# City Machine and Welding, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

- **operation:** document
- **citation:** 13-0042
- **title:** City Machine and Welding, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation
- **source type:** guidance
- **agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
- **status:** guidance
- **official:** true
- **published on:** 2013-05-22
- **effective on:** Not available
- **summary:** 13-0042 response to City Machine and Welding, Inc. concerning 173.302a, 180.205.
- **machine formats:** - **json:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-13-0042.json
- **markdown:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-13-0042.md
- **app url:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-13-0042
- **source url:** https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2013/130042.pdf
**body:**

<<<PAGE 1>>>

U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
1200 New Jersey Ave, SE
Washington, D.C. 20590
MAY 2 22013
Mr. Kent Carroll
City Machine and Welding, Inc.
P.O. Box 51018
Amarillo, TX 79159
Ref. No.: 13-0042
Dear Mr. Carroll:
This is in response to your February 7, 2013 email requesting clarification ofthe requirements for
the marking of a plus(+) sign on DOT 3A, 3AX, 3AA, 3AAX, and 3T cylinders as specified in
§ 173.302a(b) of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180).
Specifically, you ask if a cylinder that passed the permanent expansion requirement, but exceeded
the elastic expansion rejection limit (REE) may be returned to service (1) at the same or a lower
service pressure or (2) 10 % in excess of its marked service pressure.
The + sign is added following the test date marking on a cylinder to indicate that a cylinder
complies with§ 173.302a(b) and is permitted to be filled to a pressure 10% in excess of its
marked service pressure. All of the conditions in§ 173.302a(b) must be met, including
compliance with either the average wall stress or the maximum wall stress limitations shown in
§ 173.302a(b)(3).
If a cylinder has less than 10 % permanent expansion as demonstrated by the volumetric
expansion test(§ 180.205(i)(l )(iv)), but fails the REE examination, the+ sign may not be marked
on the cylinder after the requalification test date marking since the cylinder did not comply with
the average wall stress requirement. In this case, the cylinder may be returned to service at its
marked service pressure. As specified in§ 180.205(c)(3), for DOT specification cylinders, the
marked service pressure may only be changed upon approval from the Associate Administrator for
Hazardous Materials Safety and in accordance with written procedures specified in that approval.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact
this office.
[[~· .
Delmer Billings ~
Senior Regulatory Advisor
Standards and Rulemaking Division

<<<PAGE 2>>>

.E,rakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA)
From: INFOCNTR (PHMSA)
Sent:
To:
Subject: Friday, February 08, 2013 2:08 PM
Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA)
FW: Cylinder service pressure change
Hi Carolyn,
We received the following request for a formal letter of interpretation.
Thanks,
Victoria
From: Kent carroll [mailto:kcarroll@cmwelding.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 5:54 PM
To: INFOCNTR (PHMSA)
Subject: Cylinder service pressure change
Mr. Betts,
We are a requalification facility (RIN 8620) and as part of re-affirmation of our current process, we would like
to seek interpretation with regards to disposition of a cylinder which has passed the permanent expansion
requirements but failed the elastic expansion rejection limit.
The chain of references & cross references is listed below for convenience.
• As part ofhydrostatic testing of3T ,3A, 3AA & 3AAX cylinders, we follow 49 CFR 180.205 and
180.205 (c) (3) for service pressure changes.
• 180.205 requires complying with relevant sections of part 173 & part 178.
• 49CFR 173.302a, references CGA Pamphlet C5
• 49CFR 171.7 lists CGA pamphlet C5 -1991 edition as referenced version in CFR.
• CGA pamphlet CS under appendix A has a flow chart for service life control.
• For the scenario of a cylinder passing the permanent expansion requirements but failing the elastic
expansion rejection limit, the flow chart references Section 2.5
• Section 2.5 refers to Section 2.2
The point we would like to confirm is that in the scenario stated earlier, we can ultrasonically measure the wall
thickness per the cylinder manufacturer's supplied procedure for the purposes of returning the cylinder back in
service with a lower service pressure
a) b) same as marked service pressure or a lower pressure
10% in excess of marked service pressure.
Thanking you in anticipation .
Best regards,
Kent Carroll
City Machine & Welding, Inc.
1

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(806)358-7293 phone
(806)358-7906 fax
kcarroll@cmwelding.com
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