It
is, however, useless to put a chemical drier, or one more searching in
its action than a water-cooled condenser, at so early a position in the
acetylene plant, because the gas will be subsequently stored in a water-
sealed holder, where it will most probably once again be saturated with
moisture from the seal. When such generators are adopted as require to
have a specific washer placed after them in order to remove the water-
soluble impurities, _e.g._, those in which the gas does not actually
bubble through a considerable quantity of liquid in the generating
chamber itself, it is doubtful whether a separate condenser is altogether
necessary, because, as the water in the washer can easily be kept at the
atmospheric temperature (by means of water circulating in pipes or
otherwise), the gas will be brought to the atmospheric temperature in the
washer, and at that temperature it cannot carry with it more than a
certain fixed proportion of moisture. The notion of partially drying a
gas by causing it to pass through water may appear paradoxical, but a
comprehension of physical laws will show that it is possible, and will
prove efficient in practice, when due attention is given to the facts
that the gas entering the washer is hot, and that it is subsequently to
be stored over water in a holder.
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