| Total gas made = 8,700 cubic feet. | |
| Time taken: Blowing. | 1 hour. |
| Time taken: Making. | 50 minutes. |
| Fuel used: Gas coke. | 270 lb. = 31 lb. per 1,000 c.f. |
| Fuel used: Naphtha, sp. gr. 0.709. | 34 gals. = 2.7 gals. per 1,000 c.f. |
| Illuminating power of gas = 21.9 candles. | |
I must admit that these results far exceeded my expectations, although they only confirmed the figures claimed by the patentee; and there are not wanting indications that, when worked on a large scale and continuously, they might be even still further lowered, as it is impossible to obtain the most economical results when making less than 10,000 cubic feet of the gas, as the proper temperature of the walls of the generator are not obtained until after several makes; and it is only after about 8,000 cubic feet of gas has been made that the best conditions are fulfilled.
It will enable a sounder judgment to be formed of the working of the process if the complete experimental figures for a make of gas be taken.
| COMPOSITION OF THE GAS. | |
|---|---|
| Hydrogen. | 46.75 |
| Olefines. | 7.59 |
| Ethane. | 6.82 |
| Methane. | 11.27 |
| Carbon monoxide. | 11.65 |
| Carbon dioxide. | 0.50 |
| Oxygen. | 0.17 |
| Nitrogen. | 8.25 |
| ——— | |
| 100.00 | |
| UNPURIFIED GAS CONTAINED | |
|---|---|
| Carbon dioxide. | 2.32 per cent. |
| Sulphureted hydrogen. | 2.84 per cent. |
| Total sulphur per 100 cu. ft. | = 6.67 per cent |
| Ammonia. | nil |
| Bisulphide of carbon. | nil |
| Gas produced | Naphtha used | ||
| Gals. | Pts. | ||
| 1st. Make. | 3,600 cu. ft. | 10 | 7 |
| 2d. Make. | 2,800 cu. ft. | 7 | 6 |
| 3d. Make. | 2,300 cu. ft. | 5 | 3 |
| —— | — | — | |
| 8,700 | 24 | 0 | |
The last portion of the table shows the economy which arises as the whole apparatus gets properly heated. Thus the first make used 3 gallons naphtha per 1,000 cubic feet, the second 2 gallons 6 pints per 1,000 cubic feet, and the third 2 gallons 4 pints per 1,000 cubic feet, and it is, therefore, not unreasonable to suppose that in a continuous make these figures could be kept up, if not actually reduced still lower.
In introducing the oil it is not injected, but is simply allowed to flow in by gravity, at a point about half way up the column of fuel, the taps for its admission being placed at intervals around the circumference of the generator, and oil at first begins to flow down the inside wall of the generator, but being vaporized by the heat, the vapor is borne up by the rush of steam and water gas, and is cracked to a permanent gas in the upper layer of fuel. This I think is the secret of not being able to use heavier grades of oil, these being sufficiently non-volatile to trickle down the side into the fire box at the bottom, and so to escape volatilization. I have tried to steam-inject the oil, but have not found that it yields any better results.
One of the first things that strikes any one on seeing a make of gas by this system is the enormous rapidity of generation. Mr. Leicester Greville, who is chemist to the Commercial Gas Company, in reporting on the process, says, "The make of gas was at the rate of about 86,000 cubic feet in 24 hours. A remarkable result, taking into consideration the size of the apparatus." It is quite possible, with the small apparatus, to make 100,000 cubic feet in 24 hours; indeed the run for which the figures are given are over this estimate; and it must be borne in mind that this rapidity of make gives the gas manager complete control over any such sudden strains as result from fog or other unexpected demands on the gas-producing power of his works; while a still more important point is that it does away with the necessity of keeping an enormous bulk of gas ready to meet any such emergency, and so renders unnecessary the enormous gasholders, which add so much to the expense of a works, and take up so much room.
Perhaps the greatest objection to water gas in the public mind is the dread of its poisonous properties, due to the carbon monoxide which it contains; but if we come to consider the evidence before us on the increase of accidents due to this cause, we are struck by the poor case which the opponents of water gas are able to make out. No one can for a moment doubt the fact that carbon monoxide is one of the deadliest of poisons. It acts by diffusing through the air cells of the lungs, and forming, with the coloring matter of the blood corpuscles, a definite compound, which prevents them carrying on their normal function of taking up oxygen and distributing it throughout the body, to carry on that marvelous process of slow combustion which not only gives warmth to the body, but also removes the waste tissue used up by every action, be it voluntary or involuntary, and by hindering this, it at once stops life.