At a brewery, the base plate-to-shell weld seam of a 90-m3 vertical cylindrical steel tank failed catastrophically. The 4 ton tank "took off" like a rocket leaving its contents behind, and landed on a van, crushing it. The top of the tank reached a height of 30 m. The internal overpressure responsible for the failure was an estimated 60 kPa. A rupture disc rated at < 50 kPa provided overpressure protection and thus prevented the tank from being covered by the European Pressure Equipment Directive. This safeguard failed and it was later discovered that the rupture disc had been installed upside down. The organizational root cause of this incident may be a fundamental lack of appreciation of the hazards of large volumes of low-pressure compressed air or gas. A contributing factor may be that the standard piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) symbol for a rupture disc may confuse and lead to incorrect installation. Compressed air systems are ubiquitous. The medium is not toxic or flammable. Such systems however, when operated at "slight overpressure" can store a great deal of energy and thus constitute a hazard that ought to be addressed by safety managers.
Compressed Air ; Rupture* ; Steel*

No abstract available.
Compressed Air* ; Mouth* ; Rupture*

No abstract available.
Compressed Air* ; Explosions* ; Orbit* ; Orbital Cellulitis*

Colon barotrauma can be mostly caused by elevated intraluminal pressure. Air insufflation during colonoscopy procedure is the most common cause of iatrogenic colon barotrauma. Cat scratch colon can usually be seen in the mild type of colon barotrauma, and colon perforation can be seen in the severe type. We presently report a case of non-iatrogenic colon barotrauma caused by industrial compressed air. Multiple linear mucosal ulcers were noted in the recto-sigmoid colon, but the colon was not perforated. The patient was discharged without any further complications after conservative treatments.
Animals ; Barotrauma ; Cats ; Colon ; Colonoscopy ; Compressed Air ; Humans ; Insufflation ; Ulcer

An air-compressor system takes atmospheric air, and filters, pressurises and dries it, before delivering it to the pipeline as a medical air. Because the air supplied by the air compressor may be used to wentilate patients or to drive surgical tools, its quality and purity must be carefully controlled. Atmospheric air contains a variable amount of water vapour but always more than is specified for medical air. Water vapour must be removed from medical air since it can damage surgical tools and some ventilators and can condense in low-lying parts of the pipeline system. Reeently we have had experience of pneumothorax by pulmonary barotrauma associated with obstruction of the ventilator exhalational valve. As a result of investigating the possible causes, we concluded the cause as high moisture content in the compressed air due to the malfunctioning air drier and filters. Therefore we submit this case report along with discussion and literature reviews.
Barotrauma ; Compressed Air* ; Humans ; Pneumothorax ; Ventilators, Mechanical* ; Water

Diving is a perilous activity. Long exposure to the subaquatic environment results in many troubles to divers. In Korea, the number of divers, especially recreational ones, is soaring up and the incidence of diving related accidents and illnesses is also increasing rapidly. Consequently, diving medicine which approaches underwater medical problems is getting more important to doctors as well as divers. Decompression sickness (DCS) is one of the most typical diseases in diving medicine, and divers who breathe compressed air or mixed gas always have a risk of suffering from it. DCS is caused by bubbles from dissolved inert gas as a result of decompression. The diagnosis of DCS is based completely on clinical manifestations, but it is not easy to make a correct diagnosis due to various symptoms. In general, DCS needs prompt recompression chamber treatment with trained medical and paramedical staff, but few doctors are trained to handle diving related diseases like DCS and most people in Korea are not aware of diving medicine. Additionally, lack of recompression facilities hinders DCS patients from taking treatment timely. To deal with these problems, Korean government as well as doctors needs to show deep concern at this field.
Compressed Air ; Decompression ; Decompression Sickness ; Diving ; Humans ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation ; Incidence ; Korea ; Stress, Psychological

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of remineralization over time after application of fluoride varnish with and without tricalcium phosphate (TCP). METHODS: This in vitro study used extracted bovine lateral incisors without dental caries. Artificial lesions were created in the enamel specimens. The amount of mineral loss (ΔF(before)) was measured using quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF). Test fluoride varnishes (10 mg) were applied to the enamel surface of the specimen and dried for 4 min. No fluoride varnish was applied to the specimens in the control group. Each group was randomly assigned 12 specimens, and remineralization was allowed to occur to different time points (0.5, 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h) in each group. Specimens were washed with distilled water and dried with compressed air for 3 s. ΔF(after) was determined using QLF. RESULTS: When fluoride varnish containing TCP was applied for up to 6 h, the amount of mineral loss significantly increased, and when non-TCP fluoride varnish was applied for up to 12 hours, the amount of mineral loss significantly increased (P<0.05). However, the amount of mineral loss was higher in the control group. The difference between ΔF(before) and ΔF(after) (ΔΔF) increased over time. There was a significant difference between the TCP group and the control group after 6 h. The non-TCP group showed a significant difference after 24 h compared to the control group. After 12 h, significant differences were observed in the TCP group compared to both the non-TCP and control groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the degree of remineralization increased gradually over time after fluoride varnish application compared to the control group. In particular, fluoride varnish containing TCP showed better remineralization capability than varnish without TCP.
Compressed Air ; Dental Caries ; Dental Enamel ; Fluorescence ; Fluorides* ; Fluorides, Topical ; In Vitro Techniques ; Incisor ; Miners ; Paint* ; Water

Chronic complication of diving and working in compressed air is dysbaric osteonecrosis. Dysbaric osteonecrosis could be diagnosed by simple bone x-ray, in the case of exposure history to dysbaric atmosphere. The case is 44 years old man who worked as a shell fish diver for 20 years. He was exposed dysbaric atmosphere during diving. He had bone necrosis in both femur head, both distal femur and proximal tibia. He had multiple attacks of decompression sickness. Other causes of bone necrosis are ruled out. We conclude that diver's bone necrosis is dysbaric osteonecrosis.
Adult ; Atmosphere ; Compressed Air ; Decompression Sickness ; Diving ; Femur ; Femur Head ; Humans ; Necrosis ; Osteonecrosis* ; Tibia

BACKGROUND: The reusable ProSeal(TM) laryngeal mask airways (PLMA's) have the potential to act as a vector for the transmission of prion diseases such as variant Creutzveldt-Jacob disease. This study tested the hypothesis that supplementary compressed air jet cleaning facilitates the removal of protein deposits on PLMA's after surgery. METHODS: After clinical use, thirty PLMA's were randomly allocated to be washed by hand and with an autoclave (134 degrees C for 40 min) (group 1, n = 15), or by hand, autoclave and compressed air jet cleaning (1 min) (group 2, n = 15). In both groups, protein deposits were detected on PLMA's by erythrosine staining. A staining score designated as nil, mild, moderate, and severe was given to each site (outer, inner surface and edges of the cuff, airway and drain tube, finger strap) according to the percentage of stained surface area. The severity of staining was compared for masks prior to use and after cleaning the mask. RESULTS: Despite the cleaning of masks, the staining score worsened on the outer, inner surface and edge of PLMA's in both groups (P < 0.05); however, a similar pattern was observed on each part of a cleaned PLMA for both groups. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that compressed air jet cleaning for 1 min did not improve the removal of protein deposits on PLMA's after surgery.
Compressed Air* ; Equipment Contamination ; Erythrosine ; Fingers ; Hand ; Laryngeal Masks* ; Masks ; Prion Diseases

PURPOSE: Nebulized selective beta2-adrenoreceptor agonists have been widely used in acute asthma and selectively in acute bronchiolitis. However, nebulized salbutamol have been reported to cause arterial oxygen desaturation in some of the acute bronchiolitis and severe asthma patients. This may be the results of a paradoxical bronchoconstriction linked to acidic and hyper-osmolar nebulized salbutamol solution and etc. We assessed the changes in arterial oxygen saturation by percutaneous pulse oxymeter during and after nebulization of salbutamol solution and compared the effect of 100% oxygen with the compressed air as a driving gas. METHODS: This study was performed in 80 mild to moderate wheezy children(bronchiolitis 51, asthma 29) who were admitted to Pediatrics department of of EWHA from January 1992 to October 1993. The study children are randomly assigned to be nebulized by compressed air or 6l/min of 100% oxygen as a driving gas. The arterial oxygen saturation, wheeze score, retraction score, and heart rate were recorded before nebulization, post-nebulization, 5, 10, 15 and 30minutes. RESULTS: 1) Arterial oxygen saturation decreased significantly at post-nebulization five minutes only in bronchiolitis, treated with salbutamol nebulization without oxygen(p<0.01). Salbutamol nebulization, with oxygen (6l/min) has not changed arterial oxygen saturation both in bronchiolitis and asthma(p>0.05). 2) Wheeze score decreased significantly at post-nebulization 5-30minutes in asthma but not in bronchiolitis whether nebulized salbutamol with or without oxygen(p<0.05). 3) Retraction score increased significantly at post-nebulization 0-5minutes or unchanged in bronchiolitis but significantly decreased in asthma at 10-30minutes(p<0.05). 4) There were no significant change in heart rate and respiratory rate in both groups(p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Significant fall in arterial oxygen saturation was noted only in bronchiolitis treated with salbutamol nebulization without oxygen. In bronchiolitis, oxygen (6l/min) is better than compressed air as a driving gas during salbutamol nebulization to prevent hypoxemia.
Albuterol* ; Anoxia ; Asthma ; Bronchiolitis ; Bronchoconstriction ; Child* ; Compressed Air ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Infant* ; Oxygen* ; Pediatrics ; Respiratory Rate