www.truckandtrack.com Autumn 2026 Truck and Track 65 DANGEROUS GOODS as Rust) with most elements as well as with other compounds. By mass, oxygen is the third-most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen and helium. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form di-oxygen, a colourless and odourless di-atomic gas with the formula O2. Di-atomic oxygen gas constitutes 20.8% of the Earth’s atmosphere. The composition of the air that surrounds us – Gas Chemical Symbol % Nitrogen N2 78.084 Oxygen O2 20.947 Argon Ar 0.934 Carbon Dioxide C02 0.0350 Others Noble Gases etc Trace As a compound (including its oxides), the element Oxygen makes up almost half of the Earth’s crust. The name oxygen was coined in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier, who first recognized oxygen as a chemical element and correctly characterized the role it plays in combustion. Common societal uses of gaseous and liquefied Oxygen include production of steel, plastics and textiles, brazing, welding and cutting of metals, rocket propellant, oxygen therapy, life support systems in aircraft, submarines, spaceflight, cleaningsubstrates and diving – and essential in chemical reactions (as an additive/ substrate). It must be absent for certain manufacturing, food packaging or preservation processes, to prevent oxidation reactions. Oxygen is produced on commercial and industrial scale by a process termed ‘air separation’. To understand the process, we need to examine the boiling points of the major constituents of Air - Nitrogen, Oxygen and Argon. The basic process of air separation commences with giant turbines sucking air from the atmosphere, followed by purification and cooling cryogenically until it’s in the liquid phase (‘liquid Air’). The next stage is passing the cold liquid air through an insulated fractional distillation column, from which liquid Nitrogen, Oxygen and Argon are separated and collected. The Oxygen produced (by fractional distillation) from an Air Separation Plant is a cryogenic liquid referred to as LOX. It can be supplied in bulk by insulated pipeline direct to the user (a steel works for example) or by a cryogenic bulk tanker, an insulated Dewar Vessel (akin to a super-insulated vacuum flask), or vaporised and compressed into high pressure gas cylinders as GOX. Considerations Fire and Oxygen Enrichment As I discussed in my summer 2026 DG Column (Class 3 Flammable Liquids), we have become familiar with the ‘fire triangle’. Disregarding the anomaly of pyrophoric products (such as unstable organometallics e.g. SiH4); Oxygen needs to be present to allow combustion to occur. A fire starts by a spark, or a physical build-up of heat (generated by a physical or chemical reaction or process). It requires a fuel (e.g. a liquid or solid at, or above its ‘flash point’). This is why Oxygen (be it contained as a liquid in Cryogenic tanks/Dewar Vessels or compressed into Gas Cylinders) must be stored outside in a ventilated space to reduce the risk of ‘Oxygen’ enrichment or build-up. Rising above Forklift truck loading Cryogenic oxidiser tank PRVs TRUCK & TRAILER SOLUTIONS WELCOME TOALLPORTS GROUP allportsgroup.co.uk Sodium light Water spray reducing dust explosion fire risk
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTE1MTA=