Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-04

Illuminating value, the removal OF
these inert impurities then becomes a
question of economy for the COM
pany alone.
Injurious to Health
In regard to noxious impurities, sui
phur and ammonia compounds, 1t Is
quite different. These substances and
their products of combustion are In
furious to health as well as being
obnoxious to users of gas; this being
especially true of the sulphur COM
pounds.
When gas is burned the sulphur
compounds in gas form sulphur ioxide.
which has very unpleasant odor
and at times when the gas is par
ticularly full of sulphur compounds
the odor is so strong as to strG--gle
and almost suffocate anyone work
ing around a gas fire. This class
of compounds should be removed as
completely as it is practicable to do
so on the score of health and COM
fort to the consumers.
Sulphur Figures
Crude gas usually carries hydrogen
sulphide, carbon disulphide and in
addition very small amount of other
sulphur compounds of indefinite COM
position.
The hydrogen sulphide is always the
most important of these and the easi-
est to remove. The removal of the
carbon disulphide Is little more dif-
fcult and expensive.
One hundred feet of crude gas made
under modern practice 6 gallons of
oil per 1000 cubic feet of gas). will
contain 447 grains of sulphur in all
forms when made from sixteen grav-
ity crude oil, containing per cent
of sulphur, If all sulphur goes into
gas; as a matter of fact little more
than one-half the sulphur goes into
the gas. OF this 447 grains of sulphur
about 425 grains will exist In combina-
tion with hydrogen, as hydrogen sui
phide and about twenty-five grains
will exist principally in combination
with carbon as carbon disulphides.
Purifying Is Cheap
All the hydrogen sulphide can be re-
moved from such gas by purifying it
with iron oxide at a cost of not ex-
ceeding 1 cent per 1000 cubic feet
for purifying material (Which would
amount to about $4,000 on the last
years output of the Los Angeles Gas
and Electric company, as per it's an
nual report).
The removal of this hydrogen sui
phide would leave only twenty-five
grains of sulphur in other forms in
100 cubic feet of gas, this being very
little above the maximum allowed usu-
ally. By using oil containing nine
tenths of per cent of sulphur or less,
the sulphur in other forms remaining
in the gas after the. removal of the
hydrogen sulphide would certainly be
less than the usual maximum of
twenty grains per 100 cubic feet.
Should the gas companies wish to save
money by buying a cheaper grade of
oil containing more than this amount
of sulphur, the extra cost of purifica-
tion to remove the excess of sulphur
from the gas made from such oil, is
matter in which they alone are in
terested.
The general run of California crude
oil contains less than 9 per cent of
sulphur, so that proper oil can easily
be obtained.
Requirements
The requirements in regard to sui
phur in gas are as follows:
Sulphuretted hydrogen must be en-
tirely removed.
Sulphur in all other forms must not
exceed twenty-five grains per 100 cubic
feet of gas.
Ammonia is usually restricted to
four to six grains per 100 cubic feet.
1t is valuable product, and it pays
to save it as it is easily removed by
washing the gas properly
There is very little nitrogen Qrom
which ammonia is formed) in our
crude oil; moreover, there seems to be
ntt1a onnn1nr1ia fOrT11pd in tho
cesses here employed.
The city gas inspectors report
shows of no tests having been made
for ammonia, as the city has no IA
cilities for making such tests, no pur-
ity tests being required by our pres
ent city ordinance.