Carbon Dioxide Shortage/Purity

sculpin01

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Apparently there is a carbon dioxide shortage that is at least in part due to the company that produces the vast majority of it using its CO2 stores for "enhanced oil recovery" leading to CO2 contamination with "hydrocarbons, including benzene".

I'm about to start using a calcium reactor and got a bottle of CO2 from Airgas. In setting up the regulator, there was an odd smell (also I found the knob on the CO2 tank to be broken). So back to Airgas I went. The guy there did a sniff test, claimed it was fine, and gave me a new bottle. I set up the regulator again and got a faint odor that reminded me of hydrocarbons. Regulator isn't leaking significantly and maintained pressure adequately after I turned off the tank valve. However, I held off on starting the calcium reactor because of this weird smell.

So my question is, what is the risk of contaminated CO2? If it is contaminated, will it affect my tank? Should I run my calcium reactor effluent/outflow through an activated carbon column as a precaution?

Thanks!

Mike


 

KrisReef

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The Air Gas company is not likely to take the risk of purposely selling any contaminated CO2 product, imo. The article explains that there is contamination in CO2 wells in the "Jackson Dome" area. The CO2 from those wells has been identified as contaminated which is making a shortage of gas availability. Gas suppliers are not buying that CO2 for "clean" purposes like beverage carbonation. The CO2 market supply is short but that isn't likely to mean that Air Gas is going to buy "discount" contaminated gas to resell to their customers. They are going to find clean sources for the supply so they don't have to segregate clean from dirty supply chains. If they don't then they will go out of business along with all the carbonated beverage sellers that go along with the dirty CO2 market scheme, imo.

BTW, if there is even a small leak in your regulator seals the tank may empty very quickly.
 

KrisReef

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With the bottle off, the gauge only went down 25% in two months. That seems reasonable to me.
Fair enough. I have had them discharge overnight. I was glad my tank was in the garage. CO2 displaces oxygen at the hemoglobin receptors so it can be an acute threat to life and health. If it was shut off, the leak must have been at the seal between the cylindar and the regulator. If you ask they generally will give you a free seal for that connection when you get a new bottle.
 
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