Calcium Carbide

by Lindley S. Butler and Kimberley Hewitt,

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Calcium carbide, a chemical compound used in the commercial manufacture of acetylene gas, was discovered accidentally during experiments in aluminum processing in Spray (now Eden) in Rockingham County. A local entrepreneur, James Turner Morehead, formed a partnership with Thomas L. Willson, a Canadian chemist, to develop an economical method for producing aluminum. Using existing water-power resources in Spray, the Willson Aluminum Company constructed the first electric arc furnace in the United States to procure the high temperatures necessary to reduce aluminum. Combining aluminum oxide and carbon in the furnace was not successful, but the company did commercially produce alloys of copper and aluminum.

In the course of the experimentation, a mixture of lime and coal tar was introduced with calcium for the purpose of producing metallic calcium as a reduction agent in the aluminum process. Following the routine procedure of quenching the results in water for rapid cooling, a large quantity of gas was observed on 2 May . Morehead's son, John Motley Morehead III, a chemistry graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, identified the new substance as calcium carbide. Lacking gas analysis equipment, they sent a sample to Chapel Hill, where Professor F. P. Venable and an assistant, William Rand Kenan, identified the gas as acetylene. In spite of initially lacking a practical use for the new compound or gas, the elder Morehead continued to produce and experiment, believing that the gas had commercial possibilities for energy and especially lighting use. His heavily mortgaged businesses were lost in the panic of , and he was left with little more than samples of calcium carbide.

In Morehead and Willson convinced New York investors to form the Electric Gas Company to produce calcium carbide and acetylene. Additional experimentation in Spray with alloys led to the development of ferrochromium and ferrosilicon, which were used in the hardening of steel. These steel alloys were important in the development of armor plate and armor-piercing projectiles, which were significant in the late nineteenth-century naval arms buildup. Later power development by Morehead on the James River in Virginia and the Kanawba River in West Virginia, as well as patents in chemical processes and metal alloys, led to the formation of Union Carbide Corporation in Chicago in . Union Carbide was founded with the purpose of producing acetylene gas for use in household lighting and streetlamps, providing an alternative to coal gas and kerosene. The company expanded into producing oxyacetylene for welding in . The merger of Union Carbide, Linde Air Products, Prest-O-Lite Company, and National Carbon Company created Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation, which quickly developed into a producer of petrochemicals, metal alloys, antifreeze, and synthetics. The company is also known for its role in the horrific pesticide plant disaster that killed 3,500 people in Bhopal, India.

Acetylene is a combustible gas, which is used in many critical industrial processes and applications. Some of the well-known commercial applications involving acetylene include welding, portable lighting, and plastic manufacturing. While acetylene is a well-known product today, its origins and the journey of its commercialization goes back to the 19th Century. Here, we provide a brief history on the commercialization of acetylene.

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At the Beginning

The discovery of acetylene and calcium carbide was actually accidental. In , Canadian inventor Thomas Willson was looking for an economical process to produce aluminum. His approach involved using carbon, and an electric arc furnace to reduce aluminum ore. On May 2nd , he tried creating a chemically active metal by using a mixture of calcium oxide and carbon, and heating it in the furnace. When the heated product was placed in water to cool down, it produced a gas with flame and soot. This resulting product was calcium carbide, and the gas was acetylene, which was created as it came in contact with the water. Thomas Willson filed a patent for the process on August 9th of the same year. 

Commercializing Acetylene

In , there was no real use of acetylene in any industrial application. Due to this, Willson and his financial backer James Turner Morehead, started looking at ways to promote the use of the gas. 

• Lighting - Willson and Morehead&#;s first attempt was to showcase the benefits of using acetylene in light fixtures. They proved that acetylene could produce a stronger and brighter flame than coal gas. In January , they sold 1 ton of calcium carbide to a New York chemical and apparatus supplier. In August the same year, they sold the patents for acetylene and calcium carbide to the Electrogas Company. This in turn led to the creation of acetylene burners, and portable acetylene generators. The generators provided lighting for a variety of applications, including mining, railways, automobiles, and even bicycles. Acetylene was also used as a replacement for oil in marine buoys to provide brighter light.
• Hydrocarbon - In , Willson set up a laboratory in New York to work on chemical applications of acetylene. Using the acetylene, he created various quantities of aldehydes, and chloroform. In , he filed a patent showcasing the use of acetylene in creating hydrocarbon products. 
• Alloy Steels - In , Thomas Willson started experimenting with smelting metals using the carbon-arc furnace. The furnace&#;s high temperature helped create an efficient method of forming iron alloys by combining it with metals such as chromium and manganese. The alloys were capable of providing benefits of immense strength in terms of toughness, impact, as well as resistance to corrosion. This led to applications such as plating for military ships, steel tooling, and various stainless steel products. 
• Metal Welding and Cutting - In , experiments with acetylene showcased that the gas could produce flames with temperatures up to °C when burnt with oxygen. Six years later, acetylene was used to create a commercial welding machine in France. These developments led to the adoption of oxyacetylene welding in the United States in . The following year, oxyacetylene welding was used to produce navy ships. The oxyacetylene torches could cut portholes out of 3ʺ metal plates in less than 30 minutes.
• Fertilizer Manufacturing - ThomasWillson wasn&#;t the only person who found beneficial results by experimenting with calcium carbide and acetylene. In , French chemist Henri Moissan found that calcium carbide was capable of absorbing atmospheric nitrogen. In , German Fritz Rothe found that the nitrogen absorption process created a compound called calcium cyanamide. He also found that calcium cyanamide could decompose, and help produce urea and ammonium carbonate. These compounds and salts were used as potent fertilizers from onwards. 
• Plastics, Rubber Products, and Solvents - Due to the success of Willson's creation of chloroform and aldehydes in , acetylene started being used in the production of synthetic fibers, rubbers, plastics and solvents. By , chlorinated solvents were created by chlorinating acetylene. This led to a solvent production plant in . The solvents were used to degrease metals prior to plating or electroplating. In , Germany also produced polyvinyl acetate, which was used in varnishes, paints, paper, adhesives, and textiles. 

During the s, the United States used cellulose acetate to produce synthetic fibers and video films. During this time, Reverend Julius Nieuwland synthesized vinyl acetylene, which led to the development of neoprene in . After WWI, acetylene was used to create butadiene as a substitute for natural rubber. Acetylene was also combined with hydrocyanic acid to produce acrylonitrile, which was then polymerized to create acrylic fibers. 

The vast applications of acetylene prove its versatility and its benefits. These applications validate why acetylene is considered a critical product by industrial organizations.

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