THE USE OF CENTRAL DISTRICT COALS IN 

 WATER-GAS MANUFACTURE 



W. A. DuNKLEY^ Illinois Geological Survey. 



An extensive investigation of coal and coal mining has 

 been in progress since 1911 under a cooperative agreement 

 between the U. S. Bureau of Mines, the Illinois State Geo- 

 logical Survey, and the Engineering Experiment Station 

 of the University of Illinois. The particular phase of this 

 investigation which will be discussed in this paper is the 

 use of coals of the central district, including Illinois, Indi- 

 ana, and Western Kentucky, in the manufacture of car- 

 buretted water-gas. In discussing this topic it is not the 

 intention to go as extensively into the details of operation 

 as would be done in a paper addressed primarily to the gas 

 operator, but rather to treat the subject in a more general 

 manner and point out its bearing upon the development of 

 the coal resources of this region and upon the gas indus- 

 try. 



Tlie production of manufactured gas in the State of Illi- 

 nois alone amounts to approximately thirty billion cubic 

 feet per year. Of this amount about one-third is coal gas 

 made by the distillation of coal in retorts or coke ovens, 

 and about two-tliirds is carburetted water-gas. To make 

 tills amount of gas the amount of fuel required is roughly 

 about one million tons of gas coal, 350,000 tons of coke or 

 its equivalent, and 65 million gallons of gas oil, in addition 

 to the fuel required to operate the steam jDower plant which 

 is a necessary adjunct to every gas plant. It will be seen, 

 therefore, that the gas industry is a fairly large user of 

 fuel, and it may also be stated that it is a particular user. 

 To be suitable for gas manufacture, whether coal-gas or 

 water-gas, the fuel must comply with certain standards 

 which are fairly well defined, and which narrow the selec- 

 tion very greatly. While in the present case we are chiefly 

 concerned in the water-gas process, it may be said that 

 coke produced as a by-product in retort and oven coal-gas 



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