The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-28
How Gas Is Made.
From the Ne,0 York Grdphic.

From the Net0 York Graphic.
How few people can intelligently explain
some of the most ordinary things in every
day life An official of the city gas works
was heard to say not long ago that if he
might Judge by the number of times he was
asked for information not more than two
people in ten know how common illuminat-
ing gas is made. They all seem to under
stand, he said, that it comes out of soft
coal, but they are ignorant of the process
by which it is extracted. We do not doubt
this at all, for, us we have said to you sew
eral times, 1t is the very common things
that we are apt 10 overlook in our search
for information. You will understand,
therefore, why we select subjects to talk
alb )ut with which you and everybody else
ought to be familiar.
Now, let us give you very simple ex-
PLANTATION of gas making. Break up a
piece of bituminous coal into small frag-
mems and ill the bowl of clay tobacco
pipe with them. Cover the mouth OF the
bowl with wet clay, and then thoroughly
dry it, Put the bowl Of the pipe into fire
where it will soon get red hot, and you will
see yellowish smoke come out of the
stem, and if you touch a light to the smoke
it will burn brightly, for it is nothing more
nor less than gas from the coal.
You can purity aud collect this gas in a
very simple way Fill bottle with water
and turn 1t upside down in a bowl of water.
You know the water will not run out of the
bottle because the air pressure on the water
in the bowl will prevent it. Put the end of
the pipe stem under the mouth of the bot
tie and the gas will bubble through the
water into the bottle gradually displacing
the water, and if the pipe were large enough
TO make great deal Of gas, the bottle
would be entirely filled with 1t.
You have seen thu immense quantities of
a.,lsa ntak, fh..tr hnu nf "A rla.
that is what is left of the coal after the gus
has been burned out of it. Cox is carbon,
only a small part of what was in the coal
having gone off with tho gas. Take the
clay covering Off your pipe and you will
find the bowl filed with this coke.
Now, that is precisely tho way gas is
made in large quantities at the gas works.
instead of pipe bowls they use big retorts,
and these are heated rod hot by furnace, for
the fire must be outsidathe retorts. Heat
ing coal red hot in a closed rctort is very
different from burning it IN tine open air.
A large pipe from tho retort carries off the
product OF the coal, consisting Of steam, tar,
air and ammonia as well rs gas. The ammonia
and the tar go into the tanks and the gas
into coolers, aud over lime, which takes up
the acids in it, into the immense iron gas
holders which you have seen at the works.
These holders are open AT the bottom, and
stand, or rather swing, in tanks Of water.
being adjusted by means OF weights. As
the gas comes into them they rise up out of
the water, but the bottoms are always sub
merged, so that the gas cannot escape. The
large gas pipes or mains, as they are called,
connect with the holders, and conduct the
gas through the streets to the houses where
1t is used. The pressure is given to the 8 S
by the weight OF the iron holders, which
are always bearing down ON the gas they
contain.