Blast Furnace Gases.
For many years flames from blast furnaces and coke ovens testified to the waste of valuable gases, in especial the combustible carbon monoxide which is the main ingredient in producer gas. When we learn that coal or coke in iron-smelting parts with but three per cent. of its heat to the ore, we begin to see how grievous was the waste so long endured. For a few years past the gases sent forth from blast furnaces have been employed to heat the incoming air for the blowers, and to raise steam for engines. With twice the efficiency of steam motors the gas engine renders it well worth while to rid furnace gases of their dust and dirt so that they may not injure the mechanism they impel. An effective cleanser acts by separating the gases from their admixtures by centrifugal force. At the Lackawanna Steel Works, Buffalo, N. Y., eight gas-engines, each of 1,000 horse-power, are run on blast furnace gases. It may well prove that installations of this kind will bring other blast furnaces into cities where the sale of electricity will form a large item in the profits.
Four-cycle gas engine. I, admission valve. O, exhaust valve.