Acetylengasflaschen stellen bei der Entsorgung eine besondere Herausforderung dar. Die SDK wickelt Acetylengasflaschen daher zum Fachbetrieb UTM, Lübeck ab.

Acetylene gas cylinders are filled with a porous mass which contains solvents and which may contain asbestos. Because of these two factors, solvent and possible asbestos fibres in the mass, special treatment of old acetylene gas cylinders is necessary.

In UTM’s treatment process, acetylene gas cylinders are heated in a vacuum-thermal furnace process to distil the solvent before they are broken open. After the oven process, the mass is dry and the bottle body can now be split open without risk.

What you should know when disposing of acetylene gas cylinders:

Old used acetylene gas cylinders contain a considerable amount of solvents in any case and possibly an asbestos matrix, even if they are without pressure. Two problems arise from this:

• Separating the body of the bottle with solvent in the mass poses considerable explosion risks due to the saturated acetylene in the solvent.
• The disposal of the porous mass, which still contains solvent, to a landfill without prior thermal pre-treatment of the mass is not in conformity with the law and endangers the environment.

Further information from UTM Umwelt-Technik-Metallrecycling GmbH, Lübeck.