Hints on the economical use of gas : addressed to the gas consumers of Louisville / by Robert G. Courtenay.
- Courtenay, Robert G.
- Date:
- 1858
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Hints on the economical use of gas : addressed to the gas consumers of Louisville / by Robert G. Courtenay. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
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![HINTS ON THE ECONOMICAL USE OE GAS. To the Gas Consumers of Louisville: I present these remarks on gas lighting, with the hope that they may cause gas consumers to think on the subject, and the informa- tion may enable them to practice more economy in the use of gas ; feeling assured that greater economy in its use will not only benefit them, but also the Louisville Gas Company. You are aware that illuminating gas is a compound of hydrogen and carbon. The hydrogen alone, although highly inflammable, would give no light; the gas owes its luminosity to the carbon. The hydrogen, when ignited, heats to an incandescent state the small particles of carbon combined with it. These particles of carbon, in passing through the flame, form so many centers for the radiation of light, when the carbon reaches the top of the flame it combines with the atmosphere and passes off in the form of carbonic acid gas. Jf the carbon be in excess a portion of it will pass off in smoke. The quantity of gas that passes the burner, will always be in proportion to the size of the orifice in the burner, and the jii'essure applied to the pipe. I will endeavor to explain the meaning of this word, pressure, as here applied. Pressure, is the initial force which propels the gas through the pipes, its degree is measured by comparing it with the height of a column of water, contained in a small bent tube, with a scale attached usually divided into inches and tenths of inches. When I say a pressure of J0 or ]„, I mean a pressure of gas on the pipes that will support a column of water ?0 of an inch or Is of an inch high. The Gas Company is obliged to maintain a higher pressure on the street pipes than many consumers require. To burn gas properly and with economy the pressure ought to be adapted to the kind of gas burner used. Some burners require a high pressure, others a low pressure. I hope to elucidate this before I close this paper. The two burners, in common use with us, are the fish-tail and bats-wing burner.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21111509_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
