57 



It hiis been demonstrated by test at the United States coal testing sta- 

 tion in St. Louis that Indiana bituminous coal can be converted into pro- 

 ducer gas and that when this gas is burned in a gas engine it yields 2 

 to 2y^ times as much energy as could be obtained from burning the same 

 coal under a boiler. 



The advantages of burning coal gas pertain equally to using peat as 

 a gaseous fuel. Tlie use of solid peat fuel involves a loss of more than 

 25% of heat, which loss may be reduced to about 1.5% by first converting the 

 peat into gas and then burning the gas. 



Peat gas is valued above coal gas iu the steel industry on account of 

 its greater freedom from sulphur and phosphorus. 



R. D. Wood & Oo., of Philadelphia, have made experiments on the 

 application of Texas lignite in gas producers and have demonstrated its 

 value as a basis of gas production. This lignite is not far removed in 

 its chemical composition from peat. Lignite showed moisture 21.86, vola- 

 tile matter 31.81, fixed carbon 36.85, ash 9.48. The gas made from it is 

 high in hydrocarbons, and, as a consequence, its flame produces an intense 

 heat.* 



A test of "machine peat" from Taunton, Mass., gave 4 cu. ft. of gas 

 with a calorific power of G54 B. T. U. per cu. ft. from each pound of peat.t 

 Gas from "cut peat" averages about 135 B. T. U. 



JOne ton of compressed peat analyzing : moisture 15, ash 7, fixed car- 

 bon 21, volatile matter 57, will yield not less than 100,000 cubic feet of 

 gas of not less than 150 B, T. TJ. per cubic foot. 



Effort is now being made to utilize part of the peat deposits of Ire- 

 land by using peat for gas producer fuel in electric plants with recovery 

 of ammonia and other by-products. || It is estimated that from 85 to 150 

 pounds of ammonia sulphate can be obtained per ton of peat with 1,780 

 cu. meters of gas. Acetate of lime, uaphta, paraffin and volatile oils are 

 also obtained. One hundred pounds of dry peat are calculated to yield 

 675,000 B. T. U. realizable as gas in a Mond producer, which would give 

 76 indicated horsepower hours in a gas engine, assuming a 30% thermal 

 efficiency. 



CaroU has recently improved the well-known Mond process for mak- 

 ing producer gas in so far as he gasifies poor fuel in a mixture of air 



"R. D. Wood, Industrial Applications of Producer Gas, p. 25 and p. 26. 



tNorton: Report XV, Bog Fuel. 



ITwelfth Report Ontario Bureau of Mines, p. 231. 



llJour. Gas Lighting, 100. p. 760. 



HElektr. Zeitschrift, March, 1907. 



