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    Propane Vs Acetylene

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    slamet_r
    Propane produces more BTUs than acetylene but releases heat differently in its flame. While acetylene's flame releases 40% of heat in its inner cone, propane releases less than 10% in its inner cone. When cutting, placing the propane torch's outer flame cone on the metal for preheating works better than the acetylene method of using the inner cone. Modern industrial plate cutting often uses propane due to its ability to quickly preheat thick metal. While acetylene burns hotter, the performance difference between it and propane for cutting is not as significant as claimed when propane's optimal heating method is employed.

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    Propane Vs Acetylene

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    slamet_r
    98 views2 pages
    Propane produces more BTUs than acetylene but releases heat differently in its flame. While acetylene's flame releases 40% of heat in its inner cone, propane releases less than 10% in its inner cone. When cutting, placing the propane torch's outer flame cone on the metal for preheating works better than the acetylene method of using the inner cone. Modern industrial plate cutting often uses propane due to its ability to quickly preheat thick metal. While acetylene burns hotter, the performance difference between it and propane for cutting is not as significant as claimed when propane's optimal heating method is employed.

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    Propane - acetylene

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    Propane vs acetylene

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    Propane produces more BTUs than acetylene but releases heat differently in its flame. While acetylene's flame releases 40% of heat in its inner cone, propane releases less than 10% in its inner cone. When cutting, placing the propane torch's outer flame cone on the metal for preheating works better than the acetylene method of using the inner cone. Modern industrial plate cutting often uses propane due to its ability to quickly preheat thick metal. While acetylene burns hotter, the performance difference between it and propane for cutting is not as significant as claimed when propane's optimal heating method is employed.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    98 views2 pages

    Propane Vs Acetylene

    Uploaded by

    slamet_r
    Propane produces more BTUs than acetylene but releases heat differently in its flame. While acetylene's flame releases 40% of heat in its inner cone, propane releases less than 10% in its inner cone. When cutting, placing the propane torch's outer flame cone on the metal for preheating works better than the acetylene method of using the inner cone. Modern industrial plate cutting often uses propane due to its ability to quickly preheat thick metal. While acetylene burns hotter, the performance difference between it and propane for cutting is not as significant as claimed when propane's optimal heating method is employed.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    Andys Place, Propane vs Acetylene Cutting Page 1 of 3

    Propane versus Acetylene


    Originally posted on the Hobart Forum by TRG-42
    Pictures added and facts checked by Andrew Booker

    When people tell you about how difficult propane is to cut when compared to acetylene they are not really
    providing you with all the information.

    FACT :

    z Maximum neutral flame temperature of acetelyne in oxygen is about 5720oF.


    z Maximum neutral flame tempature of propane in oxygen is about 5112oF.

    The difference doesn't really matter as the real concern is for the thermal output ( BTUs ).

    FACT :

    z BTU's of Acetylene is approximately 1470 btu's per cubic foot.


    z BTU's of Propane is approximately 2498 btu's per cubic foot.

    So when they say propane gives off less heat it is not entirely correct ( plain wrong actually ). In the welding
    industry the vast majority of preheating is done with Oxygen / Propane . This is a fact . They don't do it just
    because it's cheaper but because the available heat from propane is much higher.

    FACT : If you look at any torch manufacturers catalog, you will see Propane, Propylene and MAPP heating
    tips / nozzles of 250,000 btu/hrs to 1,000,000 btu/hrs. But if you look at the Acetylene heating tips / nozzles
    the maximum you see in the Harris catalog is a relatively small 240,000 btu/hrs, Smith Acetylene heating tip /
    nozzles are slightly less than 200,000 btu/hrs and Victor is about 300,000 btu/hrs. These are all far less than
    what they make for Oxygen / Propane use.

    Back to the Unfair Comparison

    For years people professed that Acetylene was better for cutting then Propane . While temperature wise
    Acetylene is hotter than Propane the fact is that they were using Propane for cutting incorrectly. The mistake
    they make is that they are cutting with Propane like they would cut with Acetylene. It turns out "where" the
    heat is in the propane preheat flame is not where it is with Acetylene.

    FACT : Propane releases only a small proportion of heat in the inner flame cone ( less than 10% ), so most
    of the heat in the flame is in located in the outer cone . Acetylene releases almost 40% of its heat in the inner
    flame cone.

    Problem with where the heat is in the flame.

    If you cut with acetylene you normally put the tip of the inner flame cone on the metal. If you do the same with
    propane you will be waiting for a long time. If you raise the torch so that the outer flame cone is used the

    http://www.cousesteel.com/AndysPlace/PropaneAcetylene.html 30/08/2010
    Andys Place, Propane vs Acetylene Cutting Page 2 of 3

    preheat process is started faster . Is it necessarily as fast a preheat as Acetylene, no but it is nowhere as
    poor as most people think.

    FACT : Just about all industrial plate cutting operations today not using Plasma Cutting Technology ( CNC
    tables ) are normally done with Oxygen / Propane or Propane derivatives. If you watch these tables cut, it will
    simply amaze you how quickly they can start a cut on 1" and over plate using the lowly Propane gas.

    Stochiometric Ratios of Burning Gas

    Propane has a greater stoichiometric oxygen requirements than acetylene: for the maximum flame
    temperature in oxygen, the ratio of the volume of oxygen to fuel gas are 1:2 to 1 for acetylene and 4.3 to 1 for
    propane. there is far more oxygen being used in the cutting orifice than there is being fed into the preheat
    mixer tube of the tip. So the numbers look in favour of Acetylene but it's not as bad as you were initially lead
    to believe.

    Oxygen / Acetylene gas jet and nozzle design.

    Oxygen / Propane gas jet and nozzle design.

    Welding with Propane

    Lots of conjecture out there on why you can't weld with propane. Some say Propane is not hot enough.
    Actually that has nothing to do with it. Take a #7 Oxygen / Propane tip and compare it to a tiny #1 welding tip.
    Even though the Propane tip has a far higher BTU output you still will not get a good weld. The reason
    Propane ( and other alternative fuels ) are not suitable is that when Acetylene is burning with Oxygen it
    creates a cone of CO2 forming a shielding gas over the weld puddle. Propane does not produce this shielding
    CO2.

    The bottom line is there are may people who will not be conviced Propane is a good cutting fuel gas, which is
    fine, but the performance difference is not as bad as some of Acetylene advocates would lead you to believe.

    http://www.cousesteel.com/AndysPlace/PropaneAcetylene.html 30/08/2010

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