aren’t any shortcuts when it comes to gas cylinders and safety, and that means ensuring they’re properly restrained at all times.

Gas Bottle Restraining Systems

Whether their made from steel alloy or fibre composite, compressed gas bottles and cylinders are among the most robustly designed and engineered items anywhere in the world for both industrial and recreational use. And with service pressures that can reach upwards of 10,000psi in ultra-high pressure applications, they’re built to contain massive amounts of pressure. They’re not immune to rough or careless handling though, which is why heavy-duty gas bottle holders and restraints are needed to firmly secure them to walls or other stable surfaces where they can remain well ventilated, and not exposed to high temperatures or the possibility of physical damage.

Solidly fixed, friction-resistant restraint systems protect gas bottles from accidental falls, damages, or striking each other. And as part of an Australian Standard (AS4332) approved plan for the safe handling and storage of gas bottles and cylinders, they also ensure bottles are stored according to their size and hazard classes.

Make no mistake, a gas cylinder restraint system is a necessary part of using, transporting, and storing any type of pressurized gas container. The dangers from bottles tipping, rolling, and ultimately rupturing are too great not to make restraints the first line of bottle and cylinder safety. Fortunately, there are restraints available for every type of bottle and application.

For industrial use, wall-mounted steel gas bottle holder brackets are the most common storage instruments used for securing pressurized gases. These individual bottle brackets allow users to store their gas cylinders solidly against stable surfaces where they’re sufficiently protected from impacts and exposure, and are:

· Designed to accommodate cylinder diameters from 104mm – 375mm;

· Manufactured from rust-resistant, zinc-plated steel; and,

· Fitted with rubber cushioned padding for firm gripping.

These hardened, non-nonsense brackets are intended primarily for environments where chains, racks, or retention cages aren’t available, and where the nesting of cylinders ( the use of cylinders to support each other) isn’t allowed. That makes steel retaining brackets ideal for:

· Providing adequate physical separation between flammable, non-flammable, and toxic gas classes;

· Providing adequate physical separation between bottles of the same class; and,

· Keeping bottles of the same physical size and class together.

Bottle Restraining Tracks

High-quality, gas bottle bracket restraining tracks are another option. These compact, wall-mounted track sections are available in lengths from 100mm to 1m, and are manufactured from strong anodized aluminium. Restraining track features include:

· UV stabilized polypropylene brackets;

· Adjustable bracket spacing in 1, 2, 3, and 4 bottle configurations;

· Bracket accommodations for cylinder diameters from 145mm – 445mm;

· Bracket web strapping in 400mm, 600mm, 900mm, and 1200mm lengths; and,

· Tensile strength testing up to 380kg.

Tracked gas bottle holder bracket users have an added measure of flexibility with their storage that steel bracket users don’t have. With quick-releasing straps, bottles such as fire extinguishers, can be removed from their brackets in a single motion and brought immediately into service when necessary. Other tracked bracket holder benefits include:

· Ideal sizing for use with all types of small bottles and cylinders;

· Non-destructive mounting that’s perfect for mobile uses like tradie vehicles, RVs, and boats; and,

· The ability to be joined together to create uniformed, continuous-run gas storage areas.

Why Restraints are Important

Regardless of the type of retaining method used, the underlying purposes and precautions behind why gas bottles and cylinders need to be secured remain the same. From the location that’s chosen for storage, to the height of the retaining holders at the location, these are all important factors in maintaining compressed gas containers’ safety.

If you or your company are active users of compressed gas, there are a number of things factors you always want to be aware of when designating a storage area, including:

· Avoiding storing bottles where ambient temperatures can exceed 52°C;

· Providing ample ventilation in the storage area;

· Never allowing bottles to be stored near a combustible or static-producing source;

· Not allowing bottles to be stored where they could be prone to damaging contact; and,

· Ensuring that corrosive substances are stored no less than 5m from the bottles.

Even within a properly provisioned and secured restraining area, additional safety measures should be taken for every bottle’s protection, including:

· Ensuring that the restraints are correctly positioned at 2/3 the height of the bottle;

· Never allowing full bottles to become mixed with empty ones;

· Ensuring that bottles are always stored with safety caps fitted (not with regulators attached);

· Ensuring that each bottle is correctly labelled and marked for its contents; and,

· When possible, make sure that the bottles are used in the order they were filled.

Quite simply, a proper gas cylinder restraint system is the key to safely storing pressurized gases; and integrating the right safeguarding equipment at the beginning can head off a catastrophic problem later.

The Final Word

At the end of the day, how gas bottles are handled is just as important as how they’re used. It’s all about safety, because it only take a single instance of a bottle being mishandled or misused, to have devastating consequences.

We all know the dangers, which is why using heavy duty gas bottle holders and restraints is so important when bottles aren’t in use. They’re the simple, inexpensive measure that any individual or company working with pressurized gases needs to consider, because the cost for not using them could be incalculable.