Calcium carbide is a compound used for producing acetylene gas, which is a cheaper alternative to traditional fuels. It is also used in the steel industry and for fruit ripening. Acetylene is widely used in industrial processes and oxy-acetylene cutting and welding.
Calcium carbide is a compound produced from a thermally converted combination of coke and lime. It has several industrial applications, the most frequent being the production of acetylene gas. Acetylene is widely used as a less expensive alternative to traditional petroleum-based fuels in many industrial processes. Crude calcium carbide finds further uses in the steel industry as a desulfurization and deoxidizing agent. Less common industrial applications of calcium carbide include carbide lamp fuel, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production, and fruit ripening.
The acetylene-producing characteristics of calcium carbide have been used for many years as a fuel source for lighting, furnaces, and cutting or welding. A product of the high-temperature conversion of coke-lime mixtures, calcium carbide produces large amounts of acetylene gas when exposed to water. Before the development of viable electric lighting, blanks of the compound were used extensively in combination with water to produce acetylene burned in carbide lamps to provide illumination for underground mining, automobiles, and street lighting. These primitive but surprisingly effective lamps can still be found in mines in several developing countries. Although several other industrial uses for the compound have emerged over the years, the most widespread contemporary application of calcium carbide is still the generation of acetylene gas.
Acetylene is an effective and relatively inexpensive fuel source for a number of industrial processes, particularly in developing countries, where it is used as an immediate fuel source and to generate gases for bulk storage. Its ease of manufacture, low cost and simple conversion to gas make it an attractive alternative to traditional fossil fuel sources of heating. Acetylene is also used extensively worldwide in oxy-acetylene cutting and welding applications. The gas is also used in the chemical industry for processing several compounds, the most notable of which is crude PVC.
Iron and steel industries use both crude calcium carbide and acetylene in various manufacturing processes. One such application is the desulfurization of cast iron, pig iron and steel. It is also used in several related applications as a powerful deoxidizer. Acetylene gas is often used in this industry as a heating fuel for specific process applications.
One of the lesser known applications of acetylene gas is found in a somewhat unusual industrial sector. Commercial fruit growers generally harvest crops before they are fully ripe because green fruit is easier to ship. Before being sold, the green fruit is exposed to ethylene or acetylene gas which acts as a hormonal stimulator accelerating the ripening process. In several Asian countries, the fruit is simply placed under bowls along with a couple of pieces of crude calcium carbide where the moisture in the air causes acetylene gas to be released.
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