Owing to the inequality of the seasons, and to the irregular nature of
the demand for artificial light and heat in all households, the capacity
of the plant installed for the service of any institution or district
must be amply sufficient to meet the consumption of the longest winter
evening--for, as will be shown in the proper place, attempts to make an
acetylene generator evolve gas more quickly than it is designed to do are
fraught with many objections--while the operation of the plant, must be
under such thorough control that not only can a sudden and unexpected
demand for gas be met without delay, but also that a sudden and
unexpected interruption or cessation of the demand shall not be followed
by any disturbance in the working of the apparatus. Since, on the one
hand, acetylene is produced in large volumes immediately calcium carbide
is wetted with water, so that the gas may be burnt within a minute or two
of its first evolution; and, on the other, that acetylene once prepared
can be stored without trouble or appreciable waste for reasonable periods
of time in a water-sealed gasholder closely resembling, in everything but
size, the holders employed on coal-gas works; it follows that there are
two ways of bringing the output of the plant into accord with the
consumption of the burners.
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