Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-02-05
THE CITY GAS PLANT.
Fiji TEXT OF EXPERT nIcH's HE
PORT TO THE LIGHT COMMITTEE.
FOR SAFETY AND ECONOSi
r.u.,,o Of Much Greater Economy
MIXED Gas wiz lie the 'n'"'-
49,, aud Most sntisf"ctor,--Radic"'
change. Imperative

Thursdays Dispatch. has verified a sus-
piciou O. Ions stanoms'
Mr. RICE Is an expert whose opinion In
,.,,b matters cannot be decried. He says
-. nlant is out OF date and that
,.,ser the most favorable conditions the
host results could not possibly be OBJ
,,.ncd. the methods employed are extrav-
ssant and the arrangement Of the plant
i dangerous In the extreme
,rr. Rice was for several days in charge
~ thc Richmond plant. and seems to have
,boroaea.y exhausted every detan in his
rsrar which is now before the Council
committee on Light.
VIVA, he result OF the recent invesuga-
Goa viii be IL is difficult TO foreshadow,
ba. g would seem that some very radical
measures will be adopted by the CouncH
81 once.
REPORT OF THE EXPERT.
The full text of Mr.. Rice's report is as
follows:
Norfolk, Va, January % 1879
The Committee on Light. Richmond Va:
Gcutemen,-I have the honor TO submit
O. YOU the following report as to the re-
suit OF my recent Investigations INTO the
question Of the manufacture OF water
gas IN Richmond
L The Trouble in the Past
Water gas has been made in your works
since about 1873. when the present plant
was installed. The water gas plant was
Joined on 20 the present coal gas, and no
provision Tor the separate registration OF
the gas made. The performance of the
plant IS therefore. estimated from day
90 day. and from year to year by as
Of cng
from the number OF tons of coal carbon
fed. and subtracting this from the total
amount Of gas metored. This method OF
obtaining the water gas made is crude
sud unsatisfactory, and / could not &C
Cept the figures as reliable enough 10 base
an exact opinion on. From what l couid
learn, however, the machine has never
given satisfaction. the candle-power mas
been hard 10 maintain, the OH results
have been poor. the hourly make OF eas
irregular. and the OIL vapors nave passeu
away in an undxed condition Let me
briefly explain this last statement. IN
making water gas q blue nOn-illuminaung
gas is first obtained. which is then
charged with oil gas I'm a chamber OF hot
checker brick The oil gas supplies the
necessary Illuminating power. The two
gases next pass through hot fixing
chamber OF checker brick Without TINS
last fixing process the oil would con-
dense out Of the gas in the process Of
cooling.
GAS MACHINE NOT EFFICIENT
The gas machine In your works IN OF a
type not generally used. and while not
perhaps regarded with absolute cistaVor'
Is not considered economical or eincleht
IN comparison with later types. Inc
chamber into which the oil-gas is inject
surface
checker brick is also less than demanded
by present practice. This machine would
not fix a heavy oil. and even with naph-
tha- the heats must be most carefully
carried to produce a well-fNed gas. AT
the best IL Is an uneccnomlcal machine
OF which ] shall have more 10 say later
! operated the machine for two days, and
demonstrated 20 my own Satisfaction that
81 oan be run with uaphtha TO make a
good. clean. weli-hXed gas OF high candle
power. As the station meter was out Of
order and the coal-gas plant running l
could only estimate my results, Dut
should say that we obtained a 25-candle
power gas with about five gallons Of oil
per thousand To accomplish this, ] made
radical changes in the methods Of ope-
rating the machine. Your superintendent
was made fully conversant with these
changes. and I left with the understand
part of each daytime for a considerable
pe-iod. and the general quality Of the
city gas and the purifying carefully
watched in the mean time, TO see II tur-
Their trouble developed. If not, then 1t
might be taken for granted that the ma
chine could be run 70 make a satisfactory
gas. and one TO be easily purified. The
publication trouble this winter is, or
course. easily explained in the light Of
81 H.
being carried wrong and the oil vapor
being thus not properly fixed, the oil con-
tnued to condense throughout the works
and city. oil was deposited on the puri-
fving material, coating 1t and rendering
81 useless for its purpose. The untlrlng
vigilance Of your capable superintendent
saved you from absolute disaster but
come days of poor gas were inevitable.
OBJECTION TO THE GAs-MACHINES
II. Tho Condition Of the Works in Re
lation 10 Water Gas. A. The Gas-Ma
chimes.
As already stated, I believe that
have demonstrated that your machin
can be run and make a satisfactory gas
Vt has two Objectionable features, how
ever; first, IL is not economical; second
81 will not handle heavy oils. To con
slider the second first: 4 plant the siz
of Richmond does not want to be de
pendent on naphtha. The price Of
naphtha has been known to 20 very high
while gas oil and crude oil remained re
latively low. Your machine should b.
one that would enable YOU 10 use heav,
oil # prices made it desirable Again
through some unintentional carelcssness
the oil delivered TO your plant might, O.
some occasion, be of heavy body. You
machine would not handle IT, and larg
amount Of purifying material might b
ruined before the variation in oil cOul
be discovered Gravity tests cannot b
depended on in such cases. Your chemi'
might make out a good case against II
OIL company, but this would not so IA
with your consumers, who would agal
have poor gas Possibly. that is what h5
happened this winter, in that the unlike
Oil has been found I'm so much larger pr
portion than in past winters. You c
not want a machine that is on the ragge
edge % disaster, however well II ma
appear 90 creep along the precipice.
or GROUND OF ECONOMY.
Next. economy. Your books Of 1898 sho
a use OF 4l5 gallons OF oil per 1000 an
Sol Of coke. The candle-pOwer is state
as Z25 but is acknowledged 10 have bee
frequently poorer. Taking this iigur
however. this is A76 candles TO the gallo
Of OF. The constructors of machines L
day viii guarantee 5.75 candles per ga
Ion. and frequently obtain and over.
believe your machine at present will
n the blast pressure can be increase
l9u have a small, inadequate. and poorl.
arranged blowing plant which l sha
presently consider. Let us take the be
figures for your machine as candles p'
gallon, and for the improved double supe