Log (fuel)

“ Not only is it easily transported even long distances through pipes, but also as a fuel it is easily regulated, leaves no refuse, and is less damaging to boilers than coal. It is a colorless, odorless, free-burning gas, consisting very largely of the simple hydrocarbon called marsh gas or fire damp. Petroleum nearly always has more or less natural gas associated with it, but in some cases considerable quantities of gas may exist alone. ”

“ The fuel (anthracite) is placed within the boiler, and that is so placed within the reservoir before named, that only a small part of it, required to receive the fuel, is left outside.
“On each side of the reservoir of air, is a construction consisting of six longitudinal chambers one above the other, the whole length of it. The lower three, separated from the upper three by a brick arch and from each other by partitions of wood, are the ventilating channels receiving at intervals the flues from above and finally terminating beneath the exhausting shaft, to be described. ”

“ Mixed with air it is explosive. It is found in sedimentary rocks, mostly sandstones, either with or without petroleum. Usually it is under considerable pressure, and escapes with great force wherever a hole permits. In time the gas all escapes through the hole or well, and then the well “runs out.” If petroleum is present under the natural gas, the hole may become an “oil well,” from which petroleum may be pumped, until it in turn is exhausted. ”

“ When the steam from the boiler is allowed to flow into the 35ash pit of the producer and up through the incandescent fuel, the heat separates the water vapor into its two elements, oxygen and hydrogen. The oxygen set free combines with the carbon in the coal forming more carbon monoxide, while the hydrogen which is unaffected by the combustion adds to the heat value of the gas. ”

“ By-and-by the water will be continued right up to the roof, and it will surprise some people to learn that the gas, when it enters the holder, rests on the water and forces the holder up, so that when the holder is full its top is on a level with that of the upright girders which guide its actions, and its bottom only a foot or so beneath the surface of the water, the latter being in a giant stone tank. Water, it should be understood, is an absolute seal for gas, and it is a practical impossibility that a gasholder could, as many imagine, blow up. ”

“ In their modern types a fan blast forces the draft downward through the fuel, with the effect that the gases are so intensely heated as to be thoroughly burned. The grate-bars are of water-tube, connected to the boiler as part and parcel of its heating surface. In the [382] Loomis gas-producer a like method is adopted: the fuel is charged through an open door in the top of the generator and the gas is exhausted from the bottom of the fire. Thus all tarry and volatile matter in bituminous coal or wood is converted into a fixed gas. ”

“ FOR IMPURITIES IN FEED WATER.
Much expense can be saved in fuel and boiler repairs by a little preliminary expenditure of money in securing a supply of good water for the steam boilers of a new establishment. Well water is nearly always inferior to the running water of streams; water from mines is especially hurtful, containing, as they do, large quantities of free sulphuric acid. Wells along the sea shore or on the banks of rivers affected by the tides, are likely to be saturated with chloride of magnesium. ”

“ Certain sedimentary rocks contain larger or smaller quantities of natural gas, petroleum, mineral tar and asphalt. These are compounds of carbon and hydrogen, or hydrocarbons, and range from gases to solids, each being a mixture of two or more hydrocarbon compounds. The crude petroleum may have either a paraffin base or an asphalt base: in the former case, when the gas, gasoline, kerosene, etc., have been removed by distillation, the solid residue will be paraffin, as in most of the Pennsylvania crude oils ”

“ Petroleum occurs in sedimentary rocks of marine origin, usually rocks which also contain the shells of some of the animals, the soft parts of which made the oil. To have been preserved the millions of years since the petroleum was first formed, the oil-bearing layers must have been covered by some impervious layer of rock, beneath the domes and anticlines of which the oil has lain ever since. When such a dome or anticlinal fold is perforated by a well, the released oil flows to the surface with a greater or less rush, according to the pressure. ”

“ Edward Orton, of Ohio, was the most prominent investigator in this field. In all regions where petroleum occurs the strata are not only disturbed, but they are bent into anticlinal or arch-shaped folds. If the rocks are porous the gas tends to collect at the summit of the anticlinal fold or arch, while the oil collects in the flanks of the fold. Salt water is usually associated with the gas and oil, and, being heavier, accumulates in the flanks of the anticlinal or in the neighboring synclinal folds. There is little use of searching for oil in regions where the strata are flat ”

“ At one end the distance between logs may be widened to accommodate the different sized utensils. Flat stones may be used to build the little fireplace. If your fire does not draw well you can raise one end of a log a little off the ground by putting a small stick thereunder. Wait until the fire of clear wood has burned down to coals and then cut off your draft and cook over the coals, using the log supports as though they were a range. Your cooking fire is little larger than your hat and throws off very little if any smoke. ”

“ The organic matter changed slowly into the complex mixture of hydrogen and carbon compounds that is petroleum.
Because gas is lighter than oil, and oil in turn lighter than water, gas and oil move upward in a porous rock containing all three. Gas moves to the highest position with oil next below and water in the lowest part of the rock. Oil pools exist where geologic barriers have stopped the movement of gas and oil. ”

“ When any oil well, gas well or test well is to be abandoned, it must first be plugged in some secure manner above the oil or gas sand or rock formation, either by placing or driving one or more good seasoned wooden plugs, or a lead plug, as the case may require, so that no gas or oil may escape, or any water or destructive matter force itself into the oil or gas sand, or rock formation. Upon such seasoned wooden plug or plugging material shall be filled at least thirty feet of cement properly mixed with sand, or thirty feet of good clay or rock sediment properly prepared. ”

“ Even at works where we use the gas nine miles from the well, the pressure is 75 lb. per square inch. At one of the wells, where it was desirable to have a supply of pure water, I found a small engine worked by the direct pressure of the gas as it came from the well; and an excellent supply of water was thus obtained from a spring in the valley. Eleven lines of pipe now convey gas from the various wells to the manufacturing establishments in and around Pittsburg. The largest of these for the latter part of the distance is 12 inches in diameter. ”

“ The rock in which the oil is found is spoken of as the reservoir, or oil-sand, and it is essential that this rock should be porous. The degree of porosity not only influences the quantity of oil which the rock can hold, but it may also influence the rate of flow of the well. Some wells may yield as little as 15 barrels per day; others may reach a production of 50,000 or 60,000 barrels per day. The porosity of the oil-bearing formation may also change from place to place and would account for the location of a profitable well at one point and a barren one a short distance from it. ”

“ Ordinary well-water will be found to contain solid matter in solution varying from 10 to 100 grains to the gallon. Under 20 grains to the gallon of impurities may be considered fair water if the principal ingredient is carbonate of lime, but that amount of sulphate will make highly objectionable boiler water. Where the use of well-water is unavoidable on a road, quite a saving to boilers can be effected by ascertaining the quantity and character of the impurities received from each water-tank, and directing the engineers to avoid those that contain the worst scale formers. ”

“ In many of the fields, explosives are used to promote the flow of oil, and when the well “comes in” to production, the ordinary methods of bailing or pumping are resorted to. Compressed air is also used for bringing about and sustaining production. The quantity of air and the periods of admission naturally vary with the diameters of the wells, the amount of gas present, the level of the liquid, etc., which latter also determines the pressure of air necessary. ”

“ Air and fuel enter the producer at the top, and the gas exit is in the center of the bottom so that the air is forced to pass through the center of the producer, decomposing the volatile matter into gases of calorific value. The moisture which is present in the peat fuel in considerable quantities must be taken into consideration. ”

“ The crude oil is allowed to settle for twelve or more hours at a temperature sufficiently high to separate any water that may have passed the test at the retorts, and after this water has been run off, the oil is fed into the centre boiler of a battery of oil boilers. The lightest fraction of the oil—ultimately motor spirit and illuminating oils—is distilled off the feeding boiler and condensed in a coil of cast-iron pipes immersed in water in a tank, cold water being continuously run into the tank, while heated water is run off. ”

“ The reservoir A is filled with water, and when the frame is immersed, with the valve R closed, the air contained in the cartridge and tubing can not escape, the water seal preventing, while the confined air prevents the water from rising in the tube N. When the valve at R is opened and the air is allowed to escape, part of the water from the reservoir rises into the tube N and then out through the small hole O to the carbide. Gas is immediately generated, the pressure of which prevents further ingress of the water from the tube N, and the generation of gas is suspended. ”

“ If the sandstones were open to the air, or if fissures extended from them to the surface, the oil has escaped to the surface and evaporated into the air. But in those cases where the sandstone (or other permeable rocks) was covered by an impervious layer, like a dense shale or clay, the oil was confined below the covering layer of rock. Crude oil is lighter than water; so that when natural gas, petroleum and water were all present in the rocks, the gas lies on top, the petroleum next, and the water underneath. ”

“ Such a well, after standing a while would again yield oil on pumping, then perhaps water only, or water and oil, until it had had another rest. If the supply of gas is kept up by an open crevice, the well may continue to flow for some time. The pressure of neighboring water may also cause the oil to flow from a well. Generally the pumping-wells are pretty constant, although when a number of wells are bored near together they interfere with each other, and sometimes water poured down one well will appear in another, and this method has been pursued to bring rival well-owners to terms. ”

“ From the wells the oil is conducted into reservoirs, which are nothing more than pits dug in the earth, or natural depressions with banks of sand raised around them. Here the sand in the oil is allowed to settle; when it has become clear enough for use the crude petroleum is pumped into iron tanks, and then into the pipe-lines that carry it to the refineries in Chorney Gorod. ”

“ Why, after Sue gets back with the piece of iron, we will go down and set the ball of the pipe in Katie's fire. When it gets hot, we shall see a smoke coming out of the pipe, which will be composed chiefly of hydrogen gas: we will touch a match to it, and there will be a flame at the end of the pipe until all the hydrogen which was in the coal in the ball of the pipe has united with oxygen. That is one way to make gas on a very small scale. ”

“ Where commercial quantities of oil are struck, the exploration well becomes a production well. Here the Production String, being a steel tube of about 12cm diameter, is let down into the well, as shown in figure 7. The end of the tube is perforated to allow any gas, the oil and the water to flow into it. The productive zone of the well is sealed off from the rest of the well by a rubber Packer. ”

“ As the water is forced to the surface, the pressure diminishes, and a portion of gas escapes with effervescence. The spouting wells deliver, therefore, enormous volumes of gas with the water, a perfect suds of water, carbonic acid and carburetted hydrogen.
"The common origin of the springs is shown by the analysis: all contain the same constituents in essentially the same order of abundance; they differ in the degree of concentration merely. Those from the deepest strata are the most concentrated. ”

“ Each retort has an iron exit pipe affixed to it, through which the gases generated by the furnace are carried off. The exit pipes all empty themselves into what is known as the hydraulic main, a long horizontal cylinder, and in this the gas begins to deposit a portion of its impurities. The immediate products of distillation are, after steam and air, gas, tar, ammoniacal liquor, sulphur in various forms, and coke, the last being left behind in the retort. In the hydraulic main some of the tar and ammoniacal liquor already begin to be deposited. ”