A CHEAP NEW GAS.

Patea Mail, 24 July 1882, Page 3

A CHEAP NEW GAS.

Binnie’s gaa machine, just tested in Dunedin, is a decided success. The ingredients ai’e air, water, and fat. The fat is common dripping, reduced by heat to a fluid state. Three small pipes, one conducting water, one fat, and one air, terminate in a red-hot retort. The instant the three ingredients meet, the gas is formed, and if a match is applied to it it bums. Before the gas is considered fit for use it is passed through a purifying process. It is conducted from the retort into a hydraulic main containing water, thence into a condenser, passing through water three times while there, and then it proceeds into the purifier proper, the clarifying agent which it contains being lime. From the purifier it is taken into a gas-holder capable of storing 400 feet) from which gas of excellent quality is subtracted. A fine white light is given, and several of those present at the experimental trial were of opinion that the light was much superior to that given by the gas which is supplied by the Corporation works. The extreme simplicity of the process is a powerful recommendation. It is estimated that an apparatus to supply a fair-sized house would not cost more than £lO or £ls, and it is asserted that in most houses the fat thrown away would be more than sufficient to keep the house in gas. The machinery requires very little attention, and it could be easily managed (once set fairly going) by any intelligent person. The gas apparently does not throw off any unpleasant odour. It is claimed that two men could make as much gas by this process as forty men could by that in general use. 'From 71bs or lOlbs of fat, and scarce!}’ a pint of water, with the necessary quantity of air, it is asserted that 1000 feet of good gas can be evolved, the cost of production being estimated from Is 3d to 2s per 1000 feet. Mr Binnie has been four or five years perfecting the invention.