"So much has been claimed for natural gas as regards the superiority of its heating properties as compared with coal, that some analyses of this gas, together with calculations showing the comparison between its heating power and that of coal, may be of interest. These calculations are, of course, theoretical in both cases, and it must not be imagined that the total amount of heat, either in a ton of coal or 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas, can ever be fully utilized. In making these calculations I employed as a basis what in my estimation was a gas of an average chemical composition, as I have found that gas from the same well varies continually in its composition. Thus, samples of gas from the same well, but taken on different days, vary in nitrogen from 23 per cent. to _nil_, carbonic acid from 2 per cent. to _nil_, oxygen from 4 per cent, to 0.4 per cent., and so with all the component gases. Before giving the theoretical heating power of 1,000 cubic feet of this gas I will note a few analyses. The first four are of gas from the same well; samples taken on the same day that they were analyzed. The two last are from two different wells in the East Liberty district: ANALYSES OF NATURAL GAS. --------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+ | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | --------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+ When tested.........|10-28-84|10-29-84|11-24-84|12-4-84 |10-18-84|10-25-84| | per ct.| per ct.| per ct.| per ct.| per ct.| per ct.| Carbonic acid ......| 0.8 | 0.6 | Nil. | 0.4 | Nil. | 0.30| Carbonic oxide......| 1.0 | 0.8 | .58 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.30| Oxygen... ... ......| 1.1 | 0.8 | .78 | 0.8 | 2.10| 1.20| Olefiant gas .......| 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.98| 0.6 | 0.80| 0.6 | Ethylic hydride ....| 3.6 | 5.5 | 7.92| 12.30 | 5.20| 4.8 | Marsh gas ..........| 72.18| 65.25| 60.70| 49.58 | 57.85| 75.16| Hydrogen ...........| 20.02| 26.16| 29.03| 35.92 | 9.64| 14.45| Nitrogen ...........| Nil. | Nil. | Nil. | Nil. | 23.41| 2.89| Heat units .........|728,746 |698,852 |627,170 |745,813 |592,380 |745,591 | --------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+ "We will now show how the natural gas compares with coal, weight for weight, or, in other words, how many cubic feet of natural gas contain as many heat units as a given weight of coal, say a ton. In order to accomplish this end we will be obliged, as I have said before, to assume as a basis for our calculations what I consider a gas of an average chemical composition, viz.: