May II, iSSS.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



441 



REELING'S SEWER-GAS DESTRUCTOR. 



'X'HE object of this simple contrivance is twofold : it 

 ventilates the sewer and at the same time burns 

 or destroys the organic matter held in suspension by the 

 discharged gases. Fig. i represents the working part of 

 the apparatus to the scale of one inch to one foot. 

 Within the lowest of the cones is an atmospheric gas- 

 burner, and above this is an open metal grating leading 

 to an upper cone, and a similar arrangement is adopted 

 between the middle and uppermost cones. The vertical 

 pipe shown in section at the base of the apparatus 

 represents an outlet from the sewer, and when the gas- 

 burner is alight its ascending products of combustion 

 cause an induced upward current of sewer-gas, as 

 indicated by the arrows. At the same time the grating 



Fig. I.— Sectional View of Destructor. 



above the burner becomes nighly heated, and it follows 

 that the sewer-gas either comes in contact with the flame 

 or with the heated metal. If a piece of lead is placed 

 above the grating it melts, and this proves that the tem- 

 perature there is above 600° Fahrenheit, and the effect 

 of this is either to burn or destroy poisonous organic 

 matter emitted from the sewer. To assist the upward 

 draught, the heating apparatus is surmounted by a hollow 

 column, to which can be given the form of a lamp-post, 

 as in Fig. 2, there being openings for the escape of the 

 gases immediately under the lamp. 



Severalof these destroyers havebeen tried atRichmond, 

 and, according to Mr. Brooke, Surveyor to the Vestry, the 

 average consumption of gas for each one is about seven 

 cubic feet per hour. He also states that by means of an 

 anemometer he finds that from 250 to 300 cubic feet of 



sewer-gas leave the shaft each minute, and that the tem- 

 perature in the upper cone is above 300° Fahrenheit. 

 He adds that each destroyer is able to clear the foul 

 gases from alength of 1,500 to 2,000 feet of sewer. Accord- 

 ing to this it would appear that, with an expenditure of only 

 168 cubic feet of gas, costing about sixpence, a discharge 

 of from 360,000 to 420,000 cubic feet of sewer-gas can 

 be effected in twenty-four hours. As the discharged 

 gases were measured at a comparatively high tempera- 

 ture, the above figures do not represent the actual 



r^ 



PlG_ 2. DeSTRL'C TOR WITH HoLLOW COLUMK IN THE FORM 



OF A Lamp-Post. 



volume displaced at the ordinary temperature of the 

 sewer, but, after allowing fully for such a correction, the 

 result cannot but be considered as very satisfactory. 



Mr. Brooke states that in the Kew Foot Road the 

 men found it impossible to go into the sewer before the 

 Keeling shaft was erected, but that within one week 

 after the latter had been in operation they were able to 

 work there comfortably. As a ventilator there can be 

 no doubt as to its efficiency, nor is it very surprising 

 that it should be so, as the principle of its action is a 

 sound one, and has long ago been applied to the ventila- 



