612 



GAS WORKS 



18 to 25 per cent. 

 40 60 



8 12 

 14 17 



6,, 7 



Carbonic acid . . . 



Carbonic oxide . . 



Light carburetted hydrogen 



Hydrogen 



Olefiant gas and hydrocarbons 



The illuminating value of the hydrocarbons was found to 

 be one half greater than that of an equal volume of defiant 

 gas. 



Varieties of wood differing so much in character as pine 

 i '.id beech were found to yield equally good gas. These 

 observations prove that wood-gas is indubitably entitled to 

 rank amongst illuminating agents. 



With regard to the apparatus employed, various forms 

 have been contrived so as to communicate the necessary 

 temperature to the escaping vapours : it has been however at 

 length found that the ordinary form of retort furnishes the 

 necessary conditions, provided it be not filled more than one 

 third with the charge of wood. 120 Ibs. of the latter, 



thoroughly dried, constitutes the charge for one retort. In 

 1 hour the distillation is complete, the result being, after 

 absorption of carbonic acid, 650 cubic feet of gas, which is 

 perfectly free from all sulphur- and ammonia-compounds, and 

 possesses, according to the numerous experiments of Liebig 

 and Steinheil, an illuminating power greater than coal-gas in 

 the proportion of 6 : 5. 



The following analyses show the composition of wood-gas 

 when made on a manufacturing scale. No 1 is a sample of 

 gas before purification from the works at the Munich Railway 

 Station and No 2 is purified gas, as supplied to the town of 

 Bayreuth : 



Olefiant 

 No. 1 Gas 



Hydrocarbons . . 6-91=9'74 



Light carburetted hydrogen 11 '06 

 Hydrogen . . . 15'07 

 Carbonic oxide . . 40'59 

 Carbonic acid . . . 2572 

 Nitrogen ... 



96-35 



100-00 



The specific gravity of the purified wood gas is about '700, 

 and this, coupled with the large percentage of carbonic oxide 

 which it contains, renders it necessary to employ burners witli 

 much larger perforations than those used for coal-gas ; in 

 fact, if wood-gas be consumed at the rate of from 3 to 4 

 cubic feet per hour from a coal-gas burner, it yields scarcely 

 any light at all, whereas if consumed from a fish-tail burner 

 with wide apertures, its illuminating power exceeds, as just 

 stated, that of coal-gas. 



Although the relative cost of wood and coal will prevent 

 the adoption of Professor Pottenkofer's ingenious process in 

 this country ; yet, as it can also be applied with like results 

 to peat, there is a high probability that it might be employed 

 with great advantage in Ireland. Its rapid adoption in many 

 German and Swiss towns proves the practicability of the 

 process in districts whore wood is ch";i]>. 



GAS WORKS. ]\Ir. Jlnliry, an engineer of great emi- 

 nence and experience, has kindly furnished the following 

 plans and drawings of gas-works and of apparatus of the 



most approved and modern construction, and on the very largest scale as to extent 

 of business or manufacture ; also plans and drawings of a gas-work on a smaller 



