Buying oil! HELP!

Done sand. Check the ppm of the cartridge vs an estimate about the air quality. They don't do much to stop you breathing it in. https://www.osha.gov/dts/hazardalerts/hydraulic_frac_hazard_alert.html "half-face respirators are not protective for silica levels over 10 times the exposure limit" it says and that's most of the time when you are hauling. There's no job in the oilfield, no matter the state, that isn't a risk. Like my father in law says, "you gotta die of something".

 

trying to get into coil tubing. When I worked in CO there were a couple guys I knew who had been hauling sand forever and ended up dying of silicosis young (mid 40s/early 50s), but they also smoked...don't know if that made it worse. I have heard people talking about petroleum fumes giving people cancer as well. Hauling water isn't as safe as you'd think because there are tons of chemicals that give you cancer in them. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up sick at some point, but that's the nature of the oilfield. Go big or go home.

 

If there is more than one tank open the others first. Your trainer is taking unnecessary risks. Everybody I work with opens more than one tank. It's not macho to expose yourself to toxic fumes any more than you have to. Also watch the wind sock before you open the hatch. Stay up wind.

 

I agree to all of Chibob's post....but to add to this quoted sentence.... It is not macho...in fact, it's stupid, very stupid and ignorant to not take these fumes seriously.

As for reading the MSDS, it will tell you all you need to know about the properties of crude oil. It cannot and will not tell you what exact gases might be present at any specific well.

Can these gases be harmful? Of course they can...h2s can kill you immediately...with others, it may take years of exposure for serious complications to show...but I would bet that you won't find many medical professionals that would advise you that it's ok to breathe fumes of an unknown vapor.

Some tank batteries are worse than others. Wear your H2S monitor, pop the hatch as you walk past it and keep moving upwind...the vapors will normally settle down fairly quick and then you can do your work without much concern.

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Each tank in a tank battery is required to post the placard for that tank you can look at the placards to see if it is a inhalation hazard. I open a couple of the lids and let it air out for a minute or two before proceeding. Doesn't take long to air out. Any well can start producing H2s even if it has never done so before, its rare but it can happen that's why pop the lid and walk up wind just in case.

 

If you can put up with your trainer long enough to get out on your own then you can do the job the way you feel comfortable. I don't however believe you will suffer any ill affects from the fumes in the short amount of time you will be training. As long as no H2s is being detected you should be fine.