[TheForge] RE: Fact or urban myth?

[Lon Humphrey]

Speaking as a once and former chemist: 
ic my point exactly 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Spencer" <mspencer at tallships.ca>
To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2006 1:32 PM
Subject: [TheForge] RE: Fact or urban myth?


> 
> Lon> i cant see using hydrogen gas being any more dangerous than
> Lon> accetlane
> 
> Speaking as a once and former chemist: Hydrogen -- H2 -- is a
> relatively low energy molecule which will combine with happily with
> oxygen and release some heat.  Ho hum.
> 
> Acetylene is, in the molecular energy world, a stupendous bad-ass.  It
> harbors a large amount energy that can be released very rapidly,
> i.e. explosively, under conditions not predicted by intuition or
> common sense.  Moreover, it is pathetically eager to combine
> spontaneously with other substances.  Some of the combinations --
> copper acetylide come to mind -- are highly explosive and impact
> sensitive.
> 
> One of the documented risks of the old acetylene generators --
> essentially a copper tank with some water in the bottom into which
> calcium carbide was dribbled by a simple mechanical widget -- was that
> copper acetylide formed in the seams of the tank. The tin- or
> blacksmith who was called on to repair a leaky generator could get
> into um... very *sudden* trouble.
> 
> Just off hand, I can't think of any reaction between acetylene and
> hydrogen itself that would be a problem.  You just get ethylene or
> ethane, neither of them notably dangerous.  But I would still respect
> any accumulated wisdom regarding possible acetylene reaction residues
> that might be inside hoses or even other parts of the system.
> 
> Indeed, "accumulated wisdom" often includes numerous chunks of totally
> false or mostly false assertion but, if one lacks the means to verify
> (or falsify) each pearl of alleged wisdom, either by experiment or by
> reference to truly authoritative literature, one is usually better off
> following the accumulated wisdom than not doing so.
> 
>> oh yea never ever use a accetlane bottel while its lying on its side 
>> ....BULLSHIT do it all the time...
> 
> Yeah, well, I did that, too, when I was young and ignorant. Twenty
> below F. in a snow bank and the torch was spitting acetone.  I didn't
> think it was s'posed to do that but what did I know?  When I went and
> read up on why it was doing that, I smartened up and didn't do that no
> more.
> 
> 
> - Mike
> 
> -- 
> Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
>                                                           /V\ 
> mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
> http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^
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