In the UK Coal gas specifically means gas made by the Destructive distillation of coal. The term is not applied to other coal-derived gases, such as Water gas, Producer gas and Syngas. US usage may be different. Destructive Distillation means driving off (and collecting) gas from some matter by heating it in the absence of air, where pyrolysis occurs during heating. ... Syngas (from synthesis gas) is the name given to gasses of varying composition that are generated in coal gasification and some types of waste-to-energy facilities. ... Producer Gas is a generic term refering to: Wood gas : produced in a gasifier to power cars with ordinary internal combustion engines. ... It has been suggested that Town gas be merged into this article or section. ... United States may refer to: Places: United States of America SS United States, the fastest ocean liner ever built. ...

Coal gas was introduced in the UK in the 1790s as an Illuminating gas by the Scottish inventor William Murdoch and became very widely used for lighting, cooking, heating and powering gas engines. Illuminating gas was a synthetic mixture of hydrogen and hydrocarbon gases produced by destructive distillation (pyrolysis) of bituminous coal or peat. ... Scottish can refer to: Look up Scottish in Wiktionary, the free dictionary (as an adjective) things to do with Scotland (see also Scots and Scotch) (as a noun) the Scottish people. ... William Murdoch. ... It has been suggested that Car engine be merged into this article or section. ...

Manufacture

Coal was heated in a retort and the crude gas was passed through a condenser to remove tar and a scrubber to remove other impurities. The residue remaining in the retort was coke. A retort. ... The term condenser has the following meanings: In electronics, it is another (old-fashioned) word for capacitor. ... The word scrubber can mean:- The part of a rebreather breathing set which absorbs the carbon dioxide which the individual using the breathing set breathes out. ...

Composition

The composition of coal gas varied according to the type of coal and the temperature of carbonisation. Typical figures were: Carbonization/Carbonisation is the term for the conversion of an organic substance into carbon or a carbon-containing residue. ...

• Hydrogen 50%
• Methane 35%
• Carbon Monoxide 10%
• Ethylene 5%

In a plain burner, only the ethylene produced a luminous flame but the light output could be greatly increased by using a gas mantle. This article is about the chemistry of hydrogen. ... Methane is a significant and plentiful fuel which is the principal component of natural gas. ... Carbon monoxide, with the chemical formula CO, is a colourless, odourless and tasteless gas. ... Ethylene (or IUPAC name ethene) is the chemical compound with the formula CH2CH2. ... For other uses of mantle see: mantle (disambiguation) An incandescent gas mantle, gas mantle, or Welsbach mantle is a device for generating bright white light when heated by a flame. ...

By-products

The by-products of coal gas manufacture included coke, coal tar, sulphur and ammonia and these were all useful products. Coke is a solid carbonaceous residue derived from low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. ... Coal tar is the liquid by-product of the distillation of coal to make coke. ... For the chemical element see: sulfur. ... Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3. ...

Coke

Used as a smokeless fuel and for the manufacture of Water gas and Producer gas Syngas (from synthesis gas) is the name given to gasses of varying composition that are generated in coal gasification and some types of waste-to-energy facilities. ... Producer Gas is a generic term refering to: Wood gas : produced in a gasifier to power cars with ordinary internal combustion engines. ...

Coal tar

This was subjected to fractional distillation to recover various products, including: Fractional distillation is the separation of a mixture into its component parts, or fractions, such as in separating chemical compounds by their boiling point by heating them to a temperature at which several fractions of the compound will evaporate. ...

• Tar, for roads
• Benzole, a motor fuel
• Creosote, a wood preservative
• Phenol, used in the manufacture of plastics
• Cresols, disinfectants

Tar is a viscous black liquid derived from the destructive distillation of organic matter. ... In the United Kingdom, the word Benzole means a coal-tar product, consisting mainly of Benzene and Toluene. ... Creosote is the name used for a variety of products: wood creosote, coal tar creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch, and coal tar pitch volatiles. ... Phenol, also known under an older name of carbolic acid, is a colourless crystalline solid with a typical sweet tarry odor. ... Household items made out of plastic. ... Cresols are organic chemical compounds which are methylphenols. ...

Sulphur

Used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid Sulfuric acid (British English: sulphuric acid), H2SO4, is a strong mineral acid. ...

Ammonia

Used in the manufacture of fertilisers Fertilizers are chemicals given to plants with the intention of promoting growth; they are usually applied either via the soil or by foliar spraying. ...

Structure of the industry

Coal gas was initially maufactured by independent companies but many of these later became municipal services. Both the private and the municipal companies were nationalised under the The Gas Act 1948 and further re-structuring took place under The Gas Act 1972. For further details see British Gas plc. This article needs to be wikified. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... This page is about the former gas monopoly in the United Kingdom for infromation about the successor companies please see Centrica, BG Group and Transco. ...

Coal gas is no longer made in the UK. It was replaced first by gas made from oil and later by natural gas from the North Sea. Natural gas is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ...

See also

• Gas lighting