Gerdes exposed neat acetylene
and mixtures of acetylene with oil-gas and coal-gas to a pressure of nine
or ten atmospheres for ten months at ordinary summer and winter
temperatures in vessels made of copper and various alloys. Those metals
and alloys which resisted oxidation in air resisted the attack of the
gases, but the more corrodible substances were attacked superficially;
although in no instance could an explosive body be detected, nor could an
explosion be produced by heating or hammering. In further experiments the
acetylene contained ammonia and moisture and Gerdes found that where
corrosion took place it was due exclusively to the ammonia, no explosive
compounds being produced even then. Grittner investigated the question by
leading acetylene for months through pipes containing copper gauze. His
conclusions are that a copper acetylide is always produced if impure
acetylene is allowed to pass through neutral or ammoniacal solutions of
copper; that dry acetylene containing all its natural impurities except
ammonia acts to an equal extent on copper and its alloys, yielding the
explosive compound; that pure and dry gas does not act upon copper or its
alloys, although it is possible that an explosive compound may be
produced after a great length of time.
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