Gas Cylinders

High-pressure cylinders are metal  containers designed for storing gases  and for dispensing them at high pressure  think fire extinguishers and oxygen  tanks the contents are often flammable.
so the challenge is how to make these  often life-saving cylinders safe yet  still easy enough to use.

these cylinders  are made of a steel alloy containing  chromium and molybdenum the manufacture  begins with disks that have already been  heat treated at seven hundred and thirty  degrees Celsius for  hours now they go  into the first of five hot chemical  baths that will help the metal flanks  after a quick drying period each disk  moves over a die this process is known  as deep drawing.

Because a series of  machines will gradually draw out the  disk to the shape of a cylinder a  mandrel press begins stretching the  metal applying up to  tons of force  the weight of two fully loaded jumbo  jets shaping the cylinder from just one  piece of metal means it will be seamless  and that is a key safety feature  after the disk comes through steel jaws  clamp down on the mandrel and the  cylinder slips off...