STEAM CONVERTED INTO GAS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 154, 27 June 1878, Page 4

STEAM CONVERTED INTO GAS.

IMPOKTANT DISCOVERY. [{Worcester Chronicle.) Just when tbe public mind ia again "being agitated 0/1 the gaa questioned the familiar arguments in favor of, and in opposition to the purchase of the Worcester Gas Company's works by Sac Corporation of Worcester are once more to the front, comes the alarming intelligence that gas— the kind of gas that is, which is useful for lighting purposes—can be produced by° such profitable means that the manufacturers can afford to absolutely give it away ! The statement may seem incredible : enough, but when we aay further I corporations having the public gasworks in their own hands have a prospect before them not only of being able to supply the ratepayers with gas free gratis for nothing, but also of making such a profit out of its manufacture as to be able to materially reduce the rates levied — we don't say dispense with all oalls upon the ratepayers —the discovery to which we are about to allude will naturally be looked upon as the wonder of the nineteenth century. The discovery is nothing less than a means of convening sterna into a portable gas, withont the ass of coal, coke, wood, oil, or any other 3uch combustible substance or liquid, and is due to the patient research and experimentalising labors of Mr John A. Stephan, of Rainbow-Id!!, Worcester, who has within the past few days dnmousir^e ■', in the most successful manner, this ue v raethod of producing artificial light. Mr Stephan has, we understand, secured a patent for his invention in this country, and also several foreigu patents but until it i 8 fully eecured it ran scarcely be expected t hat his modus operandi will be completely divulged. At present, therefore, we are only able to state Mr Stepban's scheme in general terms. Briefly, he generates eteam in an ordinary boiler, and passes the steam ; through perforated or honeycombed chambers into a retort, where it is converted, by the useof certain substances, into hydrogen, and subsequently into oarburetted hydrogen o as , which passes through cold water previous to entering the gas-holder. As may be inferred, the f certain substances " in question constitute the secret of the whole affair. It is by their use that the gas is produced and made luminous, and the products which result from the mann- | faclure we are assured represent enormous profits. Thesa products are lubricating grease, ammonia water, and others (including lime and cement) of exceptional value. Mr Stephan asserts that three of the most valuable products give a profit on tha manufacture amounting to 150 per cent 1 For these only a scientific chemist would carry on the manufacture ; the gas and the minor products being of quite subsidiary consideration. Only a comparatively small quantity of the gas which is produced would be needed for supplying heat to the boiler ; the remainder the manufacturer could afford to give away. What the extraordinary! valuable products are the public will j doubtless very shortly be informed ; they will then be in a better position to judge of their value than at present; but aa regards one of them—lime— of course a fair idea may now be formed j of ita worth ; the difference between the cost of thelimestone, and the cost of lime for building purpoHbS, repre- j Bentß, we suppose, something very i considerable. The production of gas will of course | principally interest the general public, j That the gab which Mr Stephan pro- ! duces gives a capital light was made manifest on Saturday and Monday evenings, at the small (l woika " which he has erected adjoining Webb's Tileries Company's premises at Rain-bow-hill, Worcester. On Mooday evening, a very numerous company of citizens of Worcester, including Alderman Woodward, Alderman Lovsey, Councillors Noake and Fisher, and the' R9V Father Waterwortb, and a party of friends, assembled, and had good proof of the illuminating power of the gas afforded them by the lighting of several burners both within and outside ! Messrs Webb's offices. The brilliancy of the light then Bhown was admitted on all hands, and, we were informed by Mr Stephan that it was possible to produce a light of 40-eaodie power, and that the manufacturer would have a direct interest in producing good gas, inasmuch as the more brilliant the light was made, the more valuable wouid the products from the retort become. A very remarkable feature of the process of manufacture is the fact that existing gas works can easily and cheaply be utilised for the purpose. A pipe for the conveyance of steam into eaoh retort will be required, but the purifiers and " scrubbers " now in use will not be wanted, and, in place, of us. ing ooal, jets of gas will be needed for heating the boilers. A nice prospect for gaa companies or Corporations possessing gaß works 1 No outlay for fuel, but immense profits from duary" products, The adaption of the process to works on a large scale has yes to be tried, and until this has resulted successfully there will naturally be hesitation on the part of many to accept the discovery at its full (supposed) value. Experiments on a small scale are frequently most satisfactory ; but the came reeuU is not always attained when trials on a scale of great magnitude are attempted, |Mr ; ; Stephan'u next eteip \ will bV'we faW, to apply hia syate&l

manufacture to the gaa works at Koowle, Warwickshire, and if the results are then satisfactory, (he lighting of Birmingham will then be attempted. If Mr Stephan succeeds at Birmingham, as we sincerely trust he will, the success of hiß discovery will be assured without doubt. Then will come the question whether the results, fioancially, will be as great as anticipated — whether, supposing the new system is generally adopted, the tremendously increased production of "residuary" products will not render them less valuable than they now are ? Mr Stephan argues that they are things of daily use in large quantities, and that there is no difficulty whatever io finding purchasers for them. We hope he may have his anticipations realised. Apart from the lighting question what a wide field is open by this disdiseovery of a means for producing steam without coal ! The coal trade must of neceasily be seriously interfered with. Users of steam and gas can make both, the one from the other ! A steamship, instead of carrying hundreds of tons of coal each trip, will not require to do anything of the kind. Keep your gas jets constantly burning under your boilers, and you not only make Btenm for driving the machinery, but gas for lighting purposes and for supplying the said jets. And then you have the residuary products for your trouble! This beats Ala-Jdiu'a lamp.