One of the most popular metalworking devices is a gas cutter, which allows you to cut iron and steel products in accordance with the approved project. The action of such devices is based on heating the material to high temperatures, burning it in an oxygen stream and removing the combustion products from the cutting zone with the same stream.
At large production facilities, the acetylene cutter is particularly popular, which is capable of cutting steel sheets and metal products with a thickness of 300 millimeters or more. At the same time, the productivity of the enterprise increases, the quality of product processing improves, and the production process accelerates.
Acetylene torch device
Any oxy-fuel cutter consists of three main parts - gas cylinders, barrel and tip. The barrel is a handle with nipples that serve to attach gas hoses with oxygen and acetylene. There are also three valves on the body, which regulate the supply of cutting and heating oxygen, as well as working gas (acetylene).
One of the main elements included in the acetylene cutter is an injector - an accelerator of charged particles. A mixing chamber is immediately attached to it, in which a combustible mixture of acetylene and chemically pure oxygen is formed. The mixing chamber smoothly passes into the heating oxygen supply tube.
There is a branch in front of the injector itself - a cutting oxygen tube. There is a valve on it that regulates the flow of chemically pure oxygen. The ends of the tubes for supplying the heating mixture and cutting oxygen are attached to the tip. It consists of internal and external mouthpieces, which are placed in a special torch head.
Acetylene torch principle of operation
Like any other oxy-fuel knife, an acetylene cutter treats metal products with simultaneous exposure to high temperature and directed oxygen jet. After connecting the gas hoses to the nipples, oxygen is directed in two directions. One part of the gas, through a special branch, enters the cutting oxygen tube, and the other into the injector.
Leaving the injector, oxygen develops high speed and creates a rarefaction zone in the mixing chamber. Due to the pressure difference, acetylene begins to “suck” into the chamber, which is evenly mixed with O 2 . The resulting mixture of gases at high speed moves further and breaks out through the gap between the inner and outer mouthpieces, while igniting.
Thus, a heating flame is formed, which brings the material to an amorphous (semi-liquid / semi-solid) state. Through the tip mounted on the acetylene cutter, a jet of cutting oxygen also breaks out, which “blows away” molten metal at its high speed.
Features of Acetylene Cutter
All features of the acetylene cutter are due to the working gas - acetylene. Unlike other types of fuel, it is able to warm up to a temperature of about 3100 degrees Celsius. It is thanks to this that:
- Highest productivity - with the help of an acetylene gas-oxygen knife, you can cut material with a thickness of more than 300 mm.
- A low proportion of oxidative processes — structural bonds in molecules are instantly destroyed without the formation of compounds with oxygen.
- High quality cutting.
Acetylene cutting torch “Mayak” is presented in a wide assortment on the market. Models differ mainly in either the barrel design or its replaceable part — the mouthpiece, on which the intensity and the size of the gas stream depend.
Universal cutters
In some cases, using an acetylene gas cutter is not economically feasible. At the same time, having two cutters operating on different types of fuel is unreasonable. Therefore, at large production facilities, universal gas-oxygen knives are especially popular. Their main feature is the ability to work on different types of fuel.
The vast majority of universal units are used for manual cutting of unalloyed products or steels with a low percentage of carbon in their composition. The most widely used
propane / acetylene cutter. The first type of gas is used for processing materials up to 200 mm thick, and the second - over 300 mm.