The Mond Gas-Producer Plant and Its Application.”
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190 HUNPHREP OX THE MOND GAS-PRODUCER PLANT. [Minutesof 16 March, 189;. JOHN WOLFE BARRY, C.E., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. (Paper No. 2956.) ’‘ The Mond Gas-Producer Plant and its Application.” By HERBERTALFRED HUMPHREI’, ASSOC.M. Inst. C.E. GASEOUSfuel possesses certain well-recognised advantages over solid fuel ; it is easily handled, and its combustion is completely under control, and causes no smoke or dirt. It is also applicable to many cases where solid fuel could not be used, and it is the fuel of internal-combustion engines. For these and other reasons the demand for it is rapidly increasing ; and it is the function of the gas-producers to convertsolid fuel intothe gaseous state. In a Paper read before the Institution in 1886, Mr. F. J. Rowan gave an account of the Wilson, Dowson, Grobe,Sutherland, Siemens, and other gas-producers which had been employed up to that time ; and Papers on the application of the Dowson producer to the generation of gas for motive power hare since been com- municated to the Institution by Mr. J. E. Dowson.2 The Author proposes to deal with recentadvances inthis department of industry. Producer gas was used for furnace work many years before its adoption for use in gas-engines ; and its applicationto generating power, which only commenced about 18 years ago, has through- out beenclosely connected with the name of Mr. Dowson. His success, and the great possibilities in this field of work,led to the construction of many other producersfor power gas; those of Wilson, Taylor,Thwaites and Lencauchez having achieved excellentresults. The Dowson producer isadapted to US0 Minutes of Proceedings Inst. C.E., vol. lxsxiv. p. 2. ? Bid, vol. Ixxiii. p. 311 ; and vol. cxii. p. 2. Downloaded by [ University of Saskatchewan] on [21/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. Proceedings.] HUMPHRET ON THE MOND GAS-PRODUCER PLANT. 191 anthracite or coke, although gas has been made with steam coal, charcoal, lignite and other fuels. For gas-engine work, however, onlyanthracite or coke are used, and Mr.Dowson’s aim is t.0 replace some of the nitrogen in ordinary producer-gas, as used for furnacework, byan equalvolume of hydrogen. To this end superheated steam is forced with the air through a considerable depth of fuel at a bright-redheat. The resulting gas is cooled and scrubbed, andits composition is that shown in Table VI, Appendix I. Theprinciple of theother producersmentioned isthe same; but no doubtcertain specialadvantages may be claimed for each. The Lencauchezproducer isperhaps not so well known in England. It is circular in plan, and between its iron casing and the fire-brick lining there is a layer of sand, Fig. 1. The grate is Scale, 1 inch = 16 feet. LENCAGCHEZGAS-PRODUCER. closed and the air is forced in near the bottom by a blower driven by the gas-engine. Above the fire-door a small stream of water from the jacket of the engineenters and falIs into a trough. Partial evaporation of this water takes place as it overflows or lies inthe bottom of thegrate, any surpluswater escaping at a U-pipe. The steam thus formed passes with the air through the incandescent fuel, and the gas generated leaves the producer at the top, whence it is conducted to a coke scrubber through which it risesafter bubbling through a hydrauliclute. The gas is washed by a water-spray entering at the topof the scrubber and is then ready for storing in the holder. As the latter becomes full it actuates a chain attached to the air-inlet valve on the producer and so checks the supply of air. The holder cantains enough gas for starting the engine and is also used as a supply during the Downloaded by [ University of Saskatchewan] on [21/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 192 HUMPHREY ON THE MOND GAS-PRODUCERPLANT. [Minutes Of time the producer is idle for clinkering, a process which becomes necessary every twenty-four hours. With this producer it is found possible to use poor French anthracite or non-bituminous coal, and the success of the plant is yell established in France. Fromthe Papers referred to it may be gatheredthat most producerswere constructed to make gas without regard to the by-products, and that attempts to recover the ammonia had been onlypartially successful. No producers had been made togive good results with the cheapest slack coal, and it was only possible to obtain a gas suitable for use in gas-engines by employing an expensive fuel such as anthracite or coke yielding no by-products. The Mond producer and recovery plant, not onlyemploys cheap bituminous fuel, but recovers from it 90 lbs. of sulphate of ammoniaper ton, andyields a gaseminently suitable foruse in gas-engines, and applicable to all classes of furnace work. The difficulties in the use of bituminous slack, which hare been over- come by Dr. Ludwig Mond, F.R.S., in perfecting his produceri have been numerous, involving many years of research and continuous experimental work on a large scale. In addition to the chemical problems of the preservation and recovery of the ammonia and the destruction of all tarry matter, two great troubles arise from the caking of the coal andthe formation of clinker. Holes or channels areformed in the fuel and through them the air steam and flow instead of rising uniformly through thefuel, which burns un- equally and varying temperaturesresult. The fuel also cakes into arches in the producer and the steady downward motion neces- sary for good work is prevented. The producer becomes blocked and clinkering is difficult ; and, in spite of the bold attempts to break up themass of fuel and clinkerby a mechanical agitator, thesystem becomes unworkable. Evenwhere it wasdesirable to use gas- coke from a neighbouring gasworks in producers of the ordinary type, Nr. Hartley, of the Britannia Engineering Works, found the producers clinker so rapidlythat the working became a matter of serious difficulty, and at the close of the second day theengines had to bestopped andthe fires drawn. Mr. Hartley then addedmechanical means by which the attendant could detach all clinker from the lower portion of the interior of the brickwork and this gear rendered it possible to use the coke for acontinuous run of nine weeks. These difficulties were emphasized by Mr. Dowson in 1893; andstill more recently by Mr. Delamare-Deboutteville, in the report of the trial of a 1 Minutes of Proceedings Inst. C.E., vol. csii. p. 17,ll. 19 et seq. Downloaded by [ University of Saskatchewan] on [21/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. ~roceedings.1 HUMPHREY ox THE MOSD GAS-PRODUCER PLANT. 193 largesingle-cylinder gas-engine,l inwhich he draws particular attention to theLencauchez producers employed. Experiments on gas-producers were begun by Dr. Mond in 1879, and the methods by which he had already achieved success were clearly laid down by him ten years later.2Besides the use of bitu- minous fuel and the recovery of ammonia, the Mond process is distinguished by the following characteristics : The producer is worked at a much lower temperature than usual, so that the re- sultant ammonia is not decomposed, and the fueldoes not cake and no clinker is made. The low temperatureresults from, and is preserveduniform by, thelarge quantity of superheated steam introduced with the air, amounting tomore than twice the weight of the fuel dealt with. The greater portion of this steam passes out of the producer undecomposed, but during its cmdensation its sensible and latent heat are utilized to produce fresh steam for use in the producer. The gas containing the ammonia is passed through an absorbing apparatus; and, although the quantity of ammonia issmall compared withthe volume of gas, it is so effectually treated that 70 per cent. of the nitrogen in the original fuel is recovered. The fuel is mechanically fed into the producer, and the ashes withdrawnwithout interfering with the regular continuous working. The amount of labour required is small, as no clinkering is necessary;and the fuel is charged in large quantities of 8 cwt. to 10 cwt. at a time. The gas generated is uniform in quality,and, as no taris produced, theplant can be kept clean, and the gas cooled to any desired extent, without blocking the pipesand valves. DESCRIPTIONOF THE PLANT. The method of working, diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 2, Plate 5, will be described in relation to the plant in use at the chemical works of Messrs. Brunner, Nond and Company, North- wich, Cheshire. Cheap bituminous slack, arrivingin railway wagons, isemptied directly into ahopper, from which it is mechanically raised and delivered into a creeper above the row of producers. The creeper has outlets above each of the producer- hoppers, and candeliver into any one as desired. The hopper being thus filled, sufficient slack is by thesimple motions of a sliding neck and two levers, allowed to fall into themeasuring-hopper below to 1 !The Engineer, vol. lxxviii. p. 466. * Presidential Address to the Society of Chemical Industry, 1889. [THE INST. C.E. VOL. CXXIX.] 0 Downloaded by [ University of Saskatchewan] on [21/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 194 EUMPHREP ON THE MOND OAS-PRODUCER PLANT. [ntinutes of fill it ; and, owing to the closed connection, no dust escapes. The bottom of the measuring-hopper is closed by a hood-valve held in position by a lever and counterweight,so that when the attendant has closed the upper lid he runs the weight towards the valve and allows the measured quantity of slack todrop into the producer.