Manufacture of Carbide of Calcium

. Elevationof ditto. - - 9 P 5. Elevation of ditto. . . - - 9 , 6. Plans of Factory Lay-out - - - - 7. Electric Furnace, single-phase - - - 8. Do. do. - - - 9. Do. three-phase - - - 10. Do. do. - - - 11. Zone of Fusion - - - - 12. Electric Furnace, covered in type new - - 13. Do. do. old - - 14. Do. Horizontal Electrodes - - 15. Section of Bottom Electrode , Holder - - 16. Upper Electrode Holder, Siemens type - - 17. Do. do. Swedish do. - - 18. Do. do. Italian do. - - 19. Do. do. Swedish do. with Central Wedge 20. Do. do. American type - - 21. Do. do. French do. - DO. do. Various types - - 2 4. 25. Cranes for Upper Electrodes - - - 26. Do. do. - - - 27. Apparatus for Phosphorous Test - - - 28. Carbide Drum, American type - - - 29. Do. European do. - - - 30. Do. Lever-lid top - - - 31. Lime Kiln, Contact type old - - - 32. Do. do. modern - - - 33. Do. Gas Fired type - - - 34. Arrangement of Conductors - - - - 35. Diagram of Furnace Heat Losses - - - 36. Characteristic Curves of Furnace - - - 37, Do. do. - - - 38. Table showing Volume Changes due to Pressure and Temperature - - - - - 39. Diagram of Production and Gas Yield - - CHAPTER I. CHEMISTRY. In a work devoted primarily to the commercial side, i. e., the manufacture, of a product, it may scarcely be thought necessary for the author to dip too deeply into the purely scientific aspect of the question, especially when a host of the foremost chemists of the, age have. devoted time and labour to investigating the numerous problems associated with the formation of the product in question. If the writer. ventures to touch upon the t purely chemical side, it is merely with the . object of J mentioning certain phenomena, the study of which may lead to improvements in an important commercial factor, viz., the consumption of electrode carbon. From the time when Moissan published his classic investigations and Willson applied for his classic patent, the accepted equation for the production of calcium carbide in the electric furnace from carbonaceous matter and lime has always been -. CaO 3C CaC, CO. Is this formula the correct one The final result may be approximately the production of the two compounds, CaC, and CO, but the reaction, or rather reactions,, which take place before this final stage is reached, certainly 2 Carbide of Calciz nz. appear to be far more complex the conversion of the raw material into carbide appears to take place in steps. In Figs 1 and 2 are reproduced photographs of two electrodes, one from Norway, the other from Mexico, which, in technical phraseology, have burnt badly. Fig, 1... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.