MARINE LIGHTING EQUIPMENT OF THE PANAMA CANAL. 107 



UPKEEP OF ACCUMUIvATORS. 



It will be readily understood that the accumulator is not a delicate 

 thing. It will endure rough treatment or careless handling in transit. The 

 strong steel cylinder cannot be easily dented. The valve is protected during 

 transport by an iron cap. Inside, the iron is not affected either by acetone 

 or by acetylene ; outside, it only requires occasional painting to keep it from 

 rusting. Neither will the porous mass cause trouble or require repair. As 

 already stated, it has stood the test of time and, like the steel cylinder, it 

 possesses practically unlimited durability. 



On the other hand, the acetone filling from time to time requires small 

 additions. Minute quantities of it escape with the gas, and this loss will 

 be noticeable after the accumulator has been recharged with gas a number 

 of times. The acetone will be replenished, when necessary, at the govern- 

 ment gas-charging station which, it is understood, will be located at Balboa — 

 the Pacific entrance of the canal. 



These additions of acetone are made at an almost infinitesimal cost per 

 accumulator. 



In connection with the foregoing it should be stated that the admixture 

 of acetone vapor with the acetylene by no means detracts from the light 

 efiiciency of the gas, but in reality is of considerable, practical value, as it 

 causes the acetylene to burn more smoothly and keeps the burner cooler. 



Replenishing of the acetone at intervals, together with occasional paint- 

 ing, are the only items of upkeep connected with the gas accumulators. 



LIGHT APPARATUS. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that acetylene is stored in the accumu- 

 lators under varying degrees of moderately high pressure. At the burner, 

 however, a constant low pressure is required; therefore the gas must be 

 passed through a pressure regulator or governor, to reduce the high pressure 

 to the required low constant pressure. 



The governor. Plates 50-52, is the apparatus used for this purpose. Irre- 

 spective of the gas pressure in the accumulator, whether high or low, and of 

 the gas consumption, whether large or small, the gas always issues from the 

 governor at the constant low pressure suitable for the burner. All piping 

 between the accumulator valves and the governor, through which the high- 

 pressure gas passes, is of special manufacture five-sixteenths of an inch 

 external diameter (see Plate 50). 



