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Page 37
s. d.
Two and a half gallons of oil........... 0 10
Thirty pounds of coke................... 0 21/4
Labor and purification.................. 0 2
Charge on plant......................... 0 03/4
------
1 3
And the enriched coal gas would, therefore, cost 1s. 3/4d. per thousand,
the extra 11/2-candle power having been gained at an expense of 3/4d. or
1/2d. per candle.
Tabulating these results we have--Cost of enriching a 16-candle gas up
to 17.5 candle power per 1,000 cubic feet by cannel coal, 4d.; by
Maxim-Clarke process, 2-6/10d.; by Lowe or Springer water gas, 11/2d.;
by Van Steenbergh water gas, 3/4d.
In reviewing this important subject, and bringing a wide range of
experimental work to bear upon it, I have, as far as is possible,
divested my mind of bias toward any particular process, and I can
honestly claim that the fact of the Van Steenbergh process showing
such great superiority is due to the force of carefully obtained
experimental figures, corroborated by an experienced and widely known
gas chemist, and by the chief gas examiner of the city.
In adopting any new method, the mind of the gas manager must to a
great extent be influenced by the circumstances of the times, and the
enormous importance of the labor question is a main factor at the
present moment; with masters and men living in a strained condition
which may at any moment break into open warfare, the adoption of such
water gas processes would relieve the manager of a burden which is
growing almost too heavy to be borne.
Combining, as such processes do, the maximum rate of production with
the minimum amount of labor, they practically solve the labor
question. Requiring only one-tenth the number of retort house hands
that are at present employed, the carbureted water gas can be used for
enrichment until troubles arise, and then the gas can be used pure and
simple, with a hardly perceptible increase in expense, while the
rapidity of make will also give the gas manager an important ally in
the hour of fog, or in case of any other unexpected strain on his
resources.
One of the first questions asked by the practical gas maker will be:
"What guarantee can you give that as soon as we have erected plant,
and got used to the new process of manufacture, a sudden rise in the
price of oil will not take place, and leave us in worse plight than we
were before?" and the only answer to this is that, as far as it is
possible to judge anything, this event is not likely to take place in
our time. A year ago the prospects of the oil trade looked black, as
the output of American oil was in the hands of a powerful ring, who
seemed likely also to obtain control of the Russian supplies; but,
fortunately, this was averted, and, at the present moment, the Russian
pipe lines are flooding the market with an abundant supply, which
those best able to judge tell us is practically inexhaustible, so that
prices may be expected to have a downward rather than an upward
tendency. But even should a huge monopoly be created, I think I have
found a source of light at home which will hold its own against any
foreign illuminant in the market.
For a long time I have felt that in this country we had sources of
light and power which only needed development, and the discovery of
the right way to use them, in order to give an entirely new complexion
to the question of carbureting; and now by the aid of the engineering
skill and technical knowledge of Mr. Staveley, of Baghill, near
Pontefract, I think it is found.
At three or four of the Scotch iron works the Furnace Gases Co. are
paying a yearly rental for the right of collecting the smoke and gases
from the blast furnaces. These are passed through several miles of
wrought iron tubing, diminishing in size from 6 feet down to about 18
inches; and as the gases cool, so there is deposited a considerable
yield of oil.
At Messrs. Dixon's, at Glasgow, which is the smallest of these
installations, they pump and collect about 60,000,000 cubic feet of
furnace gas per day; and recover, on an average, 25,000 gallons of
furnace oils per week, using the residual gases, consisting chiefly of
carbon monoxide, as fuel for distilling and other purposes, while a
considerable yield of sulphate of ammonia is also obtained. In the
same way a small percentage of the coke ovens are fitted with
condensing gear, and produce a considerable yield of oil, for which,
however, there is a very limited market, the chief use being for
lucigen and other lamps of the same description, and for pickling
timber for railway sleepers, etc.; the result being that, four years
ago, it could be obtained in any quantity at 1/2d. per gallon, while
since that it has been as high as 21/2d. a gallon, but is now about 2d.,
and shows a falling tendency. Make a market for this product, and the
supply will be practically unlimited, as every blast furnace and coke
oven in the kingdom will put up plant for the recovery of the oil, and
as with the limited plant now at work it would be perfectly easy to
obtain 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 gallons per annum, an extension of the
recovery process would mean a supply sufficiently large to meet all
demands.
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