Welding Processes 5

Oxy-acetylene welding process can be used for joining a variety of metals.

Oxygen gas is produced from commercial liquefaction of air. The liquid air is
allowed to boil and when nitrogen and argon escape, pure liquid oxygen is left
with. The gas is compressed in cylinders at a pressure of 15 MPa.
Acetylene gas (C2H2) is produced by the reaction of calcium carbide (CaC2)
with water (H2O).
CaC2 + 2H2O = C2H2 + Ca(OH)2
Acetylene gas has the tendency to explode if the pressure is increased. So the
gas is dissolved in acetone (CH3–CO–CO3) liquid which acts as a solvent for the
gas. One volume of acetone can absorb about 25 volume of acetylene per
atmosphere. The acetylene gas is usually compressed at 1.7 MPa.
The acetylene cylinder will be packed with porous calcium silicate, so that the
liquid is distributed in fine form and the gas is aborbed in an effective way. The
cylinders are fitted with fusible safety plugs made of a low melting alloy (melting
point around 97°C) which will allow the gas to escape if the cylinders are exposed
to excessive heat.
Flame characteristics
When acetylene burns with oxygen the reaction can be given in the form
2C2H2 + 5O2 = 4CO2 + 2H2O
Thus one volume of acetylene combines with 2.5 volume of oxygen. But in
practice, the volume ratio will be 1:1 from cost point of view.

Fig. 1.3 Combustion zones in gas welding

The normal combustion zones are shown in Fig. 1.3. The flame has two zones—
an inner zone where the temperature will be high and is governed by the primary
reaction
C2H2 + O2 = 2CO + H2 + 105 kCal