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Show Demand for Natural Gas Is Steadily Increasing Twelve Millions of People Depend On It for Fuel; Lines Taxed to Capacity; Severe Shortage Past Winter Recalled. TH15 natural gas industry furnisher fuel to approximately 12000,000 inhabitants or Die United States, measured through 2,-JC,000 domes-t domes-t tic meters. The figures are not yet available for 1917, but in 1916 the fuel furnished was equivalent to over J,25U,000 cars of coal, each car with a capacity of thirty-five tons. Tills equivalent equiv-alent is based upon the quality of coal delivered previous to the last year, as it j would be impossible to arrive at any fair estimate of the heat value of a ton of coal such as was marketed during the extreme scarcity of coal in 1917. The heat value of the natural gas furnished, however, did not vary', and, as a consequence, conse-quence, those fortunate enough to be on natural pas lines received the same quality qual-ity of fuel as in pre v lotus years. The excessive demand created by the shortage of substitute fuels led to an un-1 un-1 expected demand upon the gas companies, which in some Instances resulted In a ! shortage of supply. The excessive cold I weather of the winter of 1917 also placed an additional burden upon the supplying gas companies. In many cities, where ordinarily coal Is cheap and abundant, and labor easy to obtain, many people use coal furnaces in ordinary winter Weather. This year, however, they depended de-pended upon natural gas entirely for their heat, and, as a consequence, created a demand which overtaxed the capacity of the pipe lines. This condition could not be foreseen by the gas companies in time for them to provide additional pipe-line i capacity to take care of this unexpected demand. Statistics show that in ordinary years the capacity of the pipe lines is only used :i per cent of the time that is, for ten days each year pipe-line capacity is taxed to its utmost, at which times there will exist a shortage of gas. Ninety-seven j per cent of the time the gas delivery is perfect, and the consumer can obtain all that he needs or- thinks he needs by 1 simply turning the cock. This high standard stand-ard of service has led many users of nat- ural as to expect the impossible on the part of the gas companies, and has In some instances brought about unjustifiable unjusti-fiable demandiS upon the supplying companies. com-panies. Double Pull on Supply. For each drop of 1 degree In temperature tempera-ture below freezing, the domestic consumption con-sumption increases 3 per cent, in order to maintain the same temperature In a room. This means that at zero weather there is practically double the domestic consumption that there is. at freezing weather. The gas company, by increasing increas-ing the pressure in its lines, can take care of such a condition temporarily, but when cold weather continues, as it did during the past winter, for ten weeks, with practically no let-up, the fields become be-come depleted, and the pressure drops to a point where it is impossible to render perfect service. No complaint is made because of the failure to deliver coal when ordered, although al-though coal is a fuel that can be locally stored to provide for excess demands. Natural gas cannot be stored, although additional wells are held in reserve in the field, which can he turned into the pipe lines, in order to help keep the pressure pres-sure up to the full safe working point. Under continuous drain this pressure will decrease, and there is no oppor tunity because of the excessive output to accumulate pressure. The importance of high pressure is shown by the fact that a twenty-inch pipe line one hundred miles in length, with a pressure at the intake of thirty pounds, and a discharge pressure of twenty-five pounds, has a capacity in twenty-four hours of 3,700,000 feet. Raise the pressure at the intake four hundred pounds, with the same 1 twenty-five pounds pressure at the discharge, and the daily capacity of this pipe line is 77.-000,000 77.-000,000 feet. In order to maintain these high pressures, the natural-gas companies in the United States maintain compressing stations utilizing over 320,000 horsepower. horse-power. The approximate investment for piping and fixtures of each of the 2,400,000 domestic do-mestic consumers in the United States Is $100 per consumer. This investment would be practically destroyed if natural gas were to be denied domestic consumers. con-sumers. For this reason, many of the larger gas companies who in times past have been seeking a market for' their surplus gas among industrial concerns are now withdrawing from this field, and are refusing to sell natural gas for factory fac-tory or industrial use. preferring to protect pro-tect the investment of the domestic consumers, con-sumers, and also to conserve their gas so that the life of the industry may be lengthened. At the present time fully 40 per cent of the natural gas produced in the United States is used for industrial purposes, because of its cheapness. It is safe to say that in the majority of the instances industrial use is extravagant and uneconomical. un-economical. The day of low price of Industrial In-dustrial natural gas is gone in many regions, re-gions, and is rapidly passing in ail. It is too valuable and too convenient a fuel to be used for any but domestic consumption. con-sumption. When you consider that the equivalent of 1,250,000 cars of coal was delivered directly di-rectly at the point of consumption last year, vou can appreciate the value of natural gas as an ideal fuel. Transported as it Is by pipe lines from the gas fields to the burner, it eliminates railroad transportation, terminal congestion, hauling haul-ing from the terminal to the point of consumption, and then is consumed without with-out any necessity for additional labor, either in the furnace or In the removal of the resultant ashes, and all this convenience con-venience at a price so much less than the price of coal that it is no wonder there is an extravagant and uneconimical use of gas. Equipment Neglected. Careful examinations have shown that the ordinary equipment In a house is not regulated within 25 per cent of efficiency Burners are never adjusted or cleaned : lights and fires are allowed to burn when they should be turned out, and extravagant extrava-gant uses made because of the convenience. con-venience. Had there been no natural gas available avail-able during the past winter, the suffering from the lack of fuel would have been much more severe than it was. This is especially true In Ohio. Seventy-five per cent of the towns in Ohio, having a population popu-lation of approximately 2000 inhabitants, are largely dependent upon natural gas as a fuel for domestic heat. In some localities lo-calities there was a definite shortage during the long-continued cold spell, which Governor James M. Cox attempted to relieve by supplving coal. He found it almost impossible to secure coal for domestic distribution, and In many instances in-stances the mayors and other officials of cities had to commandeer coal standing on railroad sidings and distribute It to the householders of the city. If you contemplate con-template the additional quantity of coal which would have been required had there not been natural gas service, you can realize the conditions that would have existed. The federal fuel administration early in the winter adopted the policy that the domestic users of natural gas were to be favored over all industrial consumers. This wise policy did much to relieve the suffering which would have resulted had the gas been furnished to manufacturers. By the hearty co-operation of the gas companies, gas was furnished to manv industries manufacturing essential products, prod-ucts, and these factories located in the natural gas district were enabled to continue con-tinue prod uction when those dependent upon coal and oil for fuel were compelled either to shut down or to run, intermittently. intermit-tently. Gas was not furnished for continuous operation, but the records show that the production of industries depending upon natural gas was much higher than that of factories dependent upon other fuel. Many of the most essential war products are made In the natural gas territory, and the demand next year for natural gas in these industries will undoubtedly be as great as It was during the past year. Just how this demand can be met is a problem that is now confronting the gas comnanies. The securing of supplies for drilling new wells and laying pipe lines is a most serious one. Not only are the prices asked for these materials prohibitive, but in many cases it is impossible to secure supplies at any price. 1 The gas company is expected to meet these conditions, and to sell Its product at prices established on the basis of costs prevailing a number of years ago. This is not only unfair to the gas companies, but in many Instances a financial Impossibility, and means that there must, within a comparatively short rime, be a readjustment, if adequate service ser-vice Is to be maintained. The gas companies com-panies sell service as well as a commodity, commod-ity, and they must, sooner or later, be paid for both. Undoubtedly next winter many industries indus-tries manufacturlne nonessential products prod-ucts will be compelled to use a substitute for natural gas, as the capacity of the supplying companies will be required for the heating of the homes and the furnishing fur-nishing of fuel to manufacturers of essential es-sential war needs. This will, to many factories, seem a hardship, but it is one of the sacrifices that must be borne In oider to win the war, for the war Industries Indus-tries must be kept running continuously, and will undoubtedly be favored in the supply of natural gas. after the wants of the homes are supplied. David O. Hol-brook, Hol-brook, in Oil and Gas Journal. |