I just wanted to add an aside to the calcium carbide discussion.
Miner's lights also used calcium carbide to provide fuel for their
flames. These were usually strapped to the miner's heads and provided a
headlight/worklight for them (post candle, pre electric head lamps). They
typically were canister shaped, about 2/3 the size of a modern soda can.
The carbide was in the bottom chamber and water was placed in the top
chamber. There was a slide to adjust the size opening between the chambers,
thereby controlling the drip and volume of acetylene produced. A tube ran
from this lower chamber to a nozzle, which was typically surrounded by a
4"-5" dia. shiny metal reflector(curved). Some of these also had a
flint/wheel ignitor, similar to a cigarette lighter, mounted on the edge of
the reflector. You'd start the drip and cup your hand over the reflector.
This would trap gas between your hand and the reflector. You would then
pull your hand away rapidly, while making contact with the wheel ignitor.
This would create a spark which would ignite the pocket of acetylene and
also that coming from the nozzle. Brightness would be adjusted by adjusting
the water flow. These were produced from sometime in the 19th century, to
at least the 1970's when they were being sold to geologists and other folks
involved in cave exploration.
Tom
W. Thomas Langhorne, Jr., Ph.D.
Pre-Health Professions Advisor
Adjunct Assistant Professor-Anthropology
Binghamton University
PO Box 6000
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
phone 607.777.6305 fax 607.777.2721
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http://prehealth.binghamton.edu
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-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Efstathios I. Pappas
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 6:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: calcium carbide furnace
Sarah,
Although I am not an expert on acetylene gas systems I can offer you some
information which you may find helpful. First of all calcium carbide was
and is produced in the form of a small gravel which is packaged in air-tight
containers. When exposed to water, calcium carbide dissolves (much like
alka-seltzer) and creates a great deal of gaseous acetylene. Acetylene gas
has a great deal of heat potential as it is very dense and contains a lot of
hydrocarbon per unit. It also burns the hottest of any substance known,
about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. When burned without proper carburetion, it
creates a very dense/thick black soot which I have been told is actually
creosote (can anyone support this?). Acetylene is unique in that it cannot
be compressed much beyond 15 psi as it will self combust, thus it is
transported as calcium carbide or is dissolved in acetone as in the case of
acetylene cylinders used for welding and cutting.
I have not heard of acetylene use for furnaces and would be very cautious
unless evidence for this sort of thing was proven. Acetylene was and is
fairly expensive and is best used in low volume systems such as lighting.
For homes located off of a gas system but still equipped with gas lighting,
acetylene was about your only option as coal fired "producer gas" systems
operate efficiently only in larger installations. An acetylene "producer"
would have been a gas tight container which held a wire mesh basket into
which one would put calcium carbide. A water drip system regulated by a
needle valve would SLOWLY allow water to drip onto the carbide and dissolve
into gas. The pressure in the vessel would need to stay below 15 psi in
order to prevent combustion. One would adjust the needle valve until just
enough acetylene gas was being produced to properly supply whatever was
being operated. If you look at photographs of steam locomotives from the
turn of the 20th century, or very early automobiles, you will see acetylene
burning headlights with piping running to acetylene producers usually
located on the running boards. Not the safest technology in case of an
accident, but incredibly effective.
In terms of house based systems, the afore-mentioned bell shaped cap within
a cylinder would have served the purpose of pressure regulator to ensure
safety and automatic operation. I hope this VERY long treatise has been of
some help to you and others and if you have any other questions I would be
happy to address them.
Regards,
Stathi Pappas
___________________________________________________________________
Efstathios I. Pappas
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Anthropology/096
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89557
209 603 7363
-----Original Message-----
From: Sarah Miller <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 2:43 pm
Subject: calcium carbide furnace
What is the statute of limitations on a thread?
icking up on one from 9 years ago:
Has anyone had experience with calcium carbide
urnaces? I see on a thread from 1998 (see below)
hat we may have an acetylene
as furnace as mentioned below. We're working on a
ate nineteenth-century site an came down on a layer
f crazy brick red dust with white wormy inclusions.
e heard from local informants that there may have
een a carbide furnace located on the site. If anyone
as had experience excavating one of these features
lease let me know!
Sarah
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 09:49:39 -0400
eply-To: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to
nmask]>
ender: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to
nmask]>
rom: Nancy O'Malley <[log in to unmask]>
ubject: Re: residential gas lighting systems
ontent-Type: text/enriched; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
italic>Dan Mouer asked the following. I am
talicizing my response and
larification.
/italic>>
Nancy, I don't want to misadvise you....are you SURE
hat gasoline was
nvolved?
It sound to me like you could have a
fairly common (in upper-crust homes) gas generator
hat used acetylene
as. The
gas is produced by wetting down calcium
carbide with water. The reaction takes place in a
ole that is capped
ith a hea
vy bell-shaped weight which compresses
the gas and sends it through the pipes to light the
handeliers, etc.
Sarah E. Miller, Public Archaeologist/Director
t. Augustine Public Archaeology Regional Center
lorida Public Archaeology Network
lagler College
.O. Box 1027, 74 King Street
t. Augustine, FL 32085-1028
Cell: 904-669-3265
ax: 904-823-9477
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