T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I h T E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
58
1 2 . 5 ; in other words, carburetors are adjusted for maximum power rather than maximum thermal efficiency. MR. BROWN:We figured out a few years ago that running on a theoretically perfect combustion basis, that is, about I j parts of air t o I of gasoline, the mileage of a Ford would be a little over 26 mi. per gal.; if you are getting 20 mi. per gal. on a Ford you are getting what should be obtained without a n y excess gasoline, without any carbon monoxide in your exhaust. We have obtained as high as 38 mi. per gal. with careful adjustment and careful driving, but over a long period of driving through streets, etc., we have averaged over 28 mi. per gal. On the basis of getting a very light mixture, we can get 26 mi. t o a gallon on a Ford. Usually a man makes 2 2 or 2 3 . A man in Long Island told me the best he knew was 19.5. There is a tremendous saving t o be made there, aside from the fact that we are relieving the engine from pumping through I,OOO,OOO cu. f t . of air in a minute, because we have found an average of less than I per cent carbon monoxide under all conditions.
ENRICHMENT OF ARTIFICIAL GAS WITH NATURAL GAS By James B. Garner RSSEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, H O P E PEOP~E NATIONAL S GAS COMPANIES, PITTSBURGH, PA
DIRECTOR OR
AND
ABSTRACT
The project of enriching artificial gas with natural gas is of widespread interest because of t h e possibility i t offers of providing a supply of a clean domestic fuel gas, uniform in quality, and of sufficient volume t o meet t h e requirements of t h e public. This is particularly t h e case in regions where natural gas has been used. There are in nature three potential sources of raw materials adequate for t h e production of a future domestic supply of manufactured gas: bituminous shale, oil, and coal. Artificial gas, as produced on a commercial scale, consists of t h e following varieties: shale gas, oil gas, producer gas, water gas, carbureted water gas, coal, and coke-oven gas. Shale gas has been made arid utilized with some degree of efficiency in Scotland, and considerable experimental work has been done in t h e United States looking toward t h e development and utilization of our vast beds of bituminous shale. With our present lack of engineering and technical knowledge regarding t h e use of bituminous shale as t h e future source of an adequate supply of manufactured gas, its geographic location and availability is such t h a t bituminous shale cannot now be considered as a n immediately available raw material. Oil gas is t h e domestic gas of San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Portland, Tacoma, and San Diego. Oil is used as t h e basis of gas manufacture in these western cities because of t h e nonavailability of cheap coal, while cheap oil is available. In all other sections of t h e United States, gas-oil or other products from petroleum are so expensive t h a t t h e manufacture of oil gas is economically prohibited. Producer gas, water gas, carbureted water gas, coal: and coke-oven gas have all been made and used with greater or less success for many years past. Coal seems t o be-the only raw material which is a t
Vol. 13, No.
I
present available as a basis for a future gas supply. Producer gas is unsuited for use as a domestic gas for two reasons: ( I ) Its high content of inert nitrogen, and cost of cleaning, cooling, and distributing.
(2)
the excessive
Coke-oven and coal gas of a high quality are made, but on account of the cost of installation and nonflexibility of t h e plants wherein these gases are produced, these processes of manufacture are unfitted for use in meeting t h e peak-load requirements of an adequate domestic supply. Blue water gas, although lower in heating value t h a n coke-oven or coal gas, can be made most economically; and in a plant which is cheap in its cost of installation and flexible in its operation, blue water gas is a t present t h e only rational basis for an adequate supply of clean, uniform fuel gas t o meet peak-load public requiltements. Blue water gas carbureted by means of gas oil cannot, under present market conditions of crude petroleum, be t h e kind of commercial gas for an adequate public supply. I n addition, this use of the waning supply of crude petroleum is far from t h e conservation of one of our greatest natural resources. I n order t o carburet water gas of an initial heating value of 32j B. t. u. per cu. f t . so t h a t i t will have a heating value of 570 B. t. u. per cu. ft., i t is necessary t o use 3 gal. of gas oil per 1000 cu. f t . of gas. The present market on gas oil is 1 2 cents per gallon. The enriching of 1000 cu. f t . of gas thus costs t h e producer 36 cents without any overhead, production, or depreciation charges. Natural gas, as produced in t h e Appalachian and Mid-Continent fields, has an average heating value of 1100 B. t. u. per cu. ft. It can readily be seen t h a t less t h a n 80 cu. ft. of natural gas has an enriching value equal t o one gallon of gas oil. Natural gas can be mixed with blue water gas easily, safely, and without any overhead, production, and depreciation charges, a n d is, therefore, t h e ideal enricher of water gas, in regions where natural gas is available. The manufacture of a domestic supply of water gas, enriched with natural gas, serves two purposes: ( I ) It conserves in the highest pohible manner our iiatiir.al resource3 of coal, oil, and gas. ( 2 ) It insures t o the public an adequate supply a t all times o f a clean, uniform gas at the lowest possible cost.
Natural gas companies should no longer sell. natural gas as such at ridiculously low rates, b u t should utilize i t in the highest possible way, viz., as a means of e n riching artificial gas. Such use of this natural resource will insure t o t h e public, for many years t o come, a supply of gas a t a cost otherwise impossible.
THE CHARCOAL METHOD OF GASOLINE RECOVERY By G. A. Burrell, G. G. Oberfell and C. L. Voress
Inasmuch as this paper has already been published in another journal i t is not included among the s y m posium papers here.
