Acetylene is a highly flammable gas and it is conventionally produced by a reaction between calcium carbide and water.
When burned with oxygen, acetylene produces the hottest flame of all the fuel gases (3200°C). Acetylene’s high level of reactivity makes it a very useful fuel gas for welding, cutting, heat treatment and coating across a wide range of industries.
Due to its high flame temperature and highly localised heating it is also used in laboratories and research for optical spectrometry as an instrumentation gas.
Acetylene’s ability to generate carbon black when incompletely combusted in air, is used in mould release and other anti-stick applications in industries such as glass, iron and steel.