Talk:Water gas

A defining moment
There was an article edit that said the described process in this article was NOT the water gas process, and we were referred to a German definition - bla - bla. The water gas process, as far as I know, was an American process that was perfected by Prof. Thaddeus Lowe, by all historical accounts. And the definition described herein is the one described herebefore. There was no reason to wipe out the article over a dispute in definition. Magi Media 03:58, 2 September 2006 (UTC)Magi Media

This article IS mistaken. The process here described is NOT water gas but the water gas shift reaction on which we have an article. Water gas is not a process but a substance, a mixture of equal molar parts CO2 and H2 formed by the reaction of steam with hot coke. This mixture, water gas, is the starting material for the water gas shift reaction, an important way to make hydrogen. It may well be that this terminology was not settled in Professor Lowe's time. But it is now settled, and has been for a hundred years past. I could find ample sources in books on chemistry and chemical engineering. This article must be amended. Alrees (talk) 05:36, 8 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree with Alrees (except that the product is CO and H2) and I will amend the article. Biscuittin (talk) 19:04, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

I have moved part of the article to Thaddeus S. C. Lowe and expanded the remaining part. Biscuittin (talk) 19:29, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Water gas is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide produced by injecting steam into a bed of hot carbon in the form of coal, coke or charcoal for use as a gaseous fuel or as a synthesis gas. When water-gas is generated for synthesis of other chemicals, the water-gas shift reaction is used to adjust the ratio of CO to H2 e.g. to 1:3 for methane production or complete removal of CO from water-gas for other uses. See Alternative fuels By Sunggyu Lee, 1996 ISBN 1-56032-361-2 http://books.google.com/books?id=GBnEDJZase8C&pg=PA140&dq=%22water-gas+shift+reaction%22&hl=en&ei=3jHATu79Oefo0QH74NS9BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22water-gas%20shift%20reaction%22&f=false

Because water-gas burns with a blue flame, it is called blue water-gas and is not suitable for lighting without a mantle. Lowe developed a process for adding hydrocarbon gasses to water gas rendering it suitable for both heating and illumination. Lowe used a gas producer to heat a coal bed and an afterburner to heat chambers filled with loosely laid firebrick (checker work) to white heat. When the system was heated, the air flow was shut off and steam was injected into the coal bed to produce water gas. As the water gas entered the checker work, oil was injected into the water gas (carburetted) and the oil was pyrolyzed on contact with the hot firebrick, forming lighter hydrocarbons. The mix of water gas and hydrocarbon gasses caused Lowe's (carburetted) water gas to burn with a bright yellow flame suitable for both light and heat. Reference [1] to Lewis Thompson has nothing to do with water gas. Lewis Thompson was a chemist who signed a chemical analysis of some coal in an advertisement following an article on the analysis of coal, not water, gas. DRGert (talk) 20:53, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Suggest merger with syngas article
There is also a Wikipedia article on syngas that overlaps with this one. I suggest either merging the two articles, or somehow disambiguating them and cross-referencing them. Thomas.Hedden (talk) 15:53, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

Water gas is not always generated as a syngas. Syngas is a gas generated for the production of various hydrocarbons. Water gas is also generated for use as a fuel. Carbureted water gas has only enough added hydrocarbon to burn with a luminous flame. DRGert (talk) 20:59, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

hydrocarbon?
Can water gas be prepared from water and gaseous or liquid hydrocarbon fuels, such as methane or benzene? Davor.danach (talk) 08:43, 6 December 2010 (UTC).

hydrocarbonate (gas) merger
It has recently been suggested to merge hydrocarbonate (gas) with Water gas. Although hydrocarbonate is technically water gas since both are a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, hence the merger suggestion is valid, the application is quite different since hydrocarbonate was a medicinal gas. I am planning to expand hydrocarbonate extensively. Based on the medicinal direction, the water gas page does not seem like the best venue. Since hydrocarbonate is essentially carbon monoxide, another option could be to merge the topic as a historical section of the carbon monoxide page if there is objection to a hydrocarbonate (gas) stand-alone page. SloppyTots (talk) 08:49, 30 March 2021 (UTC) How’s the ferrous and Iron(II) merger going? SloppyTots (talk) 17:17, 30 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Support merge, probably to water gas. We don't need multiple articles about the same subject even when alternate names may be applied in different contexts.  None of the articles involved seems in danger of becoming too long to be manageable.  Lithopsian (talk) 17:12, 30 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Support merger to water gas - obviously fits perfectly into this article, and no danger of going over any length limits. -- Elmidae (talk · contribs) 23:13, 11 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Support merge to water gas. Obsolete names should not be used as article titles when the names are misleading according to modern nomenclature. The suffix -ATE today implies a negative ion, and -carbonate suggests an ion related to carbon DIoxide, not a solution of carbon MONoxide. Just put the material in the Water gas article, and include one paragraph to explain that it was called hydrocarbonate in the late 18th century but that this name is contrary to today's nomenclature rules. Dirac66 (talk) 13:28, 16 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Sounds reasonable. Will water gas then be included in the History of Science project? SloppyTots (talk) 13:14, 22 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Where is the History of Science project page on Wikipedia? I have found the page Portal:History of science, and articles on History of science and History of chemistry. Dirac66 (talk) 13:04, 7 May 2021 (UTC)


 * @user:Dirac66 this is the WikiProject I meant to reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_History_of_Science SloppyTots (talk) 01:33, 9 May 2021 (UTC)


 * Thanks. I think this WikiProject page looks like a to-do list rather than a permanent list of articles about History of Science. So I would say that if we merge Hydrocarbonate to Water gas, then this item will be done and there will be no reason to place Water Gas on the project list. Or am I missing something? Dirac66 (talk) 02:23, 9 May 2021 (UTC)


 * indeed. No objections. I support the merge. SloppyTots (talk) 18:04, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

All commenters have supported the merger so I have gone ahead. Since the merged content deals with chemistry from 1794 to 1857, I have placed it as a subsection of the History section. Dirac66 (talk) 18:22, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

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