All-oil Water Gas.
—In places where an abundant supply of cheap oil is available, all-oil water gas has met with a great deal of favor. It is made by atomizing crude oil by a blast of steam in a heated chamber where a combination of the vaporized oil and steam form a gas. In general the gas resembles coal gas and as given in the table on [page 252] is slightly higher in heating value.
Pintsch Gas.
—One of the commercial adaptations of oil gas is that of the Pintsch process of compressing the gas in tanks for transportation. In the Pintsch process, the gas is subjected to a pressure of 10 atmospheres—about 150 pounds. This condensation permits a sufficiently large volume of gas to be stored in tanks as to make possible the lighting of railroad trains, etc., by gaslight. The pressure of the gas is reduced by an automatic regulating valve to that required by the burner. The flame is very much the same as that produced by coal gas.
Blau Gas.
—Another commercial adaptation of oil gas is that known as Blau gas. In this process of storage the gas is subjected to 100 atmospheres of pressure—about 1500 pounds. This pressure is sufficient to liquefy the gas and as a result a large amount can be transported in a relatively small space. According to Fulweiler 1 gallon of the liquefied gas will yield about 28 cubic feet of the expanded gas and there will remain a residue that may run up to 9 per cent.
Water Gas.
—When the vapor of water is brought into contact with incandescent carbon, the water is decomposed and sufficient carbon is absorbed to produce a fuel gas. Its manufacture depends on the decomposition that takes place when steam is blown into a bed of incandescent coal. The gas made by this reaction is a water gas, but due to the fact that when burned it gives a blue flame, it is known as “blue gas.” It has a heating value of about 300 B.t.u. per cubic foot, and as compared with coal gas which gives 622 B.t.u. per cubic foot, would be reckoned at about one-half its value as a heating agent. Blue gas may be rendered luminous by the addition of some hydrocarbon that will liberate free carbon in the flame when burned. This is accomplished in the process of manufacture by the addition of vaporized oil.
The following table as stated by Fulweiler gives the heating values of the gases commonly used for domestic purposes in British thermal units per cubic foot.
| Coal gas. | 622 B.t.u. |
| Carburetted water gas | 643 B.t.u. |
| Pintsch gas. | 1,276 B.t.u. |
| Blau gas. | 1,704 B.t.u. |
| All-oil water gas | 680 B.t.u. |
| Acetylene gas | 1,350 B.t.u. |
| Gasoline gas. | 514 B.t.u. |
| Oil gas | 1,320 B.t.u. |
| Blue water gas | 300 B.t.u. |