Safety first: ‘Get your CNG kit tested every five years’

KARACHI:

Apart from public buses, car owners with CNG kits should also get the cylinder tested after every five years. At a cost of Rs550, people can leave their CNG kit at a testing service for two to three days.

The Hydrocarbon Institute’s engineers fill the cylinder up to 300 bars. If the cylinder shows an unusual increase in diameter, it fails the test. The experts then pierce a hole in it so that it cannot be resold or used again. If the cylinder passes the test, it is returned to the customer.

Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan’s Karachi testing service receives an average of 100 cylinders a day and the number goes up if a cylinder blast occurs anywhere in the country. “A standard cylinder has a life of 40,000 cycles so we give a five-year certificate after the test,” said HDIP general manager Habibur Rehman.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2012.