The Red Cloud chief., 1880-01-08
The Great Gas Well and Carbon Fac
tory nj Aurrayssilie. ia.


About = year ago, ia boring for oil =,
Mnrraysyille, hear fl;tshurg. iS. the
boring tools tapped al extraordinary
vein oi natural "a. The fo~ VA csgf-
mated ~ about So.vfO Cubiv feet per
hour. Recent measurements show that
instead II decreasing, the present hoW
i, fully iu,tsJ feet per huur greater than
the first estimate, while thr pressure AZ
the mouth If the well i ~ pounds per
square inch, This enormous quantity II
natural fuel has, mp Ia this time. b@cn
mostly wasted. but WILL sboa be- utilized
for the manufacture If carbon black, or
=" lamp black, A. il i more commonly
called.
\ Fitt>hurg firm. Messrs. sheriff. n
i~iaZely. are Al work upon a contract for
the machinery and fittings Il what will
probably hc the largest carbon black
factory IN the world. Tho appliances
for collecting the snot from the Murrays-
vile gas are the following Near tn.
well is erected a frame hgilding. $40 by
i15 feet, and into itthc gas i, lci In four
parallel lengths If 80 feet each, II .
inch gas pipe. Along the sides e these
are fitted short branches of Is ga
pipe, terminating in a slight upward
curve AMI tipped with ordinary gas
burners oi d fuot per hour capacity.
Above these burners, ut = distance
of 10 inches, are placed n
series If east iron plates,
contiguous and forming a smooth sur
face whcreou the carbon black j. de-
posted. \ small car travelling ON rail,
laid between burners and plates. and
furnished with a >crapiug device. plies
forward and back every ~ minutes
during the u hours. This carriage j.
propelled 10y steam power, operating
through wire rope and suitable gearing,
drums, etc. The smoke al carbon black
is Scrapc,l into pan, hung upon the ear,
and these are dumped 81 each end ~ the
route into rcccptayic>, which are Ia turn
empiied aud deposited in the purifying
and packing house. After simply r.
moving ciudrr~, etc. hy pHssiDg through
sleeves, the SCOT j. ready for the market.
The daily product of this plant viii be
IL pound carbon black per burner, l.. C..
200 pounds. there being 1000 burners.
Another plant ~ 1000 burners j. 20 br
erected. the $500 burners to turn uu,
two tons of carbon black daily. There
will then still De 1900 cubic feet of "a,
20 & waste hourly, sufficient Ia light a
good sized town. The owners of the
Murray,villc gas wen refused Szu.tONfo for
il from the Edgar Thomson Steel Works.
of Pittsburg, who wanted 10 ounec
the well with their works 10y Il gas main,
about IL miles in length.
The phenomenon of an invisible
gaseous substance issuing from the
earth made visible, condensed into solid
form, and packed mp for market is
.strikingly Illustrated in this establish
ment. The gas as il issues from the
ground is unseen, hut a given volume a
it Is found by chemical analysis Ia con
SiSt approximately 1--WE do not mean "a
10y weight Of carbon and four parts ot
hydrogen; in other words, a quantity of
the gas that weighs IS pounds is made
NY Of - pounds Of carbon and four
pounds Of hydrogen. This hydrogen
seems Ia have the power Of Imprisoning
and concealing the carbon from human
But carbon is carbon, whether
in this gas or existing in the carbonic
acid that gives pungency and efferves-
cence To the soda water we drink. or in
the lamp flame imparting it, ~brilliancy,
pr in the sparkling diamond. the hard
est Of substances and the purest form Of
carbon.
The carbon that IN M in the gas
well is rendered visible by separating
the hydrogen from il, which il done by
he heat Of the flame. The hydrogen
in the gas is burned up by
with the oxygen If the air. but
,nly a portion Of the carbon Is burned;
he unconsumed portion Of the carbon,
liberated by the burning Of il hydro
zen, rises up against the plates. where
I sticks fast until scraped off as de
.cribed.-ScieHtifc Amertcan.