6 times as heavy as water. Were it filled with
water the barometer would stand at (30 X 13.6) = 408 inches, or 34 feet,
approximately. Gas pressures are always measured in inches of water
column, because expressed either as pounds per square inch or as inches
of mercury, the figures would be so small as to give decimals of unwieldy
length.
It would of course be perfectly safe so to arrange an acetylene plant
that the pressure in the generating chamber should reach the 100 inches
of water first laid down by the Home Office authorities as the maximum
allowable. There is, however, no appreciable advantage to be gained by so
doing, or by exceeding that pressure which feeds the burners best. Any
higher original pressure involves the use of a governor at the exit of
the plant, and a governor is a costly and somewhat troublesome piece of
apparatus that can be dispensed with in most single installations by a
proper employment of a well-balanced rising holder.
CHAPTER III
THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ACETYLENE GENERATION--ACETYLENE GENERATING
APPARATUS
Inasmuch as acetylene is produced by the mere interaction of calcium
carbide and water, that is to say, by simply bringing those two
substances in the cold into mutual contact within a suitable closed
space, and inasmuch as calcium carbide can always be purchased by the
consumer in a condition perfectly fit for immediate decomposition, the
preparation of the gas, at least from the theoretical aspect, is
characterised by extreme simplicity.
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