water gas
| Dictionary: water gas |
n.
A fuel gas containing about 50 percent carbon monoxide, 40 percent hydrogen, and small amounts of methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, made by passing steam and air over heated coke or coal.
| 5min Related Video: water gas |
| Chemistry Dictionary: water gas |
A mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen produced by passing steam over hot carbon (coke):
H2O(g)+C(s) → CO(g)+H2(g)
The reaction is strongly endothermic but the reaction can be used in conjunction with that for producer gas for making fuel gas. The main use of water gas before World War II was in producing hydrogen for the Haber process. Here the above reaction was combined with the water-gas shift reaction to increase the amount of hydrogen:CO+H2O⇌CO2+H2
Most hydrogen for the Haber process is now made from natural gas by steam reforming.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: water gas |
water gas, colorless poisonous gas that burns with an intensely hot, bluish (nearly colorless) flame. The gas is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen with very small amounts of other gases, e.g., carbon dioxide, and is almost entirely combustible as a result. Water gas is so named because of the use of water (steam) in its preparation. This process involves treating white-hot hard coal or coke with a blast of steam; carbon monoxide and hydrogen are formed. The gas is manufactured in vast quantities for commercial use. It is of much importance in the preparation of hydrogen and as a fuel in the making of steel and in other industrial processes, e.g., the Fischer-Tropsch process.
| WordNet: water gas |
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide with small amounts of other gases; made by blowing steam over hot coke or coal
| Wikipedia: Water gas |
Water gas is a synthesis gas, containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It is a useful product but requires careful handling because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. The gas is made by passing steam over red-hot coke:
- C + H2O → CO + H2
The reaction is endothermic so the coke must be continually re-heated to keep the reaction going. This was usually done by alternating the steam stream with an air stream.
Contents |
History
The water-gas shift reaction was discovered by Italian physicist Felice Fontana in 1780. Water gas had been made in England since 1828 by blowing steam through red-hot coke, this water gas was carburized by petrol according to a process invented by Thomson and Hind (Singer 119). Charles Singer also states in his "A History of Technology" that, in the United States, natural gases were often used for carburizing (Singer 119).
Variations
Water gas had a lower calorific value than coal gas so the calorific value was often boosted by passing the gas through a heated retort into which oil was sprayed. The resulting mixed gas was called carburetted water gas.
Semi-water gas is a mixture of water gas and producer gas made by passing a mixture of air and steam through heated coke. The heat generated when producer gas is formed keeps the temperature of the coke high enough to allow water gas to be formed.
Pure hydrogen can be obtained from water gas by using the Water gas shift reaction.
References
- Mellor, J.W., Intermediate Inorganic Chemistry, Longmans, Green and Co., 1941, pp 210-211
- Adlam, G.H.J. and Price, L.S., A Higher School Certificate Inorganic Chemistry, John Murray, 1944, page 309
- Singer, Charles Joseph; Raper, Richard. A history of technology : edited by Charles Singer ... [et al.]. Clarendon Press, 1954-1978. History e-book project.. ACLS Humanities E-book. Vol 5. "The use of mineral oil" p. 119
See also
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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