Who invented Oxy-Acetylene Gas Cutting Torch?
In 1895, a French chemist, Henry Le Chatelier, announced to the world that combustion of equal quantities of acetylene and oxygen produced a flame far hotter (about 60000F or 33000C) than any gas flame previously known. Further, he pointed out that the flame did not oxidize the metals which it melted. At once, experimenters went to work to find a way of controlling the flame for welding purposes. Credit for producing the first torch is generally given to Edmond Fouche, of France, who had already discovered a safe way to compress acetylene into cylinders. In 1903, Fouche sent one of his first torches to the U.S., where it was used with success in that same year. Dr. Carl Von Linde of Germany built his first plant for producing liquid air (to be used for refrigerating purposes) in 1895, the same year in which Le Chatelier discovered the remarkable properties of the oxy-acetylene flame. In 1902, Von Linde built a plant which not only liquefied air, but then fractionated it to produce pure
