Basic Common Sense Rules for Safe and Effective

Cryogenic Maintenance
FEBRUARY 19, 2013
By Keith Hall
Never use carbon steel wire brushes or carbon steel wire-wheels to clean stainless steel; and never use
a stainless steel wire brush or a stainless steel wire-wheel, or a scotch-brite pad, on stainless steel if it
was previously used to clean carbon steel.
Never cut or grind next to a painted surface. The hot metal will embed into the paint and rust specs will
appear.
Never spray paint next to another tank or vehicle, and never paint in the wind, cold, or rain. When
painting beware of over-spray.
To prevent subsequent rusting, the inside of any hole drilled in carbon steel must be primed and or
painted before installing a bolt, screw, or rivet.
Never drill holes in the top or bottom flanges of a truck chassis frame rail. Holes may only be drilled in
the sides of the frame rail. Avoid alignment of holes or too many holes in one area.
Never weld on a tractor chassis frame rail.
Before welding a component on a vehicle, or on a trailer with a pony engine, always disconnect the
battery (or clamp an electronic protection device to the battery). You may ruin the engines electronic
control module if you do not do this.
Never weld on the outer jacket of a cryogenic tank under vacuum as you can easily melt through and
ruin the vacuum. Humid air entering the annulus makes the subsequent evacuation operation difficult.
Before welding, always verify the correct weld procedure to be used, as per the engineering. Always
verify that you are using the correct weld wire and shielding gas and are following the correct weld
procedure.
When welding, be careful of fans or open doors that may blow the shielding gas away from the molten
weld puddle (the same for helium when leak checking).
Once any component, pipe, or tank has been oxygen cleaned, it must stay properly protected or
covered while you are working on it, and covered whenever you are not. Parts that have been oxygen
cleaned for future use must be sealed in a plastic bag. LOX Cleaned, by whom, the date, and

the Quality Control inspectors signature and date must be written on the bag. Follow the industry
standards and your companys oxygen cleaning procedures. Keep your hands and tools clean.
There must be a pressure relief valve installed between any valves or check valves where liquid could
be trapped.
Never operate equipment you have not been trained on or authorized to use.
Never enter a confined space without following all your companys safety procedures (air test, air
ventilation, hole watch, entry permit, etc.).
Never use carbon steel (black) pipe, galvanized pipe, or plastic pipe or tubing, etc., for cryogenic service
(it will embrittle and catastrophically fail). Use only stainless steel, aluminum, brass, or bronze
alloys, rated for the extremely low use temperatures and working pressure as designated by engineering.
Never use a fitting, valve, hose, etc., that is not rated for the operating pressure and temperature.
Never adapt CGA fittings or connections.
It is the industry standard that the interior of all cryogenic tanks, piping, and pressure building coils, no
matter the intended gas service, be oxygen cleaned. Tanks, piping, and pressure building coils intended
for oxygen service must also be inspected for oxygen service. All materials used in oxygen service must
be oxygen compatible, oxygen cleaned and oxygen inspected.
Always wear proper safety personal protection equipment when working around cryogens (i.e. face
shield, gloves, long sleeves, ear plugs, etc.).
All sharp corners or edges on metal objects you fabricate should be ground round or smooth.
Never fill or add engine oil or hydraulic fluid to any equipment without making sure you have the correct
oil for the application or customer requirement.
Never spin, bump, or operate a cryogenic pump dry or without giving it sufficient time to properly cool
down with liquid. (The general rule of thumb is seven minutes for a pump 7 and smaller; 12 minutes for a
10 pump).
To prevent galling when a stainless steel component is threaded into another stainless steel component
(or aluminum into aluminum), apply a thin coat of liquid oxygen compatible grease to the threads
before installing (noteit is very expensiveuse sparingly). For example, apply to stainless steel bolts
being threaded into a stainless steel valve body.

 When running electrical power to electronic devices (i.e. flow meters, totalizers, GPS, modems, etc.) do
not tie into trailer lighting circuits. Electronic devices should be powered on their own power supply circuit
with an easily accessible fuse or breaker.
When preparing for, and performing a pneumatic or hydro pressure test, do not insert plugs into the
outlet ports of the pressure relief valves on a tank or piping circuit. Instead, screw a safety relief valve,
with a slightly higher pressure relief rating than the test pressure, into the outlet port of the existing relief
valve(s) on the tank or piping circuit. The test should never be left unattended until vented and the higher
rated relief devices removed! Moreover, never perform a pressure test without first checking the
engineering calculations document to be assured of the correct test pressure.
Ladders must be properly tied-off before you ascend. Tie the base of the ladder so that it cannot slip.
You must wear a harness and tie-off, in accordance with company tie-off procedures, when not working
at ground level.
Install cryogenic valves so that the flow direction is per the engineering piping schematic. Notea globe
valve generally should be oriented so that the cold liquid is held below the seat when closed and not
on the upper or stem/packing side of the valve. Generally a gate valve is oriented so that when closed,
the upstream pressure pushes against its seating surface.
Any ball valve used in cryogenic service must have a small vent or weep hole drilled into the internal ball
itself, or be of another vented design, e.g. vented flange piece. The ball valve must be oriented so that the
direction of flow permits liquid trapped inside the ball to be vented when the ball is closed, either back into
the tank (if there is no check valve in the line), or to vent downstream.
Any valve used for cryogenic liquid service should never be mounted with the stem extending lower than
30 degrees above the horizontal plane. Valves used for vapor service are generally never mounted
with their stems oriented more than 30 degrees below the horizontal plane.
When tightening a leaking packing on a valve, tighten only enough to stop the leak, and no more. Then
verify that the valve can still turn normally.
When opening a gate or globe valve in cryogenic service, fully open the valve, then close it a fraction of
a turn. This prevents the valve from freezing in the open position, making it easier for you to close when
it is cold.
Never drive over hoses or extension cords with fork lifts or other shop equipment.
On mobile equipment, or on equipment subject to vibration, protect hoses and wiring that could rub and
chaff by wrapping and securing with split loom and or rubber. Secure equipment from wind and

other movement with loom clamps, Stauff clamps, etc. Avoid the over-use of zip ties (they degrade in
ultraviolet sunlight and can break in the cold).
When running an auxiliary pneumatic device off a trucks, tractors, or trailers air system, i.e. for electropneumatic valves, always install a pressure protection valve (PPV) on your supply air line at the air
tank. Should an auxiliary air line ever break the PPV will close if the air tank pressure drops below a set
point (e.g. 85 psi).
Thoroughly purge hoses and lines before connecting them. The purge procedure will prevent debris or
humid air from going into a cryogenic vessel. The purge also helps pre-cool the hose.
Safety relief valves should be oriented so that the engraved label can be easily read.
The exit side (non-pressurized) of the vent piping on a cryogenic tank, including the vent piping from
relief valves, must have a weep hole at the lowest point for condensed water to drain.