The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-14
USE OF COAL GAS
 IS ON INCREASE Rise in Cost of Water Gas Resulting in More of
 Coal Product. MIXED GAS USED HERE New Haven Company is Furnishing About Half
 and Half.
MIXED GAS USED HERE

The use of coal gas by city gas com panies is in the ascendency again. Probably few of the users of the gas furnished by the New Haven Gas com pany realize that 1t Is a mixture of practically one-half coal gas and one- half gas manufactured from carburat- ed water. Yet such is the case. There has been during the past few years steady increase in the proportion of coal gas used, and to-day the mixture contains larger proportion of coal gas than has been furnished for years.
 Several years ago the New Haven company ceased the manufacture of coal gas and the water gas was man ufactured exclusively here for year and half preceding December, 1904 Since then coal gas has been made continuously in increasing quantities. It was stated yesterday by President Charles H. Nettleton, of the Gas com pany, that the gas which is at present furnished is made up of about AS to 30 per cent. coal gas and 50 to 55 per cent carburated water gas. He further stated that there would undoubtedly be further increase in the amount of coal gas produced, but 1t was his opin- ion that there was not likely to be much of an increase in it's percentage in the mixture.
 The carburated water gas is a richer gas than the coal gas, and furnishes a higher candle power. As manufactur- ed here, the water gas has candle power Of about A, while the pure coal gas is 16 It is aimed to keep the gas furnished by the company as near 2O- candle power as possible, and this is pretty effectively maintained.
 President Nettleton explained that more than one-half the gas furnished is used for heating and manufacturing purposes, and the company believes that the gas as now mixed comes near CT fulfilling all needs than either a richer or poorer gas would do The gas used in manufacturing establish ments is desired to be of as uniform heat and quality as possible
 The coal gas furnishes a greater number of heat units per candle power than does the water gas. By the com sbination of the two, therefore, the best results are obtained.
 Mir. Nettleton explained the increase in the use of coal gas in this way There had been constant drop in the use of that kind of gas until it reached its lowest ebb a few years ago. The by-products of crude oil, such as naphtha and gasoline, were drugs on the market number of years ago and were very easy and economical to ob- tain Latterly there has been a great increase in the demand for these by products, in part due to the demand for these supplies for operating auto mobiles and in such service, and in ac- cordance with tn eprinciple of supply and demand the price had steadily ad vanced to high figure at the present time With the increase in the price of the products needed to manufacture the water gas, there has been lessen- ed tendency to its manufacture, and the coal gas has been coming into it's own more or less throughout the coun- try.
 MT. Nettleton, when asked regarding this tendency, said: "There is a ten ueIlCy III ttidl QtlCCllOlly Dul uOti think it is a very strong one. The bulk of the gas now made on the Att lantic coast, I should say fully three fourths, is still water gas. The pro- portion of coal gas we shall use is not likely to increase much. Any increase will depend upon the necessities of the business"
 MT Nettleton stated that the large new gas plant in East Chapel street, at Mill river, is a coal gas retort house. It was opened in March, 1906, and has capacity of 100000 cubic feet day. It is at present being operated at about one-half it's maximum capacity The latest water gas plant erected by the company was placed in operation in April, 1903, and has maximum ca pacity of 4,OO0,O00 cubic feet. About one-fourth is utilized, The company is sending out little over 2,000,0O0 cu- bic feet of gas per day at present. The company will continue, from the pres ent outlook certainly, to put out a mixed gas, as by this method a gas is obtained that comes nearer fulfilling all the needs of the users.