A NEW USE FOR SEWAGE.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 27, 11 June 1877, Page 2

A NEW USE FOR SEWAGE.

Mt Andrew Bray, of Manchester, bas invented and patented an illuminated gas which seems likely to do much, not only towards supplying a purer and cheaper light thaa that of tbe ordinary coal gas, bat towards wirings the great problems of how to economise coal, and how to dispose of our sewage. The source from- which the gas is obtained is sewage water, one quart of which will yield 47 feet of the gas. Three retorts are fixed in a furnace, and when they are sufficiently heated* fte liquid is passed through two of them through > an iron cylinder called the hydraulic main, which i is elevated above the furnace, through the third retort, and then through a coil of metal piping immersed in, cold water. Afterwards, the processes resemble those employed in miking coal gas. It is claimed that the illuminating power of the new. gasia treble that of the gas at present used in our streets manufactories, and houses. For instance, a No. 1 burner consumes one foot of gas an hour, while aNo 3, consumes three feet ; but when the new gas is used, a No 1 burner will giro as much light as a No $ through which coal gas is consumed. Tbe new light is said to be clearer, than ordinary gas, more like daylight in appearance, and more compatible with good health because it is free from tar and sulphur, and cannot give off any waste carbon. As regards cost, we are informed that while ordinary gas cannot be produced under any conditions for less than a shilling per thousand feet, the samp quantity of the new gas may be manufactured, even in a small way, for less than a shilling. One of the reasons of this reduced cost is that only twelve men would be required in making the new gas, against, at least, one hundred, who are needed under the present system. We may illustrate this by explaining that in the manufacture of ordinary gas many men are necessary to keep up the supply of coal to the retorts, and to remove that which has been burnt into coke ; but this work does not form paH of the process of making the sewage gas. tag*. ... ... .L!g