Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885
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Various >> Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885
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The property of indicating the presence of very minute quantities of gas
in a room is claimed for an instrument recently described by C. Von Jahn
in the _Revue Industrielle_. This is a porous cup, inverted and closed
by a perforated rubber stopper. Through the perforation in the stopper
the interior of the cup is connected with a pressure gauge containing
colored water. It is claimed that the diffusion of gas through the
earthenware raises the level of the water in the gauge so delicately
that the presence of one-half of one per cent, of gas may be detected by
it. Other instruments of a slightly different character are credited by
their inventors with most sensitive power of indicating gas-leakages,
but their practical efficiency remains to be demonstrated. An automatic
cut-off for use outside of houses in which natural gas is consumed has
been invented, but this writer knows nothing of either its mode of
action or its effectiveness.
The great economic question, however, connected with the use of natural
gas is, how will it affect the industrial interests of the country?
There are grounds for the belief that a sufficient supply of natural gas
may be found in the vicinity of Pittsburg to reduce the cost of fuel to
such a degree as to make competition in the manufacture of iron, steel,
and glass, in any part of the country where coal must be used, out of
the question. Such a condition of affairs would probably result in
driving the great manufacturing concerns of the country into the region
where natural gas is to obtained. That may be anywhere from the western
slope of the Alleghanies to Lake Erie or to Lake Michigan. And, if the
cost of producing iron, steel, and glass can be so cheapened by the new
fuel, the tariff question may undergo some important modification in
politics. For, if the reduction in the cost of fuel should ever become
an offset to the lower rate of wages in Europe, the manufacturers of
Pennsylvania, who have long been the chief support of the protective
policy of the country, may lose their present interest in that question,
and leave the tariff to shift for itself elsewhere. It should be
remembered that natural gas is not, as yet, much cheaper than coal
in Pittsburg. But it may safely be assumed that it will cheapen, as
petroleum has done, by a development of the territory in which it is
known to exist in enormous quantities. It is quite possible that,
instead of buying gas, many factories will bore for it with success,
or remove convenient to its natural sources, so that a gas well may
ultimately become an essential part of the "plant" of a mill or factory.
Even now coal cannot compete with gas in the manufacture of window
glass, for, the gas being free from sulphur and other impurities
contained in coal, produces a superior quality of glass; so that in this
branch of industry the question of superiority seems already settled.
Having said thus much of an industry now in its infancy but promising
great growth, I submit tables of analyses of common and of the natural
or marsh gas, the latter from a paper recently prepared by a committee
of the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, and for the use of
which I am indebted to that association:
COMMON GAS.
Hydrogen 46.0
Light carbureted hydrogen (marsh gas) 39.5
Condensible hydrocarbon 3.8
Carbonic oxide 7.5
" acid 0.6
Aqueous vapor 2.0
Oxygen 0.1
Nitrogen 0.5
-----
100.0
Natural gas is now conveyed to Pittsburg through four lines of 5-5/8
inch pipe and one line of eight inch pipe. A line of ten inch pipe is
also being laid. The pressure of the gas at the wells is from 150 to 230
pounds to the square inch. As the wells are on one side eighteen and on
the other about twenty-five miles distant, and as the consumption is
variable, the pressure at the city cannot be given. Greater pressure
might be obtained at the wells, but this would increase the liability
to leakage and bursting of pipes. For the prevention of such casualties
safety valves are provided at the wells, permitting the escape of all
superfluous gas. The enormous force of this gas may be appreciated from
a comparison of, say, 200 pounds pressure at the wells with a two ounce
pressure of common gas for ordinary lighting. The amount of natural gas
now furnished for use in Pittsburg is supposed to be something like
25,000,000 cubic feet per day; the ten inch pipe now laying is estimated
to increase the supply to 40,000,000 feet. The amount of manufactured
gas used for lighting the same city probably falls below 3,000,000 feet.
About fifty mills and factories of various kinds in Pittsburg now use
natural gas. It is used for domestic purposes in two hundred houses.
Its superiority over coal in the manufacture of window glass is
unquestioned. That it is not used in all the glass houses of Pittsburg
is due to the fact that its advantages were not fully known when the
furnaces were fired last summer, and it costs a large sum to permit the
furnaces to cool off after being heated for melting. When the fires cool
down, and before they are started up again, the furnaces now using
coal will doubtless all be changed so as to admit natural gas. The
superiority of French over American glass is said to be due to the fact
that the French use wood and the Americans coal in their furnaces, wood
being free from sulphur, phosphorus, etc. The substitution of gas for
coal, while not increasing the cost, improves the quality of American
glass, making it as nearly perfect as possible.
While the gas is not used as yet in any smelting furnace nor in the
Bessemer converters, it is preferred in open hearth and crucible steel
furnaces, and is said to be vastly superior to coal for puddling. The
charge of a puddling furnace, consisting of 500 pounds of pig-metal and
eighty pounds of "fix," produces with coal fuel 490 to 500 pounds of
iron. With gas for fuel, it is claimed that the same charge will yield
520 to 530 pounds of iron. In an iron mill of thirty furnaces, running
eight heats each for twenty-four hours, this would make a difference in
favor of the gas of, say, 8 x 30 x 25 = 6,000 pounds of iron per day.
This is an important item of itself, leaving out the cost of firing with
coal and hauling ashes.
For generating steam in large establishments, one man will attend
a battery of twelve or twenty boilers, using gas as fuel, keep the
pressure uniform, and have the fire room clean as a parlor. For burning
brick and earthenware, gas offers the double advantage of freedom from
smoke and a uniform heat. The use of gas in public bakeries promises the
abolition of the ash-box and its accumulation of miscellaneous filth,
which is said to often impregnate the "sponge" with impurities.
In short, the advantages of natural gas as a fuel are so obvious to
those who have given it a trial, that the prediction is made that,
should the supply fail, many who are now using it will never return to
the consumption of crude coal in factories, but, if necessary, convert
it or petroleum into gas at their own works.
It seems, indeed, that until we shall have acquired the wisdom enabling
us to conserve and concentrate the heat of the sun, gas must be the fuel
of the future.--_Popular Science Monthly_.
TABLE OF ANALYSIS OF NATURAL GAS--FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.
_____________________________________________________________________
| | | | | | | |
| CONSTITUENTS | [2.] | [3.] | [6.] | [7.] | [8.] | [9.] |
|_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________
| | | | | | | |
| Hydrogen | .... | .... | 6.10 | 13.50 | 22.50 | 4.79 |
| | | | | | | |
| Marsh Gas | 82.41 | 96.50 | 75.44 | 80.11 | 60.27 | 89.65 |
| | | | | | | |
| Ethane | .... | .... | 18.12 | 5.72 | 6.80 | 4.39 |
| | | | | | | |
| Propane | .... | .... | trace. | .... | .... | trace. |
| | | | | | | |
| Carbonic acid | 10.11 | .... | 0.34 | 0.66 | 2.28 | 0.35 |
| | | | | | | |
| Carbonic oxide| .... | 0.50 | trace. | trace. | trace. | 0.26 |
| | | | | | | |
| Nitrogen | 4.31 | .... | .... | .... | 7.32 | .... |
| | | | | | | |
| Oxygen | 0.23 | 2.00 | .... | .... | 0.83 | .... |
| | | | | | | |
| "Illuminating | 2.94 | 1.00 | .... | .... | .... | 0.56 |
| hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________|
| | | | | | | |
| | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 99.99 | 100.00 | 100.00 |
|_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________|
| |
| Specific gravity 0.693 0.692 0.6148 0.5119 0.5580 |
|_____________________________________________________________________|
______________________________________________________________________
| | | | | | | |
| CONSTITUENTS | [10.] | [12.] | [14.] | [15.] | [16.] | [17.] |
|_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________
| | | | | | | |
| Hydrogen | .... | 19.56 | .... | 0.98 | .... | .... |
| | | | | | | |
| Marsh Gas | 96.34 | 78.24 | 47.37 | 93.09 | 80.69 | 95.42 |
| | | | | | | |
| Ethane | .... | .... | .... | .... | 4.75 | .... |
| | | | | | | |
| Propane | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... |
| | | | | | | |
| Carbonic acid | 3.64 | .... | 3.10 | 2.18 | 6.44 | 0.60 |
| | | | | | | |
| Carbonic oxide| | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... |
| | | | | | | |
| Nitrogen | | .... | 49.39 | 0.49 | 8.12 | 3.98 |
| | | | | | | |
| Oxygen | | 2.20 | 0.17 | .... | .... | .... |
| | | | | | | |
| "Illuminating | [10.] | .... | .... | 3.26 | .... | .... |
| hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________|
| | | | | | | |
| | | 100.00 | 100.03 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 |
|_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________|
| |
|Specific gravity 0.5923 0.56 |
|_____________________________________________________________________|
Petroleum is composed of about 85 per cent of carbon and 15 per cent of
nitrogen.
Locations:
1. Petrolia, Canada.
2. West Bloomfield, N.Y.
3. Olean, N.Y.
4. Fredonis, N.Y.
5. Pioneer Run, Venango Co., Pa.
6. Burn's Well, near St. Joe., Butler Co., Pa.
7. Harvey Well, Butler Co., Pa.
8. Cherry Tree, Indiana Co., Pa.
9. Leechburg, Pa.
10. Creighton, Pa.
11. Penn Fuel Co.'s Well, Murraysville, Pa.
12. Fuel Gas Co.'s Well, Murraysville.
13. Roger's Gulch, Wirt Co., W. Va.
14. Gas from Marsh Ground
15. Baku, on the Caspian Sea.
16. Gas occluded in Wigan cannel-coal.
17. Blower in coal-mine. South Wales.
Notes:
1. Chiefly marsh-gas with ethane and some carbonic acid.
4. A mixture of marsh-gas, ethane and butane.
5. Chiefly propane, with small quantities of carbonic acid and
nitrogen.
10. Trace of heavy hydrocarbons.
11. Marsh-gas, with a little carbonic acid.
13. Chiefly marsh-gas, with small quantities of nitrogen and
15.86 per cent
carbonic acid.
References:
1. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045.
2. H. Wurtz, "Am. Jour. Arts and Sci." (2), xlix, p. 336.
3. Robert Young.
4. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045.
5. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045.
6. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 2d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153.
7. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 152.
8. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153.
9. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153.
10. F.C. Phillips.
11. Robert Young.
12. Rogers.
13. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045.
14. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730.
15. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730.
16. J.W. Thomas, London, "Chemical Society's Journal," 1876, p. 793.
17. Same, 1875, p. 793.
* * * * *
CLOSING LEAKAGES FOR PACKING.
By L. C. LEVOIR.
The mineral asbestos is but a very poor packing material in
steam-boilers. Moreover, it acts as a strong grinding material on all
moving parts.
For some years I have tested the applicability of artificial
precipitates to close the holes in boilers, cylinder-covers, and
stuffing boxes. I took, generally with the best success, alternate
layers of hemp-cotton, thread, and absorbent paper, all well saturated
with the chlorides of calcium and magnesium. The next layers of the same
fiber are moistened with silicate of soda. By pressure the fluids are
mixed and the pores are closed. A stuffing box filled with this mixture
has worked three years without grinding the piston-rod.
In the same manner I close the screw-thread hole in gas tubes used for
conducting steam. I moisten the thread in the sockets with oleic acid
from the candle-works, and dust over it a mixture of 1 part of minium,
2 parts of quick-lime, and 1 part of linseed powder (without the oil).
When the tube is screwed in the socket, the powder mixes with the oleic
acid. The water coming in at first makes the linseed powder viscid.
Later the steam forming the oleate of lime and the oleate of lead,
on its way to the outer air, presses it in the holes and closes them
perfectly.
After a year in use the tubes can be unscrewed with ease, and the screw
threads are perfectly smooth.
With this kind of packing only one exception must be made--that is, it
is only tight under pressure; condensation or vacuum must be thoroughly
avoided.--_Chem. News_.
* * * * *
LUMINOUS PAINT.
In answer to various inquiries concerning the manufacture of this
article, we give herewith the process of William Henry Balmain, the
original discoverer of luminous paint, and also other processes. These
particulars are derived from the letters patent granted in this country
to the parties named.
Balmain's invention was patented in England in 1877, and in this country
in 1882. It is styled as Improvements in Painting, Varnishing, and
Whitewashing, of which the following is a specification:
The said invention consists in a luminous paint, the body of which is a
phosphorescent compound, or is composed in part of such a compound, and
the vehicle of which is such as is used as the vehicle in ordinary paint
compounds, viz., one which becomes dry by evaporation or oxidation.
The objector article to which such paint or varnish or wash is applied
is itself rendered visible in the darkest place, and more or less
capable of imparting light to other objects, so as to render them
visible also. The phosphorescent substance found most suitable for the
purpose is a compound obtained by simply heating together a mixture
of lime and sulphur, or carbonate of lime and sulphur, or some of the
various substances containing in themselves both lime and sulphur--such,
for example, as alabaster, gypsum, and the like--with carbon or other
agent to remove a portion of the oxygen contained in them, or by heating
lime or carbonate of lime in a gas or vapor containing sulphur.
The vehicle to be used for the luminous paint must be one which will dry
by evaporation or oxidation, in order that the paint may not become soft
or fluid by heat or be liable to be easily rubbed off by accident or use
from the articles to which it has been applied. It may be any of the
vehicles commonly used in oil-painting or any of those commonly used in
what is known as "distemper" painting or whitewashing, according to the
place or purpose in or for which the paint is to be used.
It is found the best results are obtained by mixing the phosphorescent
substance with a colorless varnish made with mastic or other resinous
body and turpentine or spirit, making the paint as thick as convenient
to apply with a brush, and with as much turpentine or spirit as can
be added without impairing the required thickness. Good results may,
however, be obtained with drying oils, spirit varnishes, gums, pastes,
sizes, and gelatine solutions of every description, the choice being
varied to meet the object in view or the nature of the article in hand.
The mode of applying the paint, varnish, or wash will also depend upon
the circumstances of the case. For example, it may be applied by a
brush, as in ordinary painting, or by dipping or steeping the article
in the paint, varnish, or wash; or a block or type may be used to
advantage, as in calico-printing and the like. For outdoor work, or
wherever the surface illuminated is exposed to the vicissitudes of
weather or to injury from mechanical contingencies, it is desirable to
cover it with glass, or, if the article will admit of it, to glaze it
over with a flux, as in enameling, or as in ordinary pottery, and this
may be accomplished without injury to the effect, even when the flux or
glaze requires a red heat for fusion.
Among other applications of the said invention which may be enumerated,
it is particularly advantageous for rendering visible clock or watch
faces and other indicators--such, for example, as compasses and the
scales of barometers or thermometers--during the night or in dark places
during the night time. In applying the invention to these and other
like purposes there may be used either phosphorescent grounds with
dark figures or dark grounds and phosphorescent figures or letters,
preferring the former. In like manner there may be produced figures and
letters for use on house-doors and ends of streets, wherever it is not
convenient or economical to have external source of light, signposts,
and signals, and names or marks to show entries to avenues or gates, and
the like.
The invention is also applicable to the illumination of railway
carriages by painting with phosphorescent paint a portion of the
interior, thus obviating the necessity for the expense and inconvenience
of the use of lamps in passing through tunnels. It may also be applied
externally as warning-lights at the front and end of trains passing
through tunnels, and in other similar cases, also to ordinary carriages,
either internally or externally. As a night-light in a bed-room or in a
room habitually dark, the application has been found quite effectual, a
very small proportion of the surface rendered phosphorescent affording
sufficient light for moving about the room, or for fixing upon and
selecting an article in the midst of a number of complicated scientific
instruments or other objects.
The invention may also be applied to private and public buildings in
cases where it would be economical and advantageous to maintain for a
short time a waning or twilight, so as to obviate the necessity for
lighting earlier the gas or other artificial light. It may also be
used in powder-mills and stores of powder, and in other cases where
combustion or heat would be a constant source of danger, and generally
for all purposes of artificial light where it is applicable.
In order to produce and maintain the phosphorescent light, full sunshine
is not necessary, but, on the contrary, is undesirable. The illumination
is best started by leaving the article or surface exposed for a short
time to ordinary daylight or even artificial light, which need not be
strong in order to make the illumination continue for many hours, even
twenty hours, without, the necessity of renewed exposure.
The advantages of the invention consist in obtaining for the purposes of
daily life a light which is maintained at no cost whatever, is free from
the defects and contingent dangers arising from combustion or heat, and
can be applied in many cases where all other sources of light would be
inconvenient or incapable of application.
Heretofore phosphorus has been mixed with earthy oxides, carbonates,
and sulphates, and with oxides and carbonates of metal, as tin, zinc,
magnesia, antimony, and chlorides of the same, also crystallized acids
and salts and mineral substances, and same have been inclosed and
exhibited in closely-stopped bottles as a phosphorus; but such union I
do not claim; but what I claim is:
A luminous paint, the body of which is a phosphorescent substance, or
composed in part of such substance, the vehicle of which is such as is
ordinarily used in paints, viz., one which will become dry by oxidation
or evaporation, substantially as herein described.
A. Krause, of Buffalo, N.Y., obtained a patent for improvement in
phosphorescent substances dated December 30, 1879. The patentee says:
This invention relates to a substance which, by exposure to direct or
indirect sun-light, or to artificial light, is so affected or brought
into such a peculiar condition that it will emit rays of light or become
luminous in the dark.
It is a well-known fact that various bodies and compositions of matter,
more especially compositions containing sulphur in combination with
earthy salts, possess the property of emitting rays of light in the
dark after having been exposed to sun-light. All of these bodies and
compositions of matter are, however, not well adapted for practical
purposes, because the light emitted by them is either too feeble to be
of any practicable utility, or because the luminous condition is not
of sufficient duration, or because the substances are decomposed by
exposure to the atmosphere.
Among the materials which have been employed with the best results
for producing these luminous compositions are sea-shells, especially
oyster-shells. I have found by practical experiments that only the inner
surface of these shells is of considerable value in the production
of luminous compositions, while the body of the shell, although
substantially of the same chemical composition, does not, to any
appreciable extent, aid in producing the desired result. It follows from
this observation that the smallest shells, which contain the largest
surface as compared with their cubic contents, will be best adapted for
this purpose.
I have found that chalk, which is composed of the shells of microscopic
animals, possesses the desired property in the highest degree; and my
invention consists, therefore, of a luminous substance composed of such
chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, as will be hereinafter fully set forth.
In preparing my improved composition I take cleaned or precipitated
chalk, and subject it to the process of calcination in a suitable
crucible over a clear coal or charcoal fire for three or four hours,
or thereabout. I then add to the calcined chalk about one-third of its
weight of sulphur, and heat the mixture for from forty-five to ninety
minutes, or thereabout. A small quantity of bismuth, in the proportion
of about one per cent, or less of the mixture, is added together with
the sulphur.
The metal may be introduced in the metallic form in the shape of
fillings, or in the form of a carbonate, sulphuret, sulphate, or
sulphide, or oxide, as may be most convenient.
The substance produced in this manner possesses the property of emitting
light in the dark in a very high degree. An exposure to light of very
short duration, sometimes but for a moment, will cause the substance
to become luminous and to remain in this luminous condition, under
favorable circumstances, for upward of twenty-four hours.
The intensity of the light emitted by this composition after exposure is
considerable, and largely greater than the light produced by any of the
substances heretofore known.
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