Acetylene, the Principles of Its Generation and Use Part 2

From the practical aspect what has been said amounts to this: During the operation of an acetylene generator a large amount of heat is produced, the quant.i.ty of which is beyond human control. It is desirable, for various reasons, that the temperature shall be kept as low as possible.

There are three substances present to which the heat may be compelled to transfer itself until it has opportunity to pa.s.s into the surrounding atmosphere: the material of which the apparatus is constructed, the gas which is in process of evolution, and whichever of the two bodies-- calcium carbide or water--is in excess in the generator. Of these, the specific heat at constant pressure of acetylene has unfortunately not yet been determined, but its relative capacity for absorbing heat is undoubtedly small; moreover the gas could not be permitted to become sufficiently hot to carry off the heat without grave disadvantages. The specific heat of calcium carbide is also comparatively small, and there are similar disadvantages in allowing it to become hot; moreover it is deficient in heat-conducting power, so that heat communicated to one portion of the ma.s.s does not extend rapidly throughout, but remains concentrated in one spot, causing the temperature to rise objectionably.

Steel has a sufficient amount of heat-conducting power to prevent undue concentration in one place; but, as has been stated, its specific heat is only one-ninth that of water. Water is clearly, therefore, the proper substance to employ for the dissipation of the heat generated, although it is strictly speaking almost devoid of heat-conducting power; for not only is the specific heat of water much greater than that of any other material present, but it possesses in a high degree the faculty of absorbing heat throughout its ma.s.s, by virtue of the action known as convection, provided that heat is communicated to it at or near the bottom, and not too near its upper surface. Moreover, water is a much more valuable substance for dissipating heat than appears from the foregoing explanation; for reference to the experiment with the gas- burner will show that six and a quarter times as much heat can be absorbed by a given weight of water if it is permitted to change into steam, as if it is merely raised to the boiling-point; and since by no urging of the gas-burner can the temperature be raised above 100 C. as long as any liquid water remains unevaporated, if an excess of water is employed in an acetylene generator, the temperature inside can never-- except quite locally--exceed 100 C., however fast the carbide be decomposed. An indefinitely large consumption of water by evaporation in a generator matters nothing, for the liquid may be considered of no pecuniary value, and it can all be recovered by condensation in a subsequent portion of the plant.

It has been said that the quant.i.ty of heat liberated when a certain amount of carbide suffers decomposition is fixed; it remains now to consider what that quant.i.ty is. Quant.i.ties of heat are always measured in terms of the amount needed to raise a certain weight of water a certain number of degrees on the thermometric scale. There are several units in use, but the one which will be employed throughout this book is the "Large Calorie"; a large calorie being the amount of heat absorbed in raising 1 kilogramme of water 1 C. Referring for a moment to what has been said about specific heats, it will be apparent that if 1 large calorie is sufficient to heat 1 kilo, of water through 1 C. the same quant.i.ty will heat 1 kilo. of steel, whose specific heat is roughly 0.11, through (10/011) = 9 C., or, which comes to the same thing, will heat 9 kilos, of steel through 1 C.; and similarly, 1 large calorie will raise 4 kilos. of calcium carbide 1 C. in temperature, or 1 kilo. 4 C. The fact that a definite quant.i.ty of heat is manifested when a known weight of calcium carbide is decomposed by water is only typical; for in every chemical process some disturbance of heat, though not necessarily of sensible (or thermometric) character, occurs, heat being either absorbed or set free. Moreover, if when given weights of two or more substances unite to form a given weight of another substance, a certain quant.i.ty of heat is set free, precisely the same amount of heat is absorbed, or disappears, when the latter substance is decomposed to form the same quant.i.ties of the original substances; and, _per contra_, if the combination is attended by a disappearance of heat, exactly the same amount is liberated when the compound is broken up into its first const.i.tuents. Compounds are therefore of two kinds: those which absorb heat during their preparation, and consequently liberate heat when they are decomposed--such being termed endothermic; and those which evolve heat during their preparation, and consequently absorb heat when they are decomposed--such being called exothermic. If a substance absorbs heat during its formation, it cannot be produced unless that heat is supplied to it; and since heat, being a form of motion, is equally a form of energy, energy must be supplied, or work must be done, before that substance can be obtained. Conversely, if a substance evolves heat during its formation, its component parts evolve energy when the said substance is being produced; and therefore the mere act of combination is accompanied by a facility for doing work, which work may be applied in a.s.sisting some other reaction that requires heat, or may be usefully employed in any other fas.h.i.+on, or wasted if necessary. Seeing that there is a tendency in nature for the steady dissipation of energy, it follows that an exothermic substance is stable, for it tends to remain as it is unless heat is supplied to it, or work is done upon it; whereas, according to its degree of endothermicity, an endothermic substance is more or less unstable, for it is always ready to emit heat, or to do work, as soon as an opportunity is given to it to decompose. The theoretical and practical results of this circ.u.mstance will be elaborated in Chapter VI., when the endothermic nature of acetylene is more fully discussed.

A very simple experiment will show that a notable quant.i.ty of heat is set free when calcium carbide is brought into contact with water, and by arranging the details of the apparatus in a suitable manner, the quant.i.ty of heat manifested may be measured with considerable accuracy. A lengthy description of the method of performing this operation, however, scarcely comes within the province of the present book, and it must be sufficient to say that the heat is estimated by decomposing a known weight of carbide by means of water in a small vessel surrounded on all sides by a carefully jacketed receptacle full of water and provided with a sensitive thermometer. The quant.i.ty of water contained in the outer vessel being known, and its temperature having been noted before the reaction commences, an observation of the thermometer after the decomposition is finished, and when the mercury has reached its highest point, gives data which show that the reaction between water and a known weight of calcium carbide produces heat sufficient in amount to raise a known weight of water through a known thermometric distance; and from these figures the corresponding number of large calories may easily be calculated. A determination of this quant.i.ty of heat has been made experimentally by several investigators, including Lewes, who has found that the heat evolved on decomposing 1 gramme of ordinary commercial carbide with water is 0.406 large calorie. [Footnote: Lewes returns his result as 406 calories, because he employs the "small calorie." The small calorie is the quant.i.ty of heat needed to raise 1 gramme of water 1 C.; but as there are 1000 grammes in 1 kilogramme, the large calorie is equal to 1000 small calories. In many respects the former unit is to be preferred.] As the material operated upon contained only 91.3 per cent.

of true calcium carbide, he estimates the heat corresponding with the decomposition of 1 gramme of pure carbide to be 0.4446 large calorie. As, however, it is better, and more in accordance with modern practice, to quote such data in terms of the atomic or molecular weight of the substance concerned, and as the molecular weight of calcium carbide is 64, it is preferable to multiply these figures by 64, stating that, according to Lewes' researches, the heat of decomposition of "1 gramme- molecule" (_i.e._, 64 grammes) of a calcium carbide having a purity of 91.3 per cent. is just under 26 calories, or that of 1 gramme-molecule of pure carbide 28.454 calories. It is customary now to omit the phrase "one gramme-molecule" in giving similar figures, physicists saying simply that the heat of decomposition of calcium carbide by water when calcium hydroxide is the by-product, is 28.454 large calories.

a.s.suming all the necessary data known, as happens to be the case in the present instance, it is also possible to calculate theoretically the heat which should be evolved on decomposing calcium carbide by means of water.

Equation (2), given on page 24, shows that of the substances taking part in the reaction 1 molecular weight of calcium carbide is decomposed, and 1 molecular weight of acetylene is formed. Of the two molecules of water, only one is decomposed, the other pa.s.sing to the calcium hydroxide unchanged; and the 1 molecule of calcium hydroxide is formed by the combination of 1 atom of free calcium, 1 atom of free oxygen, and 1 molecule of water already existing as such. Calcium hydroxide and water are both exothermic substances, absorbing heat when they are decomposed, liberating it when they are formed. Acetylene is endothermic, liberating heat when it is decomposed, absorbing it when it is produced.

Unfortunately there is still some doubt about the heat of formation of calcium carbide, De Forcrand returning it as -0.65 calorie, and Gin as +3.9 calories. De Forcrand's figure means, as before explained, that 64 grammes of carbide should absorb 0.65 large calorie when they are produced by the combination of 40 grammes of calcium with 24 grammes of carbon; the minus sign calling attention to the belief that calcium carbide is endothermic, heat being liberated when it suffers decomposition. On the contrary, Gin's figure expresses the idea that calcium carbide is exothermic, liberating 3.9 calories when it is produced, and absorbing them when it is decomposed. In the absence of corroborative evidence one way or the other, Gin's determination will be accepted for the ensuing calculation. In equation (2), therefore, calcium carbide is decomposed and absorbs heat; water is decomposed and absorbs heat; acetylene is produced and absorbs heat; and calcium hydroxide is produced liberating heat. On consulting the tables of thermo-chemical data given in the various text-books on physical chemistry, all the other constants needed for the present purpose will be found; and it will appear that the heat of formation of water is +69 calories, that of acetylene -58.1 calories, and that of calcium hydroxide, when 1 atom of calcium, 1 atom of oxygen, and 1 molecule of water unite together, is +160.1 calories. [Footnote: When 1 atom of calcium, 2 atoms of oxygen, and 2 atoms of hydrogen unite to form solid calcium hydroxide, the heat of formation of the latter is 229.1 (cf. _infra_). This value is simply 160.1 + 69.0 = 229.1; 69.0 being the heat of formation of water.]

Collecting the results into the form of a balance-sheet, the effect of decomposing calcium carbide with water is this:

_Heat liberated._ | _Heat absorbed._ | Formation of Ca(OH)_2 16O.1 | Formation of acetylene 58.1 | Decomposition of water 69.0 | Decomposition of carbide 3.9 | Balance 29.1 _____ | _____ | Total 160.1 | Total 160.1

Therefore when 64 grammes of calcium carbide are decomposed by water, or when 18 grammes of water are decomposed by calcium carbide (the by- product in each case being calcium hydroxide or slaked lime, for the formation of which a further 18 grammes of water must be present in the second instance), 29.1 large calories are set free. It is not possible yet to determine thermo-chemical data with extreme accuracy, especially on such a material as calcium carbide, which is hardly to be procured in a state of chemical purity; and so the value 28.454 calories experimentally found by Lewes agrees very satisfactorily, considering all things, with the calculated value 29.1 calories. It is to be noticed, however, that the above calculated value has been deduced on the a.s.sumption that the calcium hydroxide is obtained as a dry powder; but as slaked lime is somewhat soluble in water, and as it evolves 3 calories in so dissolving, if sufficient water is present to take up the calcium hydroxide entirely into the liquid form (_i.e._, that of a solution), the amount of heat set free will be greater by those 3 calories, _i.e._, 32.1 large calories altogether.

THE PROCESS OF GENERATION.--Taking 28 as the number of large calories developed when 64 grammes of ordinary commercial calcium carbide are decomposed with sufficient water to leave dry solid calcium hydroxide as the by-product in acetylene generation, this quant.i.ty of heat is capable of exerting any of the following effects. It is sufficient (1) to raise 1000 grammes of water through 28 C., say from 10 C. (50 F., which is roughly the temperature of ordinary cold water) to 38 C. It is sufficient (2) to raise 64 grammes of water (a weight equal to that of the carbide decomposed) through 438 C., if that were possible. It would raise (3) 311 grammes of water through 90 C., _i.e._, from 10 C.

to the boiling-point. If, however, instead of remaining in the liquid state, the water were converted into vapour, the same quant.i.ty of heat would suffice (4) to change 44.7 grammes of water at 10 C. into steam at 100 C.; or (5) to change 46.7 grammes of water at 10 C. into vapour at the same temperature. It is an action of the last character which takes place in acetylene generators of the most modern and usual pattern, some of the surplus water being evaporated and carried away as vapour at a comparatively low temperature with the escaping gas; for it must be remembered that although steam, as such, condenses into liquid water immediately the surrounding temperature falls below 100 C., the vapour of water remains uncondensed, even at temperatures below the freezing- point, when that vapour is distributed among some permanent gas--the precise quant.i.ty of vapour so remaining being a function of the temperature and barometric height. Thus it appears that if the heat evolved during the decomposition of calcium carbide is not otherwise consumed, it is sufficient in amount to vaporise almost exactly 3 parts by weight of water for every 4 parts of carbide attacked; but if it were expended upon some substance such as acetylene, calcium carbide, or steel, which, unlike water, could not absorb an extra amount by changing its physical state (from solid to liquid, or from liquid to gas), the heat generated during the decomposition of a given weight of carbide would suffice to raise an equal weight of the particular substance under consideration to a temperature vastly exceeding 438 C. The temperature attained, indeed, measured in Centigrade degrees, would be 438 multiplied by the quotient obtained on dividing the specific heat of water by the specific heat of the substance considered: which quotient, obviously, is the "reciprocal" of the specific heat of the said substance.

The a.n.a.logy to the combustion of coal mentioned on a previous page shows that although the quant.i.ty of heat evolved during a certain chemical reaction is strictly fixed, the temperature attained is dependent on the time over which the reaction is spread, being higher as the process is more rapid. This is due to the fact that throughout the whole period of reaction heat is escaping from the ma.s.s, and pa.s.sing into the atmosphere at a fairly constant speed; so that, clearly, the more slowly heat is produced, the better opportunity has it to pa.s.s away, and the less of it is left to collect in the material under consideration. During the action of an acetylene generator, there is a current of gas constantly travelling away from the carbide, there is vapour of water constantly escaping with the gas, there are the walls of the generator itself constantly exposed to the cooling action of the atmosphere, and there is either a ma.s.s of calcium carbide or of water within the generator. It is essential for good working that the temperature of both the acetylene and the carbide shall be prevented from rising to any noteworthy extent; while the amount of heat capable of being dissipated into the air through the walls of the apparatus in a given time is narrowly limited, depending upon the size and shape of the generator, and the temperature of the surrounding air. If, then, a small, suitably designed generator is working quite slowly, the loss of heat through the external walls of the apparatus may easily be rapid enough to prevent the internal temperature from rising objectionably high; but the larger the generator, and the more rapidly it is evolving gas, the less does this become possible.

Since of the substances in or about a generator water is the one which has by far the largest capacity for absorbing heat, and since it is the only substance to which any necessary quant.i.ty of heat can be safely or conveniently transmitted, it follows that the larger in size an acetylene generator is, or the more rapidly that generator is made to deliver gas, the more desirable is it to use water as the means for dissipating the surplus heat, and the more necessary is it to employ an apparatus in which water is in large chemical excess at the actual place of decomposition.

The argument is sometimes advanced that an acetylene generator containing carbide in excess will work satisfactorily without exhibiting an undesirable rise in internal temperature, if the vessel holding the carbide is merely surrounded by a large quant.i.ty of cold water. The idea is that the heat evolved in that particular portion of the charge which is suffering decomposition will be communicated with sufficient speed throughout the whole ma.s.s of calcium carbide present, whence it will pa.s.s through the walls of the containing vessel into the water all round.

Provided the generator is quite small, provided the carbide container is so constructed as to possess the maximum of superficial area with the minimum of cubical capacity (a geometrical form to which the sphere, and in one direction the cylinder, are diametrically opposed), and provided the walls of the container do not become coated internally or externally with a coating of lime or water scale so as to diminish in heat- transmitting power, an apparatus designed in the manner indicated is undoubtedly free from grave objection; but immediately any of those provisions is neglected, trouble is likely to ensue, for the heat will not disappear from the place of actual reaction at the necessary speed.

Apparent proof that heat is not acc.u.mulating unduly in a water-jacketed carbide container even when the generator is evolving gas at a fair speed is easy to obtain; for if, as usually happens, the end of the container through which the carbide is inserted is exposed to the air, the hand may be placed upon it, and it will be found to be only slightly warm to the touch. Such a test, however, is inconclusive, and frequently misleading, because if more than a pound or two of carbide is present as an undivided ma.s.s, and if water is allowed to attack one portion of it, that particular portion may attain a high temperature while the rest is comparatively cool: and if the bulk of the carbide is comparatively cool, naturally the walls of the containing vessel themselves remain practically unheated. Three causes work together to prevent this heat being dissipated through the walls of the carbide vessel with sufficient rapidity. In the first place, calcium carbide itself is a very bad conductor of heat. So deficient in heat-conducting power is it that a lump a few inches in diameter may be raised to redness in a gas flame at one spot, and kept hot for some minutes, while the rest of the ma.s.s remains sufficiently cool to be held comfortably in the fingers. In the second place, commercial carbide exists in ma.s.ses of highly irregular shape, so that when they are packed into any vessel they only touch at their angles and edges; and accordingly, even if the material were a fairly good heat conductor of itself, the air or gas present between each lump would act as an insulator, protecting the second piece from the heat generated in the first. In the third place, the calcium hydroxide produced as the by-product when calcium carbide is decomposed by water occupies considerably more s.p.a.ce than the original carbide--usually two or three times as much s.p.a.ce, the exact figures depending upon the conditions in which it is formed--and therefore a carbide container cannot advisedly be charged with more than one-third the quant.i.ty of solid which it is apparently capable of holding. The remaining two-thirds of the s.p.a.ce is naturally full of air when the container is first put into the generator, but the air is displaced by acetylene as soon as gas production begins. Whether that s.p.a.ce, however, is occupied by air, by acetylene, or by a gradually growing loose ma.s.s of slaked lime, each separate lump of hot carbide is isolated from its neighbours by a material which is also a very bad heat conductor; and the heat has but little opportunity of distributing itself evenly. Moreover, although iron or steel is a notably better conductor of heat than any of the other substances present in the carbide vessel, it is, as a metal, only a poor conductor, being considerably inferior in this respect to copper. If heat dissipation were the only point to be studied in the construction of an acetylene apparatus, far better results might be obtained by the employment of copper for the walls of the carbide container; and possibly in that case a generator of considerable size, fitted with a water- jacketed decomposing vessel, might be free from the trouble of overheating. Nevertheless it will be seen in Chapter VI. that the use of copper is not permissible for such purposes, its advantages as a good conductor of heat being neutralised by its more important defects.

When suitable precautions are not taken to remove the heat liberated in an acetylene apparatus, the temperature of the calcium carbide occasionally rises to a remarkable degree. Investigating this point, Caro has studied the phenomena of heat production in a "dipping" generator-- _i.e._, an apparatus in which a cage of carbide is alternately immersed in and lifted out of a vessel containing water. Using a generator designed to supply five burners, he has found a maximum recording thermometer placed in the gas s.p.a.ce of the apparatus to give readings generally between 60 and 100 C.; but in two tests out of ten he obtained temperatures of about 160 C. To determine the actual temperature of the calcium carbide itself, he scattered amongst the carbide charge fragments of different fusible metallic alloys which were known to melt or soften at certain different temperatures. In all his ten tests the alloys melting at 120 C. were fused completely; in two tests other alloys melting at 216 and 240 C. showed signs of fusion; and in one test an alloy melting at 280 C. began to soften. Working with an experimental apparatus constructed on the "dripping" principle-- _i.e._, a generator in which water is allowed to fall in single drops or as a fine stream upon a ma.s.s of carbide--with the deliberate object of ascertaining the highest temperatures capable of production when calcium carbide is decomposed in this particular fas.h.i.+on, and employing for the measurement of the heat a Le Chatelier thermo-couple, with its sensitive wires lying among the carbide lumps, Lewes has observed a maximum temperature of 674 C. to be reached in 19 minutes when water was dripped upon 227 grammes of carbide at a speed of about 8 grammes per minute. In other experiments he used a laboratory apparatus designed upon the "dipping" principle, and found maximum temperatures, in four different trials, of 703, 734, 754, and 807 C., which were reached in periods of time ranging from 12 to 17 minutes. Even allowing for the greater delicacy of the instrument adopted by Lewes for measuring the temperature in comparison with the device employed by Caro, there still remains an astonis.h.i.+ng difference between Caro's maximum of 280 and Lewes' maximum of 807 C. The explanation of this discrepancy is to be inferred from what has just been said. The generator used by Caro was properly made of metal, was quite small in size, was properly designed with some skill to prevent overheating as much as possible, and was worked at the speed for which it was intended--in a word, it was as good an apparatus as could be made of this particular type. Lewes' generator was simply a piece of gla.s.s and metal, in which provisions to avoid overheating were absent; and therefore the wide difference between the temperatures noted does not suggest any inaccuracy of observation or experiment, but shows what can be done to a.s.sist in the dissipation of heat by careful arrangement of parts. The difference in temperature between the acetylene and the carbide in Caro's test accentuates the difficulty of gauging the heat in a carbide vessel by mere external touch, and supplies experimental proof of the previous a.s.sertions as to the low heat-conducting power of calcium carbide and of the gases of the decomposing vessel. It must not be supposed that temperatures such as Lewes has found ever occur in any commercial generator of reasonably good design and careful construction; they must be regarded rather as indications of what may happen in an acetylene apparatus when the phenomena accompanying the evolution of gas are not understood by the maker, and when all the precautions which can easily be taken to avoid excessive heating have been omitted, either by building a generator with carbide in excess too large in size, or by working it too rapidly, or more generally by adopting a system of construction unsuited to the ends in view. The fact, however, that Lewes has noted the production of a temperature of 807 C. is important; because this figure is appreciably above the point 780 C., at which acetylene decomposes into its elements in the absence of air.

Nevertheless the production of a temperature somewhat exceeding 100 C.

among the lumps of carbide actually undergoing decomposition can hardly be avoided in any practical generator. Based on a suggestion in the "Report of the Committee on Acetylene Generators" which was issued by the British Home Office in 1902, Fouche has proposed that 130 C., as measured with the aid of fusible metallic rods, [Footnote: An alloy made by melting together 55 parts by weight of commercial bis.m.u.th and 45 parts of lead fuses at 127 C., and should be useful in performing the tests.]

should be considered the maximum permissible temperature in any part of a generator working at full speed for a prolonged period of time. Fouche adopts this figure on the ground that 130 C. sensibly corresponds with the temperature at which a yellow substance is formed in a generator by a process of polymerisation; and, referring to French conditions, states that few actual apparatus permit the development of so high a temperature. As a matter of fact, however, a fairly high temperature among the carbide is less important than in the gas, and perhaps it would be better to say that the temperature in any part of a generator occupied by acetylene should not exceed 100 C. Fraenkel has carried out some experiments upon the temperature of the acetylene immediately after evolution in a water-to-carbide apparatus containing the carbide in a subdivided receptacle, using an apparatus now frequently described as belonging to the "drawer" system of construction. When a quant.i.ty of about 7 lb. of carbide was distributed between 7 different cells of the receptacle, each cell of which had a capacity of 25 fluid oz., and the apparatus was caused to develop acetylene at the rate of 7 cubic feet per hour, maximum thermometers placed immediately over the carbide in the different cells gave readings of from 70 to 90 C., the average maximum temperature being about 80 C. Hence the Austrian code of rules issued in 1905 governing the construction of acetylene apparatus contains a clause to the effect that the temperature in the gas s.p.a.ce of a generator must never exceed 80 C.; whereas the corresponding Italian code contains a similar stipulation, but quotes the maximum temperature as 100 C.

(_vide_ Chapter IV.).

It is now necessary to see why the production of an excessively high temperature in an acetylene generator has to be avoided. It must be avoided, because whenever the temperature in the immediate neighbourhood of a ma.s.s of calcium carbide which is evolving acetylene under the attack of water rises materially above the boiling-point of water, one or more of three several objectionable effects is produced--(_a_) upon the gas generated, (_b_) upon the carbide decomposed, and (_c_) upon the general chemical reaction taking place.

It has been stated above that in moat generators when the action between the carbide and the water is proceeding smoothly, it occurs according to equation (2)--

(2) CaC_2 + 2H_2O = C_2H_2 + Ca(OH)_2

rather than in accordance with equation (1)--

(1) CaC_2 + H_2O = C_2H_2 + CaO.

This is because calcium oxide, or quicklime, the by-product in (1), has considerable affinity for water, evolving a noteworthy quant.i.ty of heat when it combines with one molecule of water to form one molecule of calcium hydroxide, or slaked lime, the by-product in (2). If, then, a small amount of water is added to a large amount of calcium carbide, the corresponding quant.i.ty of acetylene may be liberated on the lines of equation (1), and there will remain behind a mixture of unaltered calcium carbide, together with a certain amount of calcium oxide. Inasmuch as both these substances possess an affinity for water (setting heat free when they combine with it), when a further limited amount of water is introduced into the mixture some of it will probably be attracted to the oxide instead of to the carbide present. It is well known that at ordinary temperatures quicklime absorbs moisture, or combines with water, to produce slaked lime; but it is equally well known that in a furnace, at about a red heat, slaked lime gives up water and changes into quicklime. The reaction, in fact, between calcium oxide and water is reversible, and whether those substances combine or dissociate is simply a question of temperature. In other words, as the temperature rises, the heat of hydration of calcium oxide diminishes, and calcium hydroxide becomes constantly a less stable material. If now it should happen that the affinity between calcium carbide and water should not diminish, or should diminish in a lower ratio than the affinity between calcium oxide and water as the temperature of the ma.s.s rises from one cause or other, it is conceivable that at a certain temperature calcium carbide might be capable of withdrawing the water of hydration from the molecule of slaked lime, converting the latter into quicklime, and liberating one molecule of acetylene, thus--

(3) CaC_2 + Ca_2(OH) = C_2H_2 + 2CaO.

It has been proved that a reaction of this character does occur, the temperature necessary to determine it being given by Lewes as from 420 to 430 C., which is not much more than half that which he found in a generator having carbide in excess, albeit one of extremely bad design.

Treating this reaction in the manner previously adopted, the thermo- chemical phenomena of equation (3) are:

_Heat liberated._ | _Heat liberated._ | Formation of 2CaO 290.0 | Formation of acetylene 58.1 | Decomposition of Ca(OH)_2 [1] 229.1 | Decomposition of carbide 3.9 Balance 1.1 | ______ | _____ | 291.1 | 291.1

[1 Footnote: Into its elements, Ca, O_2, and H_2; _cf._ footnote, p: 31.]

Or, since the calcium hydroxide is only dehydrated without being entirely decomposed, and only one molecule of water is broken up, it may be written:

Formation of CaO 145.0 | Formation of acetylene 58.1 | Decomposition of Ca(OH)_2 15.1 | Decomposition of water 69.0 Balance 1.1 | Decomposition of carbide 3.9 _____ | _____ | 146.1 | 146.1

which comes to the same thing. Putting the matter in another shape, it may be said that the reaction between calcium carbide and water is exothermic, evolving either 14.0 or 29.1 calories according as the byproduct is calcium oxide or solid calcium hydroxide; and therefore either reaction proceeds without external a.s.sistance in the cold. The reaction between carbide and slaked lime, however, is endothermic, absorbing 1.1 calories; and therefore it requires external a.s.sistance (presence of an elevated temperature) to start it, or continuous introduction of heat (as from the reaction between the rest of the carbide present and the water) to cause it to proceed. Of itself, and were it not for the disadvantages attending the production of a temperature remotely approaching 400 C. in an acetylene generator, which disadvantages will be explained in the following paragraphs, there is no particular reason why reaction (3) should not be permitted to occur, for it involves (theoretically) no loss of acetylene, and no waste of calcium carbide. Only one specific feature of the reaction has to be remembered, and due practical allowance made for it. The reaction represented by equation (2) proceeds almost instantaneously when the calcium carbide is of ordinarily good quality, and the acetylene resulting therefrom is wholly generated within a very few minutes. Equation (3), on the contrary, consumes much time for its completion, and the gas corresponding with it is evolved at a gradually diminis.h.i.+ng speed which may cause the reaction to continue for hours--a circ.u.mstance that may be highly inconvenient or quite immaterial according to the design of the apparatus. When, however, it is desired to construct an automatic acetylene generator, _i.e._, an apparatus in which the quant.i.ty of gas liberated has to be controlled to suit the requirements of any indefinite number of burners in use on different occasions, equation (3) becomes a very important factor in the case. To determine the normal reaction (No. 2) of an acetylene generator, 64 parts by weight of calcium carbide must react with 36 parts of water to yield 26 parts by weight of acetylene, and apparently both carbide and water are entirely consumed; but if opportunity is given for the occurrence of reaction (3), another 64 parts by weight of carbide may be attacked, without the addition of any more water, producing, inevitably, another 26 parts of acetylene. If, then, water is in chemical excess in the generator, all the calcium carbide present will be decomposed according to equation (2), and the action will take place without delay; after a few minutes' interval the whole of the acetylene capable of liberation will have been evolved, and nothing further can possibly happen until another charge of carbide is inserted in the apparatus. If, on the other hand, calcium carbide is in chemical excess in the generator, all the water run in will be consumed according to equation (2), and this action will again take place without delay; but unless the temperature of the residual carbide has been kept well below 400 C., a further evolution of gas will occur which will not cease for an indeterminate period of time, and which, by strict theory, given the necessary conditions, might continue until a second volume of acetylene equal to that liberated at first had been set free. In practice this phenomenon of a secondary production of gas, which is known as "after-generation," is regularly met with in all generators where the carbide is in excess of the water added; but the amount of acetylene so evolved rarely exceeds one-quarter or one-third of the main make. The actual amount evolved and the rate of evolution depend, not merely upon the quant.i.ty of undecomposed carbide still remaining in contact with the damp lime, but also upon the rapidity with which carbide naturally decomposes in presence of liquid water, and the size of the lumps. Where "after-generation" is caused by the ascent of water vapour round lumps of carbide, the volume of gas produced in a given interval of time is largely governed by the temperature prevailing and the shape of the apparatus. It is evident that even copious "after-generation" is a matter of no consequence in any generator provided with a holder to store the gas, a.s.suming that by some trustworthy device the addition of water is stopped by the time that the holder is two-thirds or three-quarters full.

In the absence of a holder, or if the holder fitted is too small to serve its proper purpose, "aftergeneration" is extremely troublesome and sometimes dangerous, but a full discussion of this subject must be postponed to the next chapter.

EFFECT OF HEAT ON ACETYLENE.--The effect of excessive retention of heat in an acetylene generator upon the gas itself is very marked, as acetylene begins spontaneously to suffer change, and to be converted into other compounds at elevated temperatures. Being a purely chemical phenomenon, the behaviour of acetylene when exposed to heat will be fully discussed in Chapter VI. when the properties of the gas are being systematically dealt with. Here it will be sufficient to a.s.sume that the character of the changes taking place is understood, and only the practical results of those changes as affecting the various components of an acetylene installation have to be studied. According to Lewes, acetylene commences to "polymerise" at a temperature of about 600 C., when it is converted into other hydrocarbons having the same percentage composition, but containing more atoms of carbon and hydrogen in their molecules. The formula of acetylene is C_2H_2 which means that 2 atoms of carbon and 2 atoms of hydrogen unite to form 1 molecule of acetylene, a body evidently containing roughly 92.3 per cent. by weight of carbon and 7.7 per cent. by weight of hydrogen. One of the most noteworthy substances produced by the polymerisation of acetylene is benzene, the formula of which is C_6H_6, and this is formed in the manner indicated by the equation--

(4) 3C_2H_2 = C_6H_6.

Now benzene also contains 92.3 per cent. of carbon and 7.7 per cent. by weight of hydrogen in its composition, but its molecule contains 6 atoms of each element. When the chemical formula representing a compound body indicates a substance which is, or can be obtained as, a gas or vapour, it convoys another idea over and above those mentioned on a previous page. The formula "C_2H_2," for example, means 1 molecule, or 26 parts by weight of acetylene, just as "H_2" means 1 molecule, or 2 parts by weight of hydrogen; but both formulae also mean equal parts by volume of the respective substances, and since H_2 must mean 2 volumes, being twice H, which is manifestly 1, C_2H_2 must mean 2 volumes of acetylene as well.

Thus equation (4) states that 6 volumes of acetylene, or 3 x 26 parts by weight, unite to form 2 volumes of benzene, or 78 parts by weight. If these hydrocarbons are burnt in air, both are indifferently converted into carbon dioxide (carbonic acid gas) and water vapour; and, neglecting for the sake of simplicity the nitrogen of the atmosphere, the processes may be shown thus:

(5) 2C_2H_2 + 5O_2 = 4CO_2 + 2H_2O.

(6) 2C_6H_6 + 15O_2 = 12CO_2 + 6H_2O.

Equation (5) shows that 4 volumes of acetylene combine with 10 volumes of oxygen to produce 8 volumes of carbon dioxide and 4 of water vapour; while equation (6) indicates that 4 volumes of benzene combine with 30 volumes of oxygen to yield 24 volumes of carbon dioxide and 12 of water vapour. Two parts by volume of acetylene therefore require 5 parts by volume of oxygen for perfect combustion, whereas two parts by volume of benzene need 15--_i.e._, exactly three times as much. In order to work satisfactorily, and to develop the maximum of illuminating power from any kind of gas consumed, a gas-burner has to be designed with considerable skill so as to attract to the base of the flame precisely that volume of air which contains the quant.i.ty of oxygen necessary to insure complete combustion, for an excess of air in a flame is only less objectionable than a deficiency thereof. If, then, an acetylene burner is properly constructed, as most modern ones are, it draws into the flame air corresponding with two and a half volumes of oxygen for every one volume of acetylene pa.s.sing from the jets; whereas if it were intended for the combustion of benzene vapour it would have to attract three times that quant.i.ty. Since any flame supplied with too little air tends to emit free carbon or soot, it follows that any well-made acetylene burner delivering a gas containing benzene vapour will yield a more or lens smoky flame according to the proportion of benzene in the acetylene.

Moreover, at ordinary temperatures benzene is a liquid, for it boils at 81 C., and although, as was explained above in the case of water, it is capable of remaining in the state of vapour far below its boiling-point so long as it is suspended in a sufficiency of some permanent gas like acetylene, if the proportion of vapour in the gas at any given temperature exceeds a certain amount the excess will be precipitated in the liquid form; while as the temperature falls the proportion of vapour which can be retained in a given volume of gas also diminishes to a noteworthy extent. Should any liquid, be it water or benzene, or any other substance, separate from the acetylene under the influence of cold while the gas is pa.s.sing through pipes, the liquid will run downwards to the lowest points in those pipes; and unless due precautions are taken, by the insertion of draw-off c.o.c.ks, collecting wells, or the like, to withdraw the deposited water or other liquid, it will acc.u.mulate in all bends, angles, and dips till the pipes are partly or completely sealed against the pa.s.sage of gas, and the lights will either "jump" or be extinguished altogether. In the specific case of an acetylene generator this trouble is very likely to arise, even when the gas is not heated sufficiently during evolution for polymerisation to occur and benzene or other liquid hydrocarbons to be formed, because any excess of water present in the decomposing vessel is liable to be vaporised by the heat of the reaction--as already stated it is desirable that water shall be so vaporised--and will remain safely vaporised as long as the pipes are kept warm inside or near the generator; but directly the pipes pa.s.s away from the hot generator the cooling action of the air begins, and some liquid water will be immediately produced. Like the phenomenon of after- generation, this equally inevitable phenomenon of water condensation will be either an inconvenience or source of positive danger, or will be a matter of no consequence whatever, simply as the whole acetylene installation, including the service-pipes, is ignorantly or intelligently built.

As long as nothing but pure polymerisation happens to the acetylene, as long, that is to say, as it is merely converted into other hydrocarbons also having the general formula C_(2n)H_(2n), no harm will be done to the gas as regards illuminating power, for benzene burns with a still more luminous flame than acetylene itself; nor will any injury result to the gas if it is required for combustion in heating or cooking stoves beyond the fact that the burners, luminous or atmospheric, will be delivering a material for the consumption of which they are not properly designed. But if the temperature should rise much above the point at which benzene is the most conspicuous product of polymerisation, other far more complicated changes occur, and harmful effects may be produced in two separate ways. Some of the new hydrocarbons formed may interact to yield a mixture of one or more other hydrocarbons containing a higher proportion of carbon than that which is present in acetylene and benzene, together with a corresponding proportion of free hydrogen; the former will probably be either liquids or solids, while the latter burns with a perfectly non-luminous flame. Thus the quant.i.ty of gas evolved from the carbide and pa.s.sed into the holder is less than it should be, owing to the condensation of its non-gaseous const.i.tuents. To quote an instance of this, Haber has found 15 litres of acetylene to be reduced in volume to 10 litres when the gas was heated to 638 C. By other changes, some "saturated hydrocarbons," _i.e._, bodies having the general formula C_nH_(2n+2), of which methane or marsh-gas, CH_4 is the best known, may be produced; and those all possess lower illuminating powers than acetylene. In two of those experiments already described, where Lewes observed maximum temperatures ranging from 703 to 807 C., samples of the gas which issued when the heat was greatest were submitted to chemical a.n.a.lysis, and their illuminating powers were determined. The figures he gives are as follows:

I. II.

Per Cent. Per Cent.

Acetylene 70.0 69.7 Saturated hydrocarbons 11.3 11.4 Hydrogen 18.7 18.9 _____ _____

100.0 100.0

The average illuminating power of these mixed gases is about 126 candles per 5 cubic feet, whereas that of pure acetylene burnt under good laboratory conditions is 240 candles per 5 cubic feet. The product, it will be seen, had lost almost exactly 50 per cent. of its value as an illuminant, owing to the excessive heating to which it had been, exposed.

Some of the liquid hydrocarbons formed at the same time are not limpid fluids like benzene, which is less viscous than water, but are thick oily substances, or even tars. They therefore tend to block the tubes of the apparatus with great persistence, while the tar adheres to the calcium carbide and causes its further attack by water to be very irregular, or even altogether impossible. In some of the very badly designed generators of a few years back this tarry matter was distinctly visible when the apparatus was disconnected for recharging, for the spent carbide was exceptionally yellow, brown, or blackish in colour, [Footnote: As will be pointed out later, the colour of the spent lime cannot always be employed as a means for judging whether overheating has occurred in a generator.]

and the odour of tar was as noticeable as that of crude acetylene.

There is another effect of heat upon acetylene, more calculated to be dangerous than any of those just mentioned, which must not be lost sight of. Being an endothermic substance, acetylene is p.r.o.ne to decompose into its elements--

(7) C_2H_2 -> C_2 + H_2

whenever it has the opportunity; and the opportunity arrives if the temperature of the gas risen to 780 C., or if the pressure under which the gas is stored exceeds two atmospheres absolute (roughly 30 lb. per square inch). It decomposes, be it carefully understood, in the complete absence of air, directly the smallest spark of red-hot material or of electricity, or directly a gentle shock, such as that of a fall or blow on the vessel holding it, is applied to any volume of acetylene existing at a temperature exceeding 780 or at a gross pressure of 30 lb. per square inch; and however large that volume may be, unless it is contained in tubes of very small diameter, as will appear hereafter, the decomposition or dissociation into its elements will extend throughout the whole of the gas. Equation (7) states that 2 volumes of acetylene yield 2 volumes of hydrogen and a quant.i.ty of carbon which would measure 2 volumes were it obtained in the state of gas, but which, being a solid, occupies a s.p.a.ce that may be neglected. Apparently, therefore, the dissociation of acetylene involves no alteration in volume, and should not exhibit explosive effects. This is erroneous, because 2 volumes of acetylene only yield exactly 2 volumes of hydrogen when both gases are measured at the same temperature, and all gases increase in volume as their temperature rises. As acetylene is endothermic and evolves much heat on decomposition, and as that heat must primarily be communicated to the hydrogen, it follows that the latter must be much hotter than the original acetylene; the hydrogen accordingly strives to fill a much larger s.p.a.ce than that occupied by the undecomposed gas, and if that gas is contained in a closed vessel, considerable internal pressure will be set up, which may or may not cause the vessel to burst.

What has been said in the preceding paragraph about the temperature at which acetylene decomposes is only true when the gas is free from any notable quant.i.ty of air. In presence of air, acetylene inflames at a much lower temperature, viz., 480 C. In a manner precisely similar to that of all other combustible gases, if a stream of acetylene issues into the atmosphere, as from the orifices of a burner, the gas catches fire and burns quietly directly any substance having a temperature of 480 C. or upwards is brought near it; but if acetylene in bulk is mixed with the necessary quant.i.ty of air to support combustion, and any object exceeding 480 C. in temperature comes in contact with it, the oxidation of the hydrocarbon proceeds at such a high rate of speed as to be termed an explosion. The proportion of air needed to support combustion varies with every combustible material within known limits (_cf._ Chapter VI.), and according to Eitner the smallest quant.i.ty of air required to make acetylene burn or explode, as the case may be, is 25 per cent. If, by ignorant design or by careless manipulation, the first batches of acetylene evolved from a freshly charged generator should contain more than 25 per cent. of air; or if in the inauguration of a new installation the air should not be swept out of the pipes, and the first makes of gas should become diluted with 25 to 50 per cent. of air, any glowing body whose temperature exceeds 480 C. will fire the gas; and, as in the former instance, the flame will extend all through the ma.s.s of acetylene with disastrous violence and at enormous speed unless the gas is stored in narrow pipes of extremely small diameter. Three practical lessons are to be learnt from this circ.u.mstance: first, tobacco-smoking must never be permitted in any building where an escape of raw acetylene is possible, because the temperature of a lighted cigar, &c., exceeds 480 C.; secondly, a light must never be applied to a pipe delivering acetylene until a proper acetylene burner has been screwed into the aperture; thirdly, if any appreciable amount of acetylene is present in the air, no operation should be performed upon any portion of an acetylene plant which involves such processes as sc.r.a.ping or chipping with the aid of a steel tool or shovel. If, for example, the iron or stoneware sludge-pipe is choked, or the interior of the dismantled generator is blocked, and attempts are made to remove the obstruction with a hard steel tool, a spark is very likely to be formed which, granting the existence of sufficient acetylene in the air, is perfectly able to fire the gas. For all such purposes wooden implements only are best employed; but the remark does not apply to the hand-charging of a carbide-to-water generator through its proper shoot. Before pa.s.sing to another subject, it may be remarked that a quant.i.ty of air far less than that which causes acetylene to become dangerous is objectionable, as its presence is apt to reduce the illuminating power of the gas unduly.

EFFECT OF HEAT ON CARBIDE.--Chemically speaking, no amount of heat possible of attainment in the worst acetylene generator can affect calcium carbide in the slightest degree, because that substance may be raised to almost any temperature short of those distinguis.h.i.+ng the electric furnace, without suffering any change or deterioration. In the absence of water, calcium carbide is as inert a substance as can well be imagined: it cannot be made to catch fire, for it is absolutely incombustible, and it can be heated in any ordinary flame for reasonable periods of time, or thrown into any non-electrical furnace without suffering in the least. But in presence of water, or of any liquid containing water, matters are different. If the temperature of an acetylene generator rises to such an extent that part of the gas is polymerised into tar, that tar naturally tends to coat the residual carbide lumps, and, being greasy in character, more or less completely protects the interior from further attack. Action of this nature not only means that the acetylene is diminished in quant.i.ty and quality by partial decomposition, but it also means that the make is smaller owing to imperfect decomposition of the carbide: while over and above this is the liability to nuisance or danger when a ma.s.s of solid residue containing some unaltered calcium carbide is removed from the apparatus and thrown away. In fact, whenever the residue of a generator is not so saturated with excess of water as to be of a creamy consistency, it should be put into an uncovered vessel in the open air, and treated with some ten times its volume of water before being run into any drain or closed pipe where an acc.u.mulation of acetylene may occur. Even at temperatures far below those needed to determine a production of tar or an oily coating on the carbide, if water attacks an excess of calcium carbide somewhat rapidly, there is a marked tendency for the carbide to be "baked" by the heat produced; the slaked lime adhering to the lumps as a hard skin which greatly r.e.t.a.r.ds the penetration of more water to the interior.