ILLUMINATION. 



517 



gases which may bo deficient in carbon, and 

 also for charging air with hydrocarbons, so as 

 to produce a mixture suitable for burning as a 

 gas. Certain general principles relating to gas- 

 manufacture, and especially in regard to the 

 production of illuminating gases from oils or 

 like materials, were also stated. Some new 

 methods of accomplishing these results have 

 been brought out, and a very considerable de- 

 gree of attention has been given to methods of 

 purifying lighting gases. In the notices to be 

 presented of some of these, it is not intended 

 to enter largely into details. 



Griffin's "Homestead Gas LightsThis 

 method of producing a lighting gas is that of 

 carburetting common air, by forcing it, by 

 means of clock-work and bellows, through 

 naphtha contained in a small air-tight reser- 

 voir : from this the gas flows directly into the 

 pipes leading to the burners. The pipes filled, 

 the clock-work ceases to move, until consump- 

 tion of the gas begins to relieve the pressure in 

 the pipes ; its motion then recommences, and 

 the generation of the gas is up to a certain 

 limit more rapid as the number of burners in 

 use is greater. It is stated that the naphtha 

 vapors do not condense by cold in the pipes ; 

 but it would appear that at a certain reduction 

 of temperature condensation must occur. The 

 entire apparatus is small, and is intended for 

 use in private dwellings, &c. The invention is 

 that of Mr. Jonathan Griffin, of W. Meriden, Ct. 



BucTcland's Method of Carburetting Gases. 

 Mr. W. H. Buckland, England, has patented a 

 method of carburetting air or an illuminating 

 gas, by causing either to pass over the surface of, 

 or through, woven fabrics, or fibrous or spongy 

 materials; these being, as occasion requires, 

 saturated with the liquid hydrocarbon employ- 

 ed, and so exposing this in a finely divided 

 state to the gas to be carbnretted. 



ParrisTi's Improvement in Illuminating Gases 

 from Oil*, <&c. In the " Scientific American," 

 of July 25th, 1863, is given an account of a pa- 

 tent gas-mixer, the invention of Mr. "Wm. D. 

 Parrish, of Philadelphia, and the object of which 

 is to reduce, by intermixture with air, the 

 heavy and rich permanent gas, obtained by 

 destructive distillation of petroleum, tar, or 

 other similar hydrocarbons, before admitting 

 this into the pipes leading to the gas-burners. It 

 is well known that the gas referred to, and com- 

 monly called " oil gas," contains too large a per- 

 centage of carbon to burn,' in jets of the size 

 required for lighting purposes, without smok- 

 ing. Besides, certain forms of oil-gas apparatus 

 are likely to furnish a gas not at all times of 

 uniform density and quality. Mr. Parrish's 

 gas- mixer is designed to remedy both these de- 

 fects. It requires no change in the works, be- 

 ing simply so attached as to receive the purified 

 gas as delivered by the outlet pipe. It consists 

 of two large " wet meters," placed near each 

 other, the one measuring and registering the 

 quantity of gas, the other that of a desired 

 proportion of common air, which it takes 



through a tube at one side, the gas and air be- 

 ing directly discharged from the meters into a 

 common receptacle, and there intermixed; 

 while, by means of a connection by wheel- 

 work and a shaft between the meters, the pro- 

 pelling force of the gas in one of them is made 

 to give motion to the fans within the other, so 

 as forcibly to draw in the air ; and by having 

 (say) three sets of Avheels, of unequal sizes, upon 

 shafts within the gas-meter, the throwing of 

 one or the other of these into gear allows of 

 three variations in the percentage of air inter- 

 mixed with the gas ; and so of any greater 

 number. Danger of an explosive mixture is 

 avoided by not allowing the proportion of air 

 to exceed 50 per cent. The instruments have 

 been introduced in some places in connection 

 with oil-gas works, public or private. One of 

 them has been in use for about a year in the 

 gas works of the St. Nicholas Hotel, New York, 

 by which nearly 3,000 burners are supplied. 

 In these works, the " refuse " or " dead oil " of 

 petroleum the residue after distillation from 

 the latter of naphtha, kerosene, and the lubri- 

 cating oils is the material from which the gas 

 is generated, and the proportions now adopted 

 for the mixed gas are, of oil gas 60, and of air 

 40 per cent. 



Purification of Illuminating Gases. Dr. 

 Frankland, in the lecture above mentioned, re- 

 ferred to the then recent experiments of the 

 Eev. Mr. Bowditch, of "Wakefield, England, 

 and in which the latter had shown that the 

 bisulphide-of-carbon vapor and the sulphur- 

 organic compounds in coal gas could be got rid 

 of in course of the ordinary process of purifying, 

 after heating the gas containing such impuri- 

 ties with hydrate of lime, to 400 F. Ordinary 

 gas,- he stated, contained from 10 or 20 up to 40 

 grs. per 100 cubic feet of the sulphur-com- 

 pounds ; but the Bowditch process reduced the 

 quantity to, at most, 2 or 3 grs. per 1,000 cubic 

 feet. It still remained to be seen, however, 

 whether the process could be advantageously 

 applied in practice. 



Mr. J. 0. G. Howitz, gas engineer at Copen- 

 hagen, Denmark, is the inventor of a method 

 of purifying gas by iron ore, and which has 

 been successfully introduced into many gas 

 works in that country. The hydrated per- 

 oxide of iron in a powdered or granular condi- 

 tion is made to take the place of lime, in what 

 are called the "dry lime" purifiers: ammo- 

 nium and sulphuretted hydrogen contained in 

 the gas are, during its passage through this, de- 

 composed, formation of sulphide of iron being 

 among the results. This will take place while 

 the gas is yet hot, so that the condenser may 

 be dispensed with ; and the purifiers being large 

 enough, even the scrubbing or cleaning with 

 water is not required ; the accumulation of 

 naphthaline is as a result diminished, and the 

 gas is said to gain in illuminating power. By 

 suitable treatment the purifying material, when 

 spent, can be restored to a condition fitting it 

 for re-use, i. e., as it is said, " revivified ; " and in 



