San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-04-07
WATER GAS.
What 1t Is, How It Is Made, and What
II Costs.

"Candle power" calculated DIR. Davie.
son, Of st. Louis, last evening to LIGHT
reporter, show many people use that er'
preston and how few Of them know
what 1t actually means. The term can
die power means the light produced by
q standard sperm candle, which burns
l02 grains Of spermsceti per hour. see
q company 10 being formed for the pur-
pose Of introducing water gas here.
This is an excellent idea. st. Louis will
shortly discard coal gas altogether for
the modern water gas, SO highly do they
think Of 1t.
what is the process by which water
gas 10 nader" inquired the reporter.
81 will tell you. Careful experiment
has fully demonstrated that one pound
Of the very best varieties Of bituminous
coal will yield no more than six cubic
feet Of Illuminating gas OF l6-candle
power, while the usual quality and
quantity Of gas Is ~ cubic feet, the IL
Eliminating power Of which ranges from
l3 to l6 candles. The admiIture Of
gases obtained from coal is totally unfit
for use until 1t Is purified, but these puri-
flying processes cannot be carried too
far, as the gas would be deprived Of too
much Of Its oily vapor by which it's lu-
minosity would be impaired. There is
no analogy in the volume Of illuminate
ing gas, which may be obtained from
the destructive distillatIon Of q
given amount OF coal, and the
quantity that Is obtained by the
disassociatiOn OF the vapor Of water
from the same amount. The coal
gas system requires . multiplicity Of
fires under the retorts Of the boilers Of
the engine required to furnish power to
run the exhausters. or all the fuel
burned In the numerous necessary fires
not less than 20 per cent. Of the heat
generated is utilized; in fact, the coal
gas system does not, under its most
favorable conditions, utilize more than
10 per cent. In making water gas there
10 but one fire employed. Immediately
oyel the generator is q tubular boiler,
which acts on q stack, and through
which the products from our furnace are
made to pass, by which means the water
contained In the boiler Is heated and
boiled.
1.-THE fire gases, after having boiled
the water In the first boiler, pass down
through q second boiler, yielding to 1t
their absorbed heat; from this second
boiler they are conducted into the brick
jacket which surrounds this boiler and
are there fired and supplied with sufii-
Gent atmospheric air for their complete
combustion, by which the water In the
second boiler IL boiled, aud portion Of
the brick jacket brought to q cherry or
straw-colored heat. The products Of
this second and complete combustion
now pass from the front portion of the
brick jacket to the back Of the jacket, in
which 10 situated the convoluted pipes
which supply air to the blast. In this
way by the contact Of the highly heated
products Of combustion with these pipes,
the air supplied to the blast Is healed to
600 or 700 degrees.
1.-The steam for the two boilers Is now
made to enter and pass through the
highly heated part Of the brick jacket,
by which means 1t 10 elaborated, that is,
by its contact with the brick of the
jacket, which are from q bright cherry
to straw color, 1900 degrees to 1000 de-
grees +, any wet or watery particles are
fully vaporized, and the whole made into
highly heated dry steam. By this
method 80 per cent Of the fuel is used
and thus the saving Is enormous when
compared to oosl-gas.
Water-gas produced by the decompo-
sition Of the vapor OF water by its con-
tact with incsnaescent coal consists Of
Oxygen ......... NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 2.T
Nitrogen. 343
Hydrogen. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. bl.Ib
Carbonic acid OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 2OJ
Protocarbureted hydrogen ............... al
Carbonic oxide. -. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 35S5
nm u