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Acetylene tanks

To: shop-talk@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Acetylene tanks
From: DANMAS@aol.com
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 1997 19:53:14 -0500 (EST)
I have lost the original post, but Kendall wrote:

>
>I once heard that Acetylene tanks are filled with concrete - The Acetylene
>flows through it like water flows through a  sponge.  I'm doubtful, does
>anyone know for sure??
>
>Kendall

In the book "Welding Fundamentals and Procedures," by Galyen, Sear, and
Tuttle, John Wiley & sons, Inc, ISBN 0-471-06079-8, page15, it says:

"Unlike oxygen, acetylene in a gaseous state is very unstable and therefore
cannot be stored under any pressure exceeding 103 kPa (15 psi) in a free
state. It does, however, behave like other gases in that it can be dissolved
in a liquid. Acetylene cylinders are packed with a porous material, the pores
of which are then filled with acetone, a liquid chemical that can absorb 25
times it own volume of acetylene. The porous material, which is made of
various grades of asbestos, monolithic filler, and balsa wood, also acts like
a large sponge in which the acetone is contained."

Hope this helps.

Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN

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