GB2066935A

GB2066935A - Acetylene transporter

Info

Publication number: GB2066935A
Application number: GB7941256A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: CHEMIKA
Current assignee: CHEMIKA
Priority date: 1979-11-29
Filing date: 1979-11-29
Publication date: 1981-07-15

Abstract

A vehicle for transporting acetylene having a plurality of pressurizable cylinders permanently mounted thereon, provided with common inlet and outlet conduits located directly on the vehicle. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Acetylene transporter Background of the Invention 7he present invention relates to apparatus for transporting technical acetylene that is acetylene dissolved in a solvent on a trailer or semi-trailer with a towing vehicle.

It has been known, heretofore, to transport acetylene from the manufacturer to the user in pressurized cylinders having a maximum capacity of 40 liters (5.5Kg) of dissolved acetylene. Such cylinders are filled in filling stations and transported as bulk load by trucks and lorries. The manipulation of such gas cylinders during filling, storing loading and unloading is a manual operation and therefore very troublesome. In an ideal case, when acetylene is discharged, after reduction at the user's factory network, the aforementioned steps will require about 4.5 workshifts per worker and effectively the use of 150 cylinders.

Such problems have been mostly solved by the users themselves in building their own acetylene network stations. Each having an output from 80 to 250 tons per year. Such practice, however, requires relatively high investment costs and moreover needs permanent attendance.

Battery carriages for the transport of othertechnic- al gas types have been sporadically designed but none have been designed for acetylene distribution.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the disadvantages known in the prior art relating to the transport of acetylene.

Summary of the Invention According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for transporting acetylene comprising a vehicle provided with means for supporting a plurality of pressurizable cylinders thereon, wherein said vehicle is provided with common filling and discharging conduits for supplying acetylene into said cylinders and discharging same therefrom directly on the vehicle.

The present invention will now be discribed by way of Example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure lisa side view of the apparatus; Figure 2 is a front view of the apparatus; and Figure 3 is a top plan view thereof.

Description of the present invention The present apparatus comprises a vehicle carriage such as a trailer or semi-trailer with a towing vehicle or even the body of a self-propelled lorry.

Preferably, a trailer or semi-trailer is employed for the purpose of economy. The under-carriage comprises a flatbed 1 mounted in the usual manner in a plurality of wheeled trucks. The bed is covered by a closed body 2, defining an open or hollow interior.

Mounted within the body itself are a plurality of vertical stanchions or support members adapted to hold the pressurized cylinders in vertical position.

The stanchions are bolted or otherwise affixed to the bed of the carriage so as to hold the cylinders in fixed stable position during transport. The cylinders 3 are pressurized steel cylinders each having a capacity of about 160 liters. The pressurized cylinders are connected, either individually or in groups by means of feeding pipes and outlet pipes. Each of the cylinders is provided with conventional inlet' outlet valves 4 which are connected by means of a feeder pipe 5 to a common inlet/outlet supply pipe 6.

Connected to each of the feed pipes are separate inlet and outlet valves 7 and 8 respectively. Each of the pressurizable cylinders are provided with a cast-liquid porous substance, and the corresponding amount of acetone or another solvent.

Although the pressurizable cylinders can be individually loaded with the acetylene, it is preferable that they be loaded in selectable groups through the common discharge and inlet pipeline, as can be seen in Figure 3, when each double row has a common inlet/outlet. The double row of cylinders shown in Figure 3 is for illustration only. The number and arrangement can be varied in selected groupings, as desired. Preferably, the cylinders are filled by the acetylene producer utilizing compressors operating under a pressure of 2.5 MPa. In the summer time the cylinders may be sprinkled with cooling media such as water. Any possible loss in acetone caused by the acetylene in discharge may be detected by checking the weight. Any loss can be compensated for by the producer by increasing the acetone volume in the cylinder.Removal of the acetylene at the reduction station can be made through all of the outlet holes simultaneously, up to a pressure of 0.15 MPa.

Depending upon the number of pressurized cylinders loaded on the semi-trailer carriage and upon the power output of the automative towing vehicle, the carriage makes it possible to transport 1200, 1500 or 1800 kilograms of acetylene. These numbers correspond to the manipulation of the 200,250 or 300 conventional cylinders respectively, so that the device according to the invention enables the saving in labor of from 2 to 5 workers per one transport device.

The difference between the costs to be expended on the acetylene production in network stations or a central filling station having an annual output of about 1900 Kgs., and on the use of the transport device according to the invention, could be used for transporting acetylene, depending upon the annual demand, at distances of from 150 to 250 kilometers so that there is no rise in total costs while simultaneously increasing transport safety with a considerable simplification of acetylene cylinder manipulation relative to the conventional transport practice.

Practically, the substitution of a single central filling station for the existing ten to twenty network stations is now practical and an exploitation of the existing stations on round-clock duty is possible. As a result, high savings in prime costs, floor area, labor, transport of carbide and conventional cylinders, irrespective of obvious advantages resulting from a centralized manufacture, are obtainable.

The use of a cast porous substance in pressurized cylinders means not only an increase in the amount of acetylene transported by a single vehicle but also maximum work safety for workers employed at acetylene filling stations and in the transport.

By using such vehicles in exchangeable pairs it is made possible to replace high-pressure stations in factories producing acetylene at relatively high costs from raw material (calcium carbide) with very high power demand. Further, the apparatus permits the purchase of high-grade and inexpensive acetylene produced even in very distant chemical factories from less expensive and low energy required raw materials (crude oil, natural gas). Such distribution allows the full use of night, Saturday and Sunday work shifts without skilled-operator attendance being necessary.

The savings in transport and power costs relative to split produced acetylene may reach for every 1000 tons of acetylene, 1800 to 2000 tons of coke as well as 7.3 to 9.6 million kwh of electric power, irrespective of manufacturing cost drop.

Claims

1. Apparatus for transporting acetylene comprising a vehicle provided with means for supporting a plurality of pressurizable cylinders thereon, wherein said vehicle is provided with common filling and discharging conduits for supplying acetylene into said cylinders and discharging same therefrom directly on the vehicle.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each pressurized cylinder contains therein a cast porous substance and a solvent.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the solvent is acetone.

4. An apparatus according to claims 1 or 2, wherein said vehicle is a trailer or semi-trailer having means for sprinkling of the cylinders with a coolant.

5. An apparatus for transporting acetylene substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1,2 or 3 of the accompanying drawings.