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aps the best method of disposing of these residues is to run them into some open pit, allowing the liquid to disappear by evaporation and percolation, finally burying the solid in some spot where it will be out of the way. When a large carbide-to-water generator is worked systematically so as to avoid more loss of acetylene by solution in the excess of liquid than is absolutely necessary, the liquid residues coming from it will be collected in some ventilated closed tank where they can settle quietly. The clear lime-water will then be pumped back into the generator for further use, and the almost solid sludge will be ready to be carried to the pit where it is to be buried. Special care must be taken in disposing of the residues from a generator in which oil is used to control evolution of gas. Such oil floats on the aqueous liquid; and a very few drops spread for an incredible distance as an exceedingly thin film, causing those brilliant rainbow-like colours which are sometimes imagined to be a sign of decomposing organic matter. The liquid portions of these residues must be led through a pit fitted with a depending partition projecting below the level at which the water is constantly maintained; all the oil then collects on the first side of the partition, only water passing underneath, and the oil may be withdrawn and thrown away at intervals.
CHAPTER VI
THE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ACETYLENE
It will only be necessary for the purpose of this book to indicate the more important chemical and physical properties of acetylene, and, in particular, those which have any bearing on the application of acetylene for lighting purposes. Moreover, it has been found convenient to discuss fully in other chapters certain properties of acetylene, and in regard to such properties the reader is referred to the chapters mentioned.
PHY