Acetylene is a highly flammable & colorless gas. It poses fire and explosion hazards at very low concentrations. Typical applications include flame heating, flame gouging, welding, flame hardening, flame cleaning, flame straightening, thermal spraying, spot- heating, brazing , texturing, profile- cutting, branding wooden pallets, wood- ageing and carbon coating.
Acetylene is the only fuel gas recommended for underground working conditions because it is lighter than air. It is also the only fuel gas, for instance, which can be used to weld steel.
In cutting, oxy-acetylene gives the fastest preheating and piercing times of any fuel gas combination.
In atomic absorption flame spectroscopy, acetylene is combined with high-purity synthetic air no nitrous oxide as a fuel for the flame.