, 1859-10-08
The Water Gas Discover,

lFhua tie Ih1adelphis North American, Oct. 81
For some time past, it has been known that
experiments had been made at the City Gas
Works tu test the value Of Professor Sanders
patented process Of 1nukiug gus from. witer but
with What result i. was impossible to ascertain,
as no report was made on the subject As q
humber Of Philadelphia cauita]ists had eu1-
har ked In the undertaking, and felt interested
IN the result, arrangements were made for cx-
pesiments at the Wilmington Gas Works, and
the consent Of that corporation beng obtained.
temporary structure Tss erected outside Of
The Gas Works. uud there provided with the az.
raratus requisite for making water gas. Tie
theory Of The process is described iu tue sub
i''ircd statement, furnished us By the expert
menters-
Tile light produced By the burning of coal or
rosn gas is derived from less thnu ten per cent.
cent, willie burning, evolving the heat required
to maintain tue extra atoms Of carbon ia tue
first named ten per cent, in IN iucandescent or
1t.ht-gising condition. But 10 produce this
large per centagc Of nou-illuminating, heating
gas, coal or rosin must be desructvely distilled,
IL il ull the product Of such dstillation was to
be made into liSht-givins matter: Now it fol-
le made TO yield, inexpensively, this heat-evoly-
ing, non-lllnmioating proportion Of gus, the cost
If gas manufacturing for illumination will be
}ruportionatc1y reduced. Upon this theory
Sanders process is founded. " utter, as steam,
is deconposed BY being passed over red.hot
charcoal, and the resulting gases. hydrogen,
carbonic-oxide, and light caFpurretted hydrogen
are chemically combined win heavy carburret-
ted hy lEogeu, or orlight-giving gas, b. the decom-
position Of rosin or coal rapor, simultaneously
with and in the presence Of the decomposition
Of the vapor Of water. In these points Of rreyi-
Gus mixture aud simultaneous decomposition Of
water rapor, md hydru.carbon rapor, in the
-F -. -
ity and the merit Of Sanders pateut- The prac-
tical working Of the process On large scale,
justliies, approximately, The claim Of his patent
for an improvement in The manufacture Of iliu-
Inlnatlng gas.
1t the Wilmington Coal Gas Works. three
small water gas Tetorts. aggreSa'ing but one
twenty seventh ofthe cIbical area Of their coal
Ens retorts, equal in rroductiEeness the whole
of their coal gus apparatus ID present use, pro-
duclng with case from twelve hundred TO eight.
cen hundred feet per hour. The gas manufac-
turcd is superior in color and strength Of flame
10 that produced from coal. Rosin is used as
the carbonizing element, requiring from twenty
five to forty pounds for every thousand feet Of
gas, which il free from sulphur or Nitrogen, aud
las an odor rather agreeable than otherwise.
When it is remembered that rosin, in the Gus.
ao1oary modes Of gus nuking, produces but from
five to scven feet Of gas per pound, it will he
Keen how important must be tie improvement
TINT will increase its economical yafue as light
giving clement four hundred per ccnt Sau-
t'ers process is not confined to the use Of rusin,
but also covers the use Of batulninous coal. hg-
mite, or any Of the u,ultItudinous forms Of l,y-
.carbonaceous material.
Gas, By this process, costs from thirty to fifty
cents per thousand, depending somewhat upon
locality. 1t saves nlne-tenths Of the labor and
expense Of erection Of coal gas works, is per-
fect!y safe, and by its freedom from smoke or
L. rrnf1 tta nha so ~,
Lly adapted to culinary ard domestic use. Pre-
pazatious arc now being made to entirely super
ncde coal gas in Wilmington, with water gas
made By this process
Arrangements having been made 10 hare the
experiments repeated on Saturday evening, q
yiteA to witness it. We noticed among them
several scientific men. one or two concerned in
contracts for erecting gas works, who. before
proceeding to put up works to make coal gas,
had paused to Zee the result Of the new lnyen-
ton, Ms- Isaac d. Dudd, Treasurer Of the North
ctn Liberties Gas Company. Mr. Aarnadukc
Moore, one OF the officers Of the same CORPORA
lion. Mr. J4nas G. Clark, aud the representa-.
tiyes Of the city newspapers. These all witnes-
| ted she process Of making gas, inspected The
| apparatus, and came back to Philaqelph;a per
/ fsci'y satisfied Of its complete success. The
| coal gas 1ctorts in the main building were
| emitted, and we saw them in that condition,
|
set in motion, und produced q very superio.
article Of gas. much more brilliant than thai
made fror, coal, though requiring 4 new and
different burner to giye it free scope. As tht
gas lamps in Wilmington were all fitted Will
Old burners, the new gas burned but badly
through them, SO that the good people Of Vii
u,ington were in no very pleasant hun,nr ove1
| the experiments. Yet We saw the old burners
| taken Of in number Of places nj hotels and il
Offices, and the illuminating power obtained
by tue change Was much greater, in fact abou
| double, t.
son, uf our city gas works 1t has double slit
through ~hich The sas obtains vent, aud ".
understand shat although The fame thus Oh
taiocd is 50 brilliant, there is no greater e1pea
diture Of gus than by tho old burner, the differ
ence being that by the new burner all the ga'
Issuing fUTth is consumed, whereas there is
per eentexe Of wasse in the old BURNER. Il is
variation Of an invention made By Nr. Cressoi
10 suit the wood gas which be has patented
That, also, will not burn we'll through the coa
gas burner. Prof. Sanders process Of making
water gas also requires, different Tetert from
that used in making coal gas. 1t is L shaped.
We a1p informed that the Northern Lsbe1tie;