US928867A - Treatment of acetylene gas. - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT o FIoE.

JOSEPH HID JAMES AND HERBERT wA'rsoNg or PITTSBIL'IRG, PENNSYLVANIA, AssreNoRs TO THE SEARCHLIGHT GAS COMPANY, OF WARREN, OHIO, ACORPORATION OF OHIO.

TREATMENT OF AcETYLnNE ens.

Patented July 20, 1909.

Application filed March 29, 1909. Serial No. 486,580.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOSEPH HIDY-JAMEs aIId HERBERT; WATSON, both of Pittsburg, in the courfty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Treatment of Acet yllene Gas, of which the following is a fu clear, and exact description.

Our invention has relation to the treat-- ment of acetylene gas, and it is designed to provide a method for overcoming thedifficulties which have heretofore been associated- 'with the compression, transportation and storage of this gas, which, under the high ressure necessary to commercial use, is.of angerous character. It 'is well known in the art that the usual method'of handling this as, which consists incompressin it and issolving it in acetone, has faile to eliminate the danger of ex losion, both during/ the time occupied in t e mechanical act. of compression into containers and in the 1 containers themselves, where the gas-is ke 't under pressure.

In fact, frequent ex 0- sions have resulted from this metho of treatment which have sometimes been attended by the loss of life andgreat danger to rd erty. We have discovered that these d on ties may be overcome and the danger of. explosion reduced to a minimum'by mixmg t egas with the vapor of acetaldehyde in or about equal volumes and com ressing the mixed gas and vapor into a suita le container in which they can *be safely stored, and transported. While this-method of treatment very slightly diminishes thfe luminosity of ,the gas, it doe'snotpdo so to an objectionable extent for ordinary purposes.

Acetaldehyde boils at 21 degrees centigrade, and is therefore very volatile, and when acetylene gas is diluted or mixed with theva or of" acetaldehyde, it is not as susceptib e to spontaneous decomposition under compression. 7 In fact, our experiments and observation tend to show that an actual chemical reaction takes place between the acetaldehyde' andthe acetylene, whereas pj 'ljre acetylene is an endothermic com ound,

and is consequently unstable and un ergoes ed ,.5that 1f'.th,e-. acetaldehyde vapor is condensed liquid,it has a far greater spontaneous decomposition into its elements ed. We have also disdissolving power on acetylene than any other heretofore known solvent, acetone, which has hitherto been considered as hav-' in the maximum of efficiency in this respect, 0 y having about three-quarters the efficiency of acetaldehyde under the same conditions of tem eraturevand pressure. liquid acetalde ydemay therefore also be employed for the storage ofs acetylene. When used in this manner, we prefer to mix it with an organic com ound of higher molecular weight and b.o1 'ng point which com ound contains the carbon 1 group --=O), such 'as ethyl or methy acetate. In this way, the boiling point can be greatly raised, and the solubility of the mixture has been proved to have a higher dissolving power'than the mean of the two substances when used separately. For the storage of acetylene-in coldrlimates, the percentage of v aoetaldehyde would be increased relatively to the ercentage of the other organic compound, w ereas in warmer'climates, the ercentage of this other organic compound of 'gher molecular wei ht would be increased sufli'ciently to raise t e boilingj point of the mixture above the temperature to which the container would'be subjected, in use. In all practical cases, however, the percentage of the acet'aldehyde will be sufiicient to keep the solvent power to a point greatl above that of the heavierorgamc compoun While, as above stated, we prefer to use ethyl or methyl acetate as the organic com pound of higher weight, we may use other organic compounds containing the carbonyl group and o a highenmolecular weight than the acetaldehyde.

We claim;

1. The method of treating acetylene gas for storage, which consists in mixin together and compressing acetylene gasv wit the vapor of acetaldehyde, substantially as described.

2. The method of treating acetylene gas for storage, which consists in mixing together substantially equal volumes of the gas and of the vapor, of acetaldehyde and compressing the same into a suitable container, substantially as described. v

' 3. The process of treating acetylene gas efor storage which consists in dissolving the gas in a mixture of acetaldehyde and an organic compound of higher molecular weight The . In testimony Whereef, we have hereunto JOSEPH HIDY JAMES. HERBERT WATSON. i

and boiling point than acetaldehyde, and i varying the percentage of the two substances I set our hands. t

in the mixture to vary the boiling point thereof ac'cordin to the conditions of term 5 per ature to whic the mixture contained in Witnesses: I the gas is to be subjected, substantially as H. M. CORWIN,

GEO. PARMELEE.

described.