The
gas is generated, filtered from dust, and stored in an ordinary rising
holder at a factory alongside the line; being drawn from this holder
through a drier to extract moisture, and through a safety device, by a
pump which, in three stages, compresses the acetylene into large storage
reservoirs. The safety device consists of a heavy steel cylinder filled
with some porous substance which, like the similar material of the
acetone cylinders, prevents any danger of the acetylene contained in the
water-sealed holder being implicated in an explosion starting backwards
from the compression, by extinguishing any spark which might be produced
there. The plant on the trains comprises a suitable number of cylinders,
filled by contact with the large stores of gas to a pressure of 10
atmospheres, pipes of fusible metal communicating with the lamps, and
ordinary half-foot acetylene burners. The cylinders are provided with
fusible plugs, so that, in the event of a fire, they and the service-
pipes would melt, allowing the gas to escape freely and burn in the air,
instead of exploding or dissociating explosively within the cylinders
should the latter be heated by any burning woodwork or the like.
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