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 diminishing speed which
may cause the reaction to continue for hours--a circumstance 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 quantity 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.
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