Acetylene has it's on explosion proof category. Class 1 Div I Group A
Very low comparatively ignition temperature I think.
Very low comparatively ignition temperature I think.
Why we don't fix stuff
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I know what the cost is, I've used them weekly and sometimes daily for the last 20+ years in an industrial construction setting. O/A ratio is less than 2:1. Oxy/propane ratio is better than 4:1. So off the bat double your oxy purchase when cutting material. Propane Tips are costlier than Acetylene tips which washes any savings out of the "propane tips last longer than acetylene" argument. If you know how to use a torch a tip lasts a long time regardless of gas used. It is foolish to use propane extensively in areas with limited ventilation because it produces many x CO compared to acetylene. And again, the lleaks.Acetylene being lighter floats away where propane hangs low and often goes undetected by the crew who has been sniffing it all day. You won't find propane in any reputable ship yard. I have heard of it in a fly by night operation in Erie. Several guys got carted out and put on oxygen.
When acetylene goes it goes big. It is in the top 3 of flammable gases, which is why it is stored in acetone in the tank. It is non reactive at that point. I've never seen one go up nor do I know of anyone that's had or heard of one go and as I said, this is the industry I've been in for some time. Proper storage and handling is key. I read on Linde's website one time that 100% of the incidents they investigated were user error. It's really a non issue. And it's not like propane is exactly inert, either. Neither gas proposes risk when stored and handled properly.
I will say one thing and that is, this site has some interesting conversations.
Duplicate post
I got elected to weld on a Chloropicrin vessel one time. 6 hours straight in a level b acid suit and breathing air in near 100 degeee temps. Took my mask off one time to wipe the sweat out of my eyes and quickly understood why I had to wear the equipment. Bad ju ju.
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Oh yeah......Chloropicrin is some bad ****!!!! I used to work in a control lab at a chemical plant......chloropicrin was part of the production. We took two pint samles daily and tested for purity. At the end of the month we had 60 pint bottles to empty into a large vessel under an exhaust hood.......being young and the junior technician that job fell to me. Boring job but I had been cautioned to not spill even a drop so I was very carful with my poor. However being young and easily bored my mind would wonder off a bit.....though I was always attentive to my poor I failed once and droppped a bottle cap which landed on edge and promptly rolled out from under the hood and off the bench and onto the floor.
.....we had to evac the lab and go back in suited up to open the windows and clean up the two drops on the floor and the cap before we could return to work.....there were some raised eyebrows but no grief .....I guess the other guys knew it was "lesson learned"
Funny, cut for years with Propane Tips and never had them plug up or had to rod them out. Try running a rosebud on Acetylene for extended heat time while not violating the 1/7th rule. Ran the same Propane Tips for years without problems, easy to take apart and brush off, on the other hand the Acetylene tip required cleaning all the time and splash back required cleaning tool when used will change properties for the tip. You sizes tips as to the thickness of the expected cut.
It's not difficult. Although pre heating is probably the one area where propane would make more sense than acetylene due to the oxygen/gas ratio used when preheating.
But then again, if one is doing a lot of preheating there are better options than either.
Was the chloropicrin labeled from a company called Ashta Chemicals by chance? I would imagine there are very few manufacturers of that black magic. We would get drug in there for ASME work every once in a while.... Nothing good about that place. Nobody ever volunteered to go work there. It was usually a low man job and a lead if the job was big enough to require a crew. They also made chlorine via an ancient mercury cell technology. The plant was built in the 1950's using WW2 era tech. This is no exaggeration, the mercury leaks were so many they had leak kits set up where they would wheel this bakers scaffold looking contraption with a giant super sack looking funnel that drained into a container about the size of a 5 gallon bucket. The container was on a pallet so they could grab it with a tow motor, several hundred pounds by the time it was changed out for a new one. The guys that worked that plant were blood tested on a regular basis. No thanks.
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No.......different company....but used the same technology. Made chorine, caustic soda, choropicrin, bleach and a few other things. Was fine in the lab generally speaking but I would have to go in the main plant now and then....those big mercury "batteries" ran on 1,000,000 volts DC.......this was 50-55 years ago...back then wrist watches were mechanical, analog rigs......they stopped the minute you entered the main plant. Everything made there was not good for you, though the plant was run quite well. Caustic soda was bad **** too......if you got it on your fingers it felt like oil...slippery...could not be washed off.....all sinks in the lab had two fresh daily beakers in them....one was sulfloric acid the other hydrochloric acid. When you got some caustic on your hand you immedaitely plunged your hand in the hydrochloric to cut the caustic then into the sulforic to cut the hydrochloric then washed with soap and water as the sulfloric could be cut with water.......hmmmmm......
Sounds exactly like Ashtas process. I welded under that cell floor a handful of times. Had to run ac rod. You could literally stick a 1-1/4 wrench to a column and let go of it 
A few years back they were finally forced to upgrade their process or the epa was going to shut them down. I hear it is a much cleaner process.... I Still have no desire to go back there
A few years back they were finally forced to upgrade their process or the epa was going to shut them down. I hear it is a much cleaner process.... I Still have no desire to go back there
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Sounds exactly like Ashtas process. Had to weld under that cell floor a handful of times. Had to run ac rod. You could literally stick a 1-1/4 wrench to a column and let go of it
A few years back they were finally forced to upgrade their process or the epa was going to shut them down. I hear it is a much cleaner process.... I Still have no desire to go back there
Lol!! Yes any of the numerous valves that were frequently used/turned with a wrench in the main plant had it's correct sized wrench "floating" against and nearby upright I-beam......just hanging there....waiting.....some of these were very large spanners that might weigh 15-20 lbs. This plant shut down years ago and has been repurposed to a trash to energy plant now.......but it seems the mercury cleanup is ongoing......spooky place to work until you got used to it.......even then.... glad I didn't work there all that long.......around here it was that work or mining for a young fella if you wanted decent pay.....I had no interest in underground work.
So why did You belittle me on use of phosgene, when You know nothing?
I used tanks the size of welding tanks.
You'd be dead.
I am completely unaware of any belittlement. Nothing I said was intended to insult; in fact, I was acknowledging your strong history and expertise on the topic. "Got a hood. Will do chemistry"
How is that offensive?
If you look for an insult in everything you read, you will surely find it, and be less happy for your efforts. If I ever choose to insult you, there will be no doubt as to my intentions.
How is that offensive?
If you look for an insult in everything you read, you will surely find it, and be less happy for your efforts. If I ever choose to insult you, there will be no doubt as to my intentions.
Yeah, I don't like either one of you.
Doubtful. I've been doing far more dangerous things than chemistry for the last 40 years. So far, none of them have killed me.
Pretty much any endeavor comes with "dead" potential; it's a matter of balancing risk against completion of task.
Are you trying to harvest some especially spicy insults?
I'm quite talented at it, I just don't get to practice much.
so yer admitting to not working with aluminum much, while arguing with a guy that has?
noted
I don't think many here understand the 1/7th, 1/10 rule for tank withdrawal and tank size for Acetylene. The talk of manifolding 10 Acetylene torches is also asinine. The problem is you still have the problem of violating the 1/7th, 1/10 rule for tank withdrawal and manifold psi should not exceed over 15 psi and you would have to have a 2 stage regulator at each tap. This would limit use to just a few torches at a time.
If the gas use rate is too high, the gas carries acetone with it into the regulator, lines and torch and it removes it from the cylinder, leaving voids. Acetylene is unstable when under pressure and when not dissolved in the acetone, the loss creates a dangerous condition.
If the gas use rate is too high, the gas carries acetone with it into the regulator, lines and torch and it removes it from the cylinder, leaving voids. Acetylene is unstable when under pressure and when not dissolved in the acetone, the loss creates a dangerous condition.
