[Gasification] Historical archive - Mond Gas

[Ken Boak]

List,

Here is a link to a scanned book, published in 1903, describing the 
introduction of synthetic gas plants manufacturing a gas known as Mond gas.

http://www.archive.org/details/mondgas00woodrich

Mond gas was named after Ludwig Mond, an industrial chemist, working out of 
Northwich in Cheshire.  He was partners in Brunner, Mond and Co, which 
manufactured soda ash, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate and ammonium 
sulphate, used in fertilisers.

Mond gas was produced by reacting the lowest grades of coal slack with 
superheated steam.  The gas was passed through towers containing dilute 
sulphuric acid spray, which removed the ammonia and formed the valuable 
by-product of ammonium sulphate.

Mond gas contained about 12% CO,  28% H2,  2.2% CH4 plus 16% CO2 and 42% N2.

The calorific value was about 144 BTU per cubic foot, whilst regular coal 
gas (lighting gas) was about 650 BTU/ft3

The advantage of Mond gas was that it could be produced very cheaply, from 
lowest grade fuel-stock.   The gas was offered as a low cost source of 
energy to industry, providing large savings in any processes that required 
controllable heat for kilns, furnaces and boilers,  such as brick making, 
pottery, glass making etc.

Mond gas also provided a low cost fuel for gas engines, and this quickly 
provided a boost to the gas engine industry, supplying mechanical power for 
industry and electrical power generation.  Gas engines exceeding 1000hp were 
in use at this time.

A large gas engine running on Mond gas could deliver 5 or 6 times the 
efficiency of the equivalent steam engine in terms of pounds of coal burned 
per kWh - but because Mond gas was produced from the lowest cost coal slack, 
and not steam coal, the electricity was 1/20th of the price.

Mond gas revolutionised industrial power generation at the start of the 20th 
century, and gave rise to the first true industrial estates, where 
industries clustered around the source of low cost energy. One of these was 
the 3000 acre development at Trafford Park in Manchester.

Whilst Mond Gas may have been widely forgotten, the book provides a 
historical insight into the operation of early industrial gasification 
plants.   I hope that it is of interest to some, and that some of the 
techniques could be re-employed for the efficient production of power and 
energy from low grade biomass, renewable and waste derived fuels.




Ken