What the limit is I have
as yet not been able to discover.
There is one more application of gas, as a fuel, which, discovered and
published by myself some two years ago, has yet to become generally
known, and in some special processes may prove exceedingly valuable.
This is the addition of a very small quantity or coal gas, or light
petroleum vapors, to the air supplied by a blower or chimney pull,
to furnaces burning coke or charcoal. The instant and great rise in
temperature of the furnace, and the greater stability of the solid fuel
used, are extraordinary. This is, in fact, a practical application of
the well-known "flameless combustion," the only signs that the gas
is being burnt being a great rise in temperature and a decreased
consumption of the solid fuel; in fact, if the gas is in correct
proportion, the solid fuel remains unburnt, or nearly so, in spite of
the high temperature. In cases where a sudden rise in temperature is
required in a furnace, or where the power is deficient, this method
of supplementing and increasing the heat will be found of very great
service, and processes liable to be checked by making up a fire with
fresh fuel can be carried on without check, even after the solid fuel
has almost entirely disappeared.
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