Description of an apparatus for the analysis of the compound inflammable gases by slow combustion; with experiments on the gas from coal, explaining its application

• Published in: Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 1832
• Subjects: Carbonic acid
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspl.1800.0168; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspl.1800.0168

The object of this memoir is to remove some obstacles which present themselves to a successful inquiry into the nature of compound inflammable gases. When a vegetable substance is submitted to distillation, at a temperature not below that of ignition, the equilibrium of affinities is destroyed, and the elements composing it are united in a new manner. The carbon, uniting with oxygen, either composes carbonic acid gas, or stopping short of that degree of oxygenation, is converted into carbonic oxide. The hydrogen, combining with a portion of charcoal, forms either carburetted hydrogen gas, or super-carburetted hydrogen, better known by the name of olefiant gas. Towards the close of the process, simple hydrogen gas is also mingled with the products. The method hitherto pursued for the analysis of inflammable gases, has consisted in mixing them with a known proportion of oxygen, burning the mixture by the electric spark, noting the first contraction and subsequent diminution, by lime-water, for the quantities of water and of carbonic acid formed, and thence inferring the proportion of hydrogen and of carbon in the gas examined, without making due allowance for the possible admixture of carbonic oxide, either before or after the combustion.