New York Paper - The Slagging Gas Producer (with Discussion)

The type of gas producer in which the ashes are fluxed and run off as slag was among the very earliest made. Ebelmen built the first one in 1840 at Audincourt, France, only a year after the installation of the first gas producer of which we have record. Charcoal was used as the fuel, with blast-furnace slag and clay as flux. My interest in this type of producer began when as a boy I saw the fluxing producer at Chester, N. J., which was invented by W. J. Taylor, and described by him in 1881.' This producer was invented independently by Mr. Taylor to meet the difficulties he experienced in making producer gas for roasting sulphurous iron ores. It will be of interest to review briefly his description of his producer. It was built like a small blast furnace, having a hearth 24 in. in diameter and 24 in. high. The bosh angle was 25' from the vertical; the diameter at the bosh 4 ft. and at the top 3 ft.; the total height 12 ft. The producer contained one water-cooled tuyere 12 in. above the bottom, with a 1.5-in. nozzle. Depth of the coal above the tuyere, 6 ft. Mr. Taylor mixed the coal with from 30 to 40 per cent. of basic blast-furnace slag to flux the ash. Occasionally some limestone was also used, but never limestone alone, as the use of the furnace cinder gave a larger volume of slag and made it easier to maintain a proper fluidity. The producer was blown with a small Weimer blowing engine, delivering 300 ft. of air per minute, at from 1 to 1.5 lb. pressure. The slag was tapped every 2 hr. and was black and glassy in appearance. Broken or egg size anthracite was used. The fine sizes of anthracite could not be made to work. Mr. Taylor expressed the belief that bituminous coal could be used if not too fine, but no experiments were made with this coal. Runs were made of four weeks' duration, with no stops or changes. Mr. Taylor reported the following advantages: 1. Excellent gas, very uniform in quality. The high fuel bed permitted no air to pass unconsumed, and the gas was almost entirely free from carbonic acid.