Moreover, since properly generated and
purified acetylene can be consumed in proper burners without trouble, all
reason for introducing carbon dioxide has disappeared.
MIXTURES OF ACETYLENE AND AIR.--A further proposal for diluting acetylene
was the addition to it of air. Apart from questions of explosibility,
this method has the advantage over that of adding carbon dioxide that the
air, though not inflammable, is, in virtue of its contained oxygen, a
supporter of combustion, and is required in a flame; whereas carbon
dioxide is not only not a supporter of combustion, but is actually a
product thereof, and correspondingly more objectionable. According to
some experiments carried out by Dufour, neat acetylene burnt under
certain conditions evolved between 1.0 and 1.8 candle-power per litre-
hour; a mixture of 1 volume of acetylene with 1 volume of air evolved 1.4
candle-power; a mixture of 1 volume of acetylene with 1.2 volumes of air,
2.25 candle-power; and a mixture of 1 volume of acetylene with 1.3
volumes of air, 2.70 candle-power per litre-hour of acetylene in the
several mixtures. Averaging the figures, and calculating into terms of
acetylene (only) burnt, Dufour found neat acetylene to develop 1.
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