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Oxygen Bottles From Welding Supply

M

MikeinRH

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I went to a welding supply store to ask for a bottle of oxygen. The manager asked me what I needed it for, and I told him I was planning to add oxygen to beer prior to pitching yeast.
He said their bottles of oxygen also included acetylene (not food grade oxygen). I decided to pass on what he had and went to Home Depot, instead. Problem with Depot is that a couple blasts from one of their bottles and it's empty. My question to you guys is whether oxygen with acetylene is a definite no-no ... and should I go to a medical supply store, instead? I will tell you that adding oxygen in this fashion produces an exceptionally quick start to fermentation ... which was a problem I was having when making 10-gallon batches.
 
With credit to Brewfun from another thread. 

It's classified in the US as Grade E. Aviator Oxygen (min 99.6% purity) is a nick name.

It's the gas required by high flyers and ultra deep divers. It's importance is in having been "dried" before going into a cylinder, so that ice can't form in line or inside the regulator at high altitude. The drying and the sterilant value of Oxygen renders it perfectly aseptic, which is what we want for brewing.

There's a lot of myth about what grade of O2 is "best" for brewing. For decades in the United States (and I believe UK countries, too), there has not been a real "industrial" or welding grade because the need for a higher standard has made that an obsolete issue. All oxygen is USP listed (meaning its listed as a drug licensed for use in the US), making is "safe" for human consumption.

Respiratory and Medical grade O2 get a tank purge before refilling to prevent blended gasses. They don't get a drying process, so can freeze regulators and lines in high flow circumstances. The only meaningful difference between the two is that many states require a prescription for "Medical" grade. There is no special filtration or treatment applied when filling the tank.

Believe it or not, Grade A Oxygen has the loosest standards. It's most often sold as welding Oxygen. Purity is rated at 99% (aviator is 99.6%) It can have as much as 10ppm CO and 300 ppm CO2 (aviator requires <2 ppm).
Click to expand...
 
Mike, I use those tanks from Home Depot and they last me several 10 gallon brews.  I'm thinking you are using too much.  I turn the valve on so that you can see some bubbles come out of the stone and then turn it a bit more.  Otherwise you're wasting O2.

Mark
 
Interesting read.  On the same topic of gases, I always thought there was regular C02 and "food grade" C02.  Anybody know if there is a difference with it as well?  Or if so, is there health issue by using just regular C02?
 
"Food Grade?" Which country?

There are various grades of O2, but that phrase is not used in the US. I'm not familiar with standards outside the US, so perhaps someone else can chime in.

KernalKrush quoted me (Karma given. Thanks, man!) on the standards used in the US. What MikeinRH experienced is typical of stores that don't always purge the O2 bottle. Thus, it is classified as Grade A because of possible impurities that would come from previous users having a slight crossflow between tanks. But, it is still USP listed as "safe" for humans.
 
I think I might have also used way more O2 than necessary ... which is my typical way of doing things. I couldn't really see into the conical to determine how much I was actually injecting. I will say that oxygenating, prior to pitching, definitely is the way to go to jump start a fermentation. My next plan is to drop by a medical supply store to see what they have. As for any mention of "food grade", that was a comment made by a guy behind the counter at the welding supply store. He simply implied that I might not want to be injecting acetylene into my beer ... which I think was really good advice. Then again, maybe serving ice cold beer ON FIRE could really start a trend!
 
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