Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting Part 4

A mixture of ground c.o.ke and lime is introduced into the furnace through which an electric arc has been drawn. The materials unite and form an ingot of very pure carbide surrounded by a crust of less purity. The poorer crust is rejected in breaking up the ma.s.s into lumps which are graded according to their size. The largest size is 2 by 3-1/2 inches and is called "lump,"

a medium size is 1/2 by 2 inches and is called "egg," an intermediate size for certain types of generators is 3/8 by 1-1/4 inches and called "nut,"

and the finely crushed pieces for use in still other types of generators are 1/12 by 1/4 inch in size and are called "quarter." Instructions as to the size best suited to different generators are furnished by the makers of those instruments.

These sizes are packed in air-tight sheet steel drums containing 100 pounds each. The Union Carbide Company of Chicago and New York, operating under patents, manufactures and distributes the supply of calcium carbide for the entire United States. Plants for this manufacture are established at Niagara Falls, New York, and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. This company maintains a system of warehouses in more than one hundred and ten cities, where large stocks of all sizes are carried.

The National Board of Fire Underwriters gives the following rules for the storage of carbide:

Calcium carbide in quant.i.ties not to exceed six hundred pounds may be stored, when contained in approved metal packages not to exceed one hundred pounds each, inside insured property, provided that the place of storage be dry, waterproof and well ventilated and also provided that all but one of the packages in any one building shall be sealed and that seals shall not be broken so long as there is carbide in excess of one pound in any other unsealed package in the building.

Calcium carbide in quant.i.ties in excess of six hundred pounds must be stored above ground in detached buildings, used exclusively for the storage of calcium carbide, in approved metal packages, and such buildings shall be constructed to be dry, waterproof and well ventilated.

_Properties of Acetylene._--This gas is composed of twenty-four parts of carbon and two parts of hydrogen by weight and is cla.s.sed with natural gas, petroleum, etc., as one of the hydrocarbons. This gas contains the highest percentage of carbon known to exist in any combination of this form and it may therefore be considered as gaseous carbon. Carbon is the fuel that is used in all forms of combustion and is present in all fuels from whatever source or in whatever form. Acetylene is therefore the most powerful of all fuel gases and is able to give to the torch flame in welding the highest temperature of any flame.

Acetylene is a colorless and tasteless gas, possessed of a peculiar and penetrating odor. The least trace in the air of a room is easily noticed, and if this odor is detected about an apparatus in operation, it is certain to indicate a leakage of gas through faulty piping, open valves, broken hose or otherwise. This leakage must be prevented before proceeding with the work to be done.

All gases which burn in air will, when mixed with air previous to ignition, produce more or less violent explosions, if fired. To this rule acetylene is no exception. One measure of acetylene and twelve and one-half of air are required for complete combustion; this is therefore the proportion for the most perfect explosion. This is not the only possible mixture that will explode, for all proportions from three to thirty per cent of acetylene in air will explode with more or less force if ignited.

The igniting point of acetylene is lower than that of coal gas, being about 900 degrees Fahrenheit as against eleven hundred degrees for coal gas. The gas issuing from a torch will ignite if allowed to play on the tip of a lighted cigar.

It is still further true that acetylene, at some pressures, greater than normal, has under most favorable conditions for the effect, been found to explode; yet it may be stated with perfect confidence that under no circ.u.mstances has anyone ever secured an explosion in it when subjected to pressures not exceeding fifteen pounds to the square inch.

Although not exploded by the application of high heat, acetylene is injured by such treatment. It is partly converted, by high heat, into other compounds, thus lessening the actual quant.i.ty of the gas, wasting it and polluting the rest by the introduction of substances which do not belong there. These compounds remain in part with the gas, causing it to burn with a persistent smoky flame and with the deposit of objectionable tarry substances. Where the gas is generated without undue rise of temperature these difficulties are avoided.

_Purification of Acetylene._--Impurities in this gas are caused by impurities in the calcium carbide from which it is made or by improper methods and lack of care in generation. Impurities from the material will be considered first.

Impurities in the carbide may be further divided into two cla.s.ses: those which exert no action on water and those which act with the water to throw off other gaseous products which remain in the acetylene. Those impurities which exert no action on the water consist of c.o.ke that has not been changed in the furnace and sand and some other substances which are harmless except that they increase the ash left after the acetylene has been generated.

An a.n.a.lysis of the gas coming from a typical generator is as follows:

Per cent Acetylene ................................ 99.36 Oxygen ................................... .08 Nitrogen ................................. .11 Hydrogen ................................. .06 Sulphuretted Hydrogen .................... .17 Phosph.o.r.etted Hydrogen ................... .04 Ammonia .................................. .10 Silicon Hydride .......................... .03 Carbon Monoxide .......................... .01 Methane .................................. .04

The oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide are either harmless or are present in such small quant.i.ties as to be neglected. The phosph.o.r.etted hydrogen and silicon hydride are self-inflammable gases when exposed to the air, but their quant.i.ty is so very small that this possibility may be dismissed. The ammonia and sulphuretted hydrogen are almost entirely dissolved by the water used in the gas generator. The surest way to avoid impure gas is to use high-grade calcium carbide in the generator and the carbide of American manufacture is now so pure that it never causes trouble.

The first and most important purification to which the gas is subjected is its pa.s.sage through the body of water in the generator as it bubbles to the top. It is then filtered through felt to remove the solid particles of lime dust and other impurities which float in the gas.

Further purification to remove the remaining ammonia, sulphuretted hydrogen and phosphorus containing compounds is accomplished by chemical means. If this is considered necessary it can be easily accomplished by readily available purifying apparatus which can be attached to any generator or inserted between the generator and torch outlets. The following mixtures have been used.

"_Heratol,_" a solution of chromic acid or sulphuric acid absorbed in porous earth.

"_Acagine,_" a mixture of bleaching powder with fifteen per cent of lead chromate.

"_Puratylene,_" a mixture of bleaching powder and hydroxide of lime, made very porous, and containing from eighteen to twenty per cent of active chlorine.

"_Frankoline,_" a mixture of cuprous and ferric chlorides dissolved in strong hydrochloric acid absorbed in infusorial earth.

A test for impure acetylene gas is made by placing a drop of ten per cent solution of silver nitrate on a white blotter and holding the paper in a stream of gas coming from the torch tip. Blackening of the paper in a short length of time indicates impurities.

_Acetylene in Tanks._--Acetylene is soluble in water to a very limited extent, too limited to be of practical use. There is only one liquid that possesses sufficient power of containing acetylene in solution to be of commercial value, this being the liquid acetone. Acetone is produced in various ways, oftentimes from the distillation of wood. It is a transparent, colorless liquid that flows with ease. It boils at 133 Fahrenheit, is inflammable and burns with a luminous flame. It has a peculiar but rather agreeable odor.

Acetone dissolves twenty-four times its own bulk of acetylene at ordinary atmospheric pressure. If this pressure is increased to two atmospheres, 14.7 pounds above ordinary pressure, it will dissolve just twice as much of the gas and for each atmosphere that the pressure is increased it will dissolve as much more.

If acetylene be compressed above fifteen pounds per square inch at ordinary temperature without first being dissolved in acetone a danger is present of self-ignition. This danger, while practically nothing at fifteen pounds, increases with the pressure until at forty atmospheres it is very explosive. Mixed with acetone, the gas loses this dangerous property and is safe for handling and transportation. As acetylene is dissolved in the liquid the acetone increases its volume slightly so that when the gas has been drawn out of a closed tank a s.p.a.ce is left full of free acetylene.

This last difficulty is removed by first filling the cylinder or tank with some porous material, such as asbestos, wood charcoal, infusorial earth, etc. Asbestos is used in practice and by a system of packing and supporting the absorbent material no s.p.a.ce is left for the free gas, even when the acetylene has been completely withdrawn.

The acetylene is generated in the usual way and is washed, purified and dried. Great care is used to make the gas as free as possible from all impurities and from air. The gas is forced into containers filled with acetone as described and is compressed to one hundred and fifty pounds to the square inch. From these tanks it is transferred to the smaller portable cylinders for consumers' use.

The exact volume of gas remaining in a cylinder at atmospheric temperature may be calculated if the weight of the cylinder empty is known. One pound of the gas occupies 13.6 cubic feet, so that if the difference in weight between the empty cylinder and the one considered be multiplied by 13.6.

the result will be the number of cubic feet of gas contained.

The cylinders contain from 100 to 500 cubic feet of acetylene under pressure. They cannot be filled with the ordinary type of generator as they require special purifying and compressing apparatus, which should never be installed in any building where other work is being carried on, or near other buildings which are occupied, because of the danger of explosion.

Dissolved acetylene is manufactured by the Prest-O-Lite Company, the Commercial Acetylene Company and the Searchlight Gas Company and is distributed from warehouses in various cities.

These tanks should not be discharged at a rate per hour greater than one-seventh of their total capacity, that is, from a tank of 100 cubic feet capacity, the discharge should not be more than fourteen cubic feet per hour. If discharge is carried on at an excessive rate the acetone is drawn out with the gas and reduces the heat of the welding flame.

For this reason welding should not be attempted with cylinders designed for automobile and boat lighting. When the work demands a greater delivery than one of the larger tanks will give, two or more tanks may be connected with a special coupler such as may be secured from the makers and distributers of the gas. These couplers may be arranged for two, three, four or five tanks in one battery by removing the plugs on the body of the coupler and attaching additional connecting pipes. The coupler body carries a pressure gauge and the valve for controlling the pressure of the gas as it flows to the welding torches. The following capacities should be provided for:

Acetylene Consumption Combined Capacity of of Torches per Hour Cylinders in Use Up to 15 feet.......................100 cubic feet 16 to 30 feet.......................200 cubic feet 31 to 45 feet.......................300 cubic feet 46 to 60 feet.......................400 cubic feet 61 to 75 feet.......................500 cubic feet

WELDING RODS

The best welding cannot be done without using the best grade of materials, and the added cost of these materials over less desirable forms is so slight when compared to the quality of work performed and the waste of gases with inferior supplies, that it is very unprofitable to take any chances in this respect. The makers of welding equipment carry an a.s.sortment of supplies that have been standardized and that may be relied upon to produce the desired result when properly used. The safest plan is to secure this cla.s.s of material from the makers.

Welding rods, or welding sticks, are used to supply the additional metal required in the body of the weld to replace that broken or cut away and also to add to the joint whenever possible so that the work may have the same or greater strength than that found in the original piece. A rod of the same material as that being welded is used when both parts of the work are the same. When dissimilar metals are to be joined rods of a composition suited to the work are employed.

These filling rods are required in all work except steel of less than 16 gauge. Alloy iron rods are used for cast iron. These rods have a high silicon content, the silicon reacting with the carbon in the iron to produce a softer and more easily machined weld than would otherwise be the case. These rods are often made so that they melt at a slightly lower point than cast iron. This is done for the reason that when the part being welded has been brought to the fusing heat by the torch, the filling material can be instantly melted in without allowing the parts to cool. The metal can be added faster and more easily controlled.

Rods or wires of Norway iron are used for steel welding in almost all cases. The purity of this grade of iron gives a h.o.m.ogeneous, soft weld of even texture, great ductility and exceptionally good machining qualities.

For welding heavy steel castings, a rod of rolled carbon steel is employed.

For working on high carbon steel, a rod of the steel being welded must be employed and for alloy steels, such as nickel, manganese, vanadium, etc., special rods of suitable alloy composition are preferable.

Aluminum welding rods are made from this metal alloyed to give the even flowing that is essential. Aluminum is one of the most difficult of all the metals to handle in this work and the selection of the proper rod is of great importance.

Bra.s.s is filled with bra.s.s wire when in small castings and sheets. For general work with bra.s.s castings, manganese bronze or Tobin bronze may be used.

Bronze is welded with manganese bronze or Tobin bronze, while copper is filled with copper wire.

These welding rods should always be used to fill the weld when the thickness of material makes their employment necessary, and additional metal should always be added at the weld when possible as the joint cannot have the same strength as the original piece if made or dressed off flush with the surfaces around the weld. This is true because the metal welded into the joint is a casting and will never have more strength than a casting of the material used for filling.

Great care should be exercised when adding metal from welding rods to make sure that no metal is added at a point that is not itself melted and molten when the addition is made. When molten metal is placed upon cooler surfaces the result is not a weld but merely a sticking together of the two parts without any strength in the joint.

FLUXES

Difficulty would be experienced in welding with only the metal and rod to work with because of the scale that forms on many materials under heat, the oxides of other metals and the impurities found in almost all metals. These things tend to prevent a perfect joining of the metals and some means are necessary to prevent their action.

Various chemicals, usually in powder form, are used to accomplish the result of cleaning the weld and making the work of the operator less difficult. They are called fluxes.