For nearly thirty years
these substances were neglected, with the result that acetylene was
practically unknown, and up to 1892 an acetylene flame was seen by very few
persons and its possibilities were not dreamed of. With the development of
the modern electric furnace the possibility of calcium carbide as a
commercial product became known.
In the above year, Thomas L. Willson, an electrical engineer of Spray,
North Carolina, was experimenting in an attempt to prepare metallic
calcium, for which purpose he employed an electric furnace operating on a
mixture of lime and coal tar with about ninety-five horse power. The result
was a molten mass which became hard and brittle when cool. This apparently
useless product was discarded and thrown in a nearby stream, when, to the
astonishment of onlookers, a large volume of gas was immediately
liberated, which, when ignited, burned with a bright and smoky flame and
gave off quantities of soot. The solid material proved to be calcium
carbide and the gas acetylene.
Thus, through the incidental study of a by-product, and as the result of an
accident, the possibilities in carbide were made known, and in the spring
of 1895 the first factory in the world for the production of this substance
was established by the Willson Aluminum Company.
When water and calcium carbide are brought together an action takes place
which results in the formation of acetylene gas and slaked lime.
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