Acetylene; The Principles of Its Generation and Use (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 Excerpt: ...strongly against the use of such hydrocarbons within a house, or against the use of air-gas, which, as explained in Chapter I., is air more or less saturated with the vapour of volatile hydrocarbons. Conversely, a combustible gas, such as acetylene, may be safely " carburetted " by these hydrocarbons in a properly constructed apparatus set up outside the dwellinghouse, as explained in Chapter IX., because there would be no air (as in air-gas) in the pipes, iVc., and a larger escape of carburetted acetylene than of air-gas would be required to produce an explosive atmosphere in a room. Moreover, the odour of the acetylene itself would render the detection of a leak far easier with carburetted acetylene than with air-gas. 1 The nomenclature of the different volatile spirits is apt to be very confusing. "Benzene" is the proper name for the most volatile hydrocarbon derived fron coal-tar, whose formula is C-Hu. Commercially, benzene is often known as "benzol" or "benzole"; but it would be generally advantageous if those latter words were only used to mean imperfectly rectified benzene, i.e. mixtures of benzene with toluene, &c., such as are more explicitly understood by the terms "'JO.s benzol" and "50.s benzol." "Gasoline," "carburiue," "petroleum ether," "benzine," "benzoline," "petrol," and "petroleum spirit" all refer to more or less volatile (the most volatile being mentioned first) and more or less thoroughly rectified products obtained from petroleum. They are mixtures of.different hydrocarbons, their general chemical formula being CnH2, .t-2, where n = 5 or more. None of them is a definite chemical compound as is benzene;...