REMARKS. Ninth Month.-1-14. Fine. 15. A violent storm of hail and rain, accompanied by very vivid lightning, and a few claps of thunder, between three and four, a. m. 16. Fine. 17. Overcast. 18. Fine. 19. Foggy morning. 20. Fine. 21. Rainy. 22. Showery. 23. Fine: night rainy. 24, 25. Cloudy. 26-29. Fine. 30. Very rainy day with strong wind: a vivid flash of lightning, with a loud clap of thunder, between five and six, p.m.: a second flash, with thunder, about an hour afterwards. RESULTS. Winds: N, 5; NE, 2; E, 2; S, 1; SW, 6; W,5; NW, 9. ANNALS OF PHILOSOPHY. DECEMBER, 1823. ARTICLE I. Remarks on different Gas Works, and the Substances from which Gas is usually prepared. By Timothy Dewey, Esq. of New York. (To the Editor of the Annals of Philosophy.) [Mr. Dewey, during his mission to this country, for the purpose of acquiring information on the subject of gas lighting, having visited numerous establishments, I requested him to favour me with answers to a few questions on particular points, and to some of them he has replied in the annexed communication.-Edit.] DEAR SIR, Nov. 9, 1823. THE note you addressed to me on the 7th inst. was duly received, and the following hasty sketch must be my reply. I have assisted in making experiments on coal and oil gas at Whitechapel-road, and think it a duty to assist in correcting a prevailing error respecting the illuminating power of oil gas, on which must depend its relative value compared with coal gas. You have given me an opportunity to do so, and I thank you for it. I was deputed by a highly respectable Company in the city of New York to examine the gas works in this country, preparatory to constructing one for lighting that city. The time I have been able to bestow on the subject has been much too short to allow me to acquire a minute practical acquaintance with the subject in all its details. I have visited many gas works in Great Britain, and several in France, and have the satisfaction to state, that I have received the most flattering attention from the proprietors and managers of all the works I New Series, VOL. VI. 2 D have seen, and in many instances they vied with each other in their endeavours to be most useful to me. With such facilities and assistance, I ought tolerably well to understand the outlines of the systems of gas-lighting. I must rely on practice to perfect me in the minor and more complicated parts. The first work I examined was the coal gas work at Liverpool, which is under the management of Mr. John King, a gentleman who has, by his activity, intelligence, and practical experience, overcome many formidable difficulties. Superior light is afforded at a cheap rate, and the stock is held in high estimation; I have seen no work better conducted. The coal gas work at Dublin has had to contend with the prejudices of the day. At most coal gas works the sale of the coke is one principal source of profit. In Dublin, sales of coke cannot be made to any extent, though it is offered at a very low price. This work is managed by Mr. John Brunton, who is every way qualified for the station, and he explained every thing to me which he supposed useful. An oil gas work was erecting when I was there, which has since gone into operation with flattering prospects of success. The high price of coals, and want of sale for the coke by the coal gas work, will enable the oil gas to compete with the former. A work was nearly completed at Belfast, which, in design and workmanship, surpasses any I have seen. Coals are obtained from Newcastle at lower prices than in Dublin. They commenced lighting the town the 1st of September, and cannot fail to succeed. From Belfast I went to Glasgow. Here is a very extensive work under the excellent management of Mr. James B. Neilson, engineer, assisted by many scientific gentlemen of that city. This company supplies more than 40,000 single jet lights, and at a lower price than any work in the kingdom that I have visited. They have better coal, and furnish better coal gas than any I have seen. Their stock is as high as any in the country. I am greatly indebted to Messrs. J. B. Neilson, John Hart, Robert Hastie, and John Thompson, for giving me every assistance in forwarding the objects of my mission to this country. The purification of coal gas is quite as well understood here as at any work I have seen, and as well practised. It is on the wet, or cream of lime system, and is very effectual, considering the quantity of sulphur the coal contains. Mr. Neilson has discovered a method of discharging the hydrosulphuret of ammonia, which is so destructive to iron and copper pipes; but owing to the expense of the process, and the low price at which they furnish the gas to customers, it has not been carried fully into effect. Extensive additions are making to this work, and the manufacturers of that city are under many obligations to the Company for the increased facilities afforded by this pure and brilliant light to their various processes. I went from Glasgow to Edinburgh, where there is an extensive gas work, and well conducted. They furnish gas for about 8000 Argand burners, and obtain a higher price than at Glasgow. I visited a small oil gas work at Leith which had been but a short time in operation. I could not form a just estimate of its probable success; I think it more likely to succeed than coal gas in so small a place. The consumption must be limited for a long time. I think that neither coal nor oil gas can be profitable in small towns, unless they are exclusively manufacturing ones. From thence I went to Hull, where one of the first large oil gas works was constructed. This is a small town without manufactures, and must principally rely on the merchants and shopkeepers for support. The consumption of gas is necessarily limited, and as yet the proprietors have not derived much profit from their investment. Oil is now much lower than for years past, and they are going on prosperously. A coal gas work could not succeed here. I examined the coal gas work at Leeds, which is under the particular care of Mr. J. B. Charlesworth, an eminent merchant of that town, who took great pains to instruct me. Here I found some important improvements in the method of heating the retorts, the condensation of the gas, and mode of purification. Coal is obtained here at a lower price than any where else I have been. The gas is passed through dry lime, and most effectually purified. I have yet to form an opinion of the best mode of purification. The dry lime, I think, is to be preferred where there are no ready means of getting rid of the waste lime and water, which are very offensive, and where lime is cheap. Where lime is dear, and the furnaces are constructed to evaporate the waste water, perhaps the cream of lime is preferable. The condenser is a straight main pipe, 12 inches diameter, and 72 feet long, laid on an inclined plane in a trunk, or canal, filled with water, and connected with the tar cistern, the gas is completely condensed in passing through this pipe. A small stream of water supplies this trunk, and keeps the pipe cool. The gas costs less to make it per 1000 feet at this work than at any I have examined. Dr. Hawksworth principally manages the gas work at Sheffield, and it is well managed. The improved mode of condensing is adopted here. The work is profitable, and should be in all manufacturing towns where coal can be had reasonably. Coal gas must be held in high estimation at Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Sheffield, Leicester, and in places where coal is equally cheap. I have examined many of the principal gas works in London. Here, where coal is dear, and the expences of making gas high, I think that had oil gas been first introduced, with the present improved method of manufacture, it would have answered the general purposes better than coal gas, and might be furnished at the same price for an equal quantity of light. But as it is, London is splendidly lighted, and I hear no complaints from customers; and those who do not patronise these w rks should not complain, 4 In the course of my investigations, I found opinions much at variance on the subject of the illuminating powers of the two gases, and I could not form an opinion at all satisfactory. To put the matter at rest, I proposed to Messrs. Taylor and Martineau to find a situation where the main pipes from coal gas and oil gas works run parallel to each other, and to bring the gases, as they were supplied to customers, into the same room, and burn them together. They found such a situation in the Whitechapel-road, and had them brought together, and the burners supplied through two accurately adjusted meters, made by Mr. Crossley, and who with Dr. Arnot, Mr. Preuss, and yourself, were invited to assist us; and Mr. Crossley kindly undertook to manage the meters that no mistake might occur, The coal gas was supplied from the mains of the Imperial Gas Works, and the Oil Gas from that at Bow. We then proceeded to make the experiments on two separate evenings. The specific gravity of the two gases was found to be, of coal gas 0-4069,* of oil gas 0.9395; and the average consumption per hour (being the mean of seven experiments, and which varied but slightly from each other), coal gas 4.850 feet, oil gas 1.368 feet. The flames were adjusted so as to give a light of equal intensity. I have seen more than 100 feet of gas obtained from a gallon of good clean whale oil, and am confirmed in the opinion that about that average can be obtained, from an inspection of the books of four oil gas works. Oil gas has been objected to on account of its price. This must be owing to the opinion that one foot of oil gas does not contain as much illuminating matter as about three and a half feet of ordinary coal gas. But it does. I would not be satisfied till I had tried it, nor with one night's experiments. And was it not so, and suppose it to cost much more, which I do not admit where oil is cheap, and coals dear, I know no good reason that some people should not wear superfine, though the great mass of the world are satisfied with fine; and they will use superfine oil gas, and pay for it, most certainly, if they can obtain it as cheaply as fine coal gas. The * These results coincide very nearly with those obtained a few months since by M. Faraday and myself, on comparing the specific gravity and illuminating powers of the two gases at Messrs. Hawes' and Co. soap work. The oil gas was manufactured on their premises, and the coal gas was obtained from a neighbouring establishment. Its lightness sufficiently proves that it was uncontaminated by any accidental admixture. I shall give at one view the results obtained at both places. Coal gas. At Messrs. Hawes'. Specific gravity 0.4291 Oil gas. 0.9657 3.567 So that one cubic foot of oil gas is equal to rather more than 3 feet of coal gas. At Whitechapel. Coal gas. Specific gravity 0.4069 Illuminating power 1. It will be observed, that in the latter case, although both gases were specifically lighter than in the former, their comparative illuminating power is nearly similar.Edit. |