Natural Gas Won’t Operate Fire Pumps.

Natural Gas Won’t Operate Fire Pumps.

Many pumps for fire service have been sold in the natural gas bett of Ohio and Indiana on the representation that in case of fire the pressure from gas wells would operate the pumps. Thus far propertyowners and insurance men alike seem to have accepted this statement as true. The Chicago Inter-Ocean contains the record of an experiment just made in an Indiana town to test the practical truth of the representation which resulted in clear disappointment. "The first test.” says that paper, “ was with 300 pounds gas pressure on an 18 x 10 1/2 x 10 standard fire pump. Upon opening the throttle against the relief valve the gas pressure was diminished in a short space of time to only forty pouuds without any streams of water being turned on. When one stream through a 2 1/2-inch hose, 1 1/8-inch nozzle, was in operation the pressure was reduced to fourteen pounds—only about enough to easily operate the pump alone. Four streams of water were next tried through the same sized nozzles, and the greatest distance reached was ten feet. These tests were such a decided surprise to the inspector present that a thorough examination was entered into. It resulted in the discovery that a pump of the size mentioned would require from 35,000,000 to 40,000,000 cubic feet of gas daily when in operation, being more than any Indiana well has ever produced. In the examination it was also discovered that the gas had left a deposit in the valve parts of the pump, and that its action on the brass stuffing boxes and trimmings was also bad.”

Many pumps for fire service have been sold in the natural gas bett of Ohio and Indiana on the representation that in case of fire the pressure from gas wells would operate the pumps. Thus far propertyowners and insurance men alike seem to have accepted this statement as true. The Chicago Inter-Ocean contains the record of an experiment just made in an Indiana town to test the practical truth of the representation which resulted in clear disappointment. "The first test.” says that paper, “ was with 300 pounds gas pressure on an 18 x 10 1/2 x 10 standard fire pump. Upon opening the throttle against the relief valve the gas pressure was diminished in a short space of time to only forty pouuds without any streams of water being turned on. When one stream through a 2 1/2-inch hose, 1 1/8-inch nozzle, was in operation the pressure was reduced to fourteen pounds—only about enough to easily operate the pump alone. Four streams of water were next tried through the same sized nozzles, and the greatest distance reached was ten feet. These tests were such a decided surprise to the inspector present that a thorough examination was entered into. It resulted in the discovery that a pump of the size mentioned would require from 35,000,000 to 40,000,000 cubic feet of gas daily when in operation, being more than any Indiana well has ever produced. In the examination it was also discovered that the gas had left a deposit in the valve parts of the pump, and that its action on the brass stuffing boxes and trimmings was also bad.”