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 deg. C. will fire the gas; and, as in the
former instance, the flame will extend all through the mass 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 circumstance: 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 deg. 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 scraping 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.
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