Page:EB1911 - Volume 11.djvu/506

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When the gas had to be purified from carbon disulphide as well as from sulphuretted hydrogen, slaked lime was employed for the removal of carbon dioxide and the greater quantity of the sulphur compounds, whilst a catch box or purifier of oxide of iron served to remove the last traces of sulphuretted hydrogen. Not fewer than four lime purifiers were employed, and as the one which was first in the series became exhausted, i.e. began to show signs of allowing carbon dioxide to pass through it unabsorbed, it was filled with fresh slaked lime and made the last of the series, the one which was second becoming first, and this procedure went on continuously. This operation was necessitated by the fact that carbon dioxide has the power of breaking up the sulphur compounds formed by the lime, so that until all carbon dioxide is absorbed with the formation of calcium carbonate, the withdrawal of sulphuretted hydrogen cannot proceed, whilst since it is calcium sulphide formed by the absorption of sulphuretted hydrogen by the slaked lime that absorbs the vapour of carbon disulphide, purification from the latter can only be accomplished after the necessary calcium sulphide has been formed. The foul gas leaving the scrubbers contains, as a general average, 30 grains of sulphuretted hydrogen, 40 grains of carbon disulphide and 200 grains of carbon dioxide per 100 cub. ft. On entering the first purifier, which contains calcium thiocarbonate and other combinations of calcium and sulphur in small quantity, the sulphuretted hydrogen and disulphide vapour have practically no action upon the material, but the carbon dioxide immediately attacks the calcium thiocarbonate, forming calcium carbonate with the production of carbon disulphide vapour, which is carried over with the gas into the second box. In the connexion between the first and the second box the gas is found to contain 500 grains of sulphuretted hydrogen and 80 grains of carbon disulphide per 100 cub. ft., but no trace of carbon dioxide. In the second box the formation of calcium thiocarbonate takes place by the action of carbon disulphide upon the calcium sulphide with the liberation of sulphuretted hydrogen, which is carried over to the third purifier. The gas in the connecting pipe between the second and third purifier will be found to contain 400 grains of sulphuretted hydrogen and 20 grains of carbon disulphide. The contents of the third box, being mostly composed of slaked lime, take up sulphuretted hydrogen forming calcium sulphide, and practically remove the remaining impurities, the outlet gas showing 20 grains of sulphuretted hydrogen and 8 grains of carbon disulphide per 100 cub. ft., whilst the catch box of oxide of iron then removes all traces of sulphuretted hydrogen. It will be noticed that in the earlier stages the quantity of sulphur impurities is actually increased between the purifiers—in fact, the greater amount of sulphiding procures the ready removal of the carbon disulphide,—but it is the carbon dioxide in the gas that is the disturbing element, inasmuch as it decomposes the combinations of sulphur and calcium; consequently it is a paramount object in this system to prevent this latter impurity finding its way through the first box of the series. The finding of any traces of carbon dioxide in the gas between the first two boxes is generally the signal for a new clean purifier being put into action, and the first one shut off, emptied and recharged with fresh lime, the impregnated material being sometimes sold for dressing certain soils.

The action of oxide of iron, which has now partly replaced the lime purification, depends on its power of combining with sulphuretted hydrogen to form sulphide of iron. Such is the affinity of the oxide for this impurity that it may contain from 50 to 60% by weight of free sulphur after revivification and still remain active. Upon removing the material from the vessel and exposing it to the atmosphere the sulphide of iron undergoes a revivifying process, the oxygen of the air displacing the sulphur from the sulphide as free sulphur, and with moisture converting the iron into hydrated oxide of iron. This revivification can be carried on a number of times until the material when dry contains about 50% of free sulphur and even occasionally 60% and over; it is then sold to manufacturers of sulphuric acid to be used in the sulphur kilns instead of pyrites (see ).

Apart from the by-products coke, coke-breeze, tar and retort carbon, which are sold direct, gas companies are now in many cases preparing from their spent purifying material pure chemical products which are in great demand. The most important of these is sulphate of ammonia, which is used for agricultural purposes as a manure, and is obtained by passing ammonia into sulphuric acid and crystallizing out the ammonium sulphate produced. To do this, saturated ammoniacal liquor is decomposed by lime in the presence of steam, and the freed ammonia is passed into strong sulphuric acid, the saturated solution of ammonium sulphate being carefully crystallized. The market value of the salt varies, but an average figure is £12 per ton, whilst the average yield is about 24 ℔ of salt per ton of coal carbonized. In large works the sulphuric acid is usually manufactured on the spot from the spent oxide, so that the sulphuretted hydrogen, which in the gas is considered an undesirable impurity, plays a valuable part in the manufacture of an important by-product.

Cyanogen compounds are extracted either direct from the gas, from the spent oxide or from ammoniacal liquor, and some large gas works now produce sodium cyanide, this being one of the latest developments in the gas chemical industry. The purified gas now passes to a gasholder (sometimes known as a gasometer), which may be either single lift, i.e. a simple bell inverted in a tank of water, or may be constructed on the telescopic principle, in which case much ground space is saved, as a holder of much greater capacity can be contained in the same-sized tank. The tank for the gasholder is usually made by excavating a circular reservoir somewhat larger in diameter than the proposed holder. A banking is allowed to remain in the centre, as shown in fig. 10, which is known as the “dumpling,” this arrangement not only saving work and water, but acting as a support for the king post of a trussed holder when the holder is empty. The tank must be water-tight, and the precaution necessary to be taken in order to ensure this is dependent upon the nature of the soil; it is usual, however, for the tanks to be lined with concrete. Where the conditions of soil are very bad, steel tanks are built above ground, but the cost of these is much greater. The holder is made of sheet iron riveted together, the thickness depending upon the size of the holder. The telescopic form consists of two or more lifts which slide in one another, and may be described as a single lift holder encircled by other cylinders of slightly larger diameter, but of about the same length. Fig. 10 shows the general construction. Gas on entering at A causes the top lift to rise; the bottom of this lift being turned up all round to form a cup, whilst the top of the next lift is turned down to form a so-called grip, the two interlock (see fig. 11), forming what is known as the hydraulic cup. Under these conditions the cup will necessarily be filled with water, and a seal will be formed, preventing the escape of gas. A guide framing is built round the holder, and guide rollers are fixed at various intervals round the grips of each lift, whilst at the bottom of the cup guide rollers are also fixed (fig. 11). In the year 1892 the largest existing gasholder was built at the East Greenwich works of the South Metropolitan Gas Company; it has six lifts, its diameter is 293 ft., and when filled with gas stands 180 ft. high. The capacity for gas is 12 million cub. ft.

The governor consists usually of a bell floating in a cast iron tank partially filled with water, and is in fact a small gasholder, from the centre of which is suspended a conical valve controlling the gas inlet and closing it as the bell fills. Any deviation in pressure will cause the floating bell to be lifted or lowered, and the size of the inlet will be decreased or increased, thus regulating the flow.

The fact that coal gas of an illuminating power of from 14 to 16 candles can be made from the ordinary gas coal at a fairly low rate, while every candle power added to the gas increases the cost in an enormous and rapidly growing ratio, has, from the earliest days of