Abstract
II.
ORDINARY coal gas of an illuminating power of 14 to 16 ^^ candles can be produced at a fairly low rate, but if a higher quality is required considerable additional expense has to be incurred in order to enrich it. Up to now, the material almost universally employed for this purpose has been cannel; but as this article is rapidly rising in price, and the best qualities are not easily obtainable, attention is being seriously directed to other means of bringing up the illuminating power of gas. This question of enrichment has been the study of inventors from the earliest days of the gas industry. The methods employed for this, purpose may be classified as:-(i) The carburetting of low-power gas by impregnating it with the vapour of volatile hydrocarbons. (2) Enriching the gas by vapours and permanent gases obtained by the decomposition of the tar formed at the same time as the gas. (3) Mixing with the coal gas, oil gas obtained by decomposing crude oils by heat. (4) Mixing with the coal gas, water gas which has been highly carburetted by passing it, with the vapours of various hydrocarbons, through superheaters, in order to give permanency to the hydrocarbon gases.
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Gaseous ILluminants1. Nature 43, 257–260 (1891). https://doi.org/10.1038/043257a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/043257a0