Abstract
THE problem of directly converting the stored-up energy of coal into available electrical energy is one of great importance; and as a first attempt to perform this operation, the experiments made by Dr. W. Borchers, of Duisburg, and which he described before the first annual meeting of the Deutsche Elektrochemische Gesellschaft, possess great interest. The author in the first place produced an electric current by the “combustion” of carbonic oxide gas. The original form of the apparatus used consisted of a glass vessel divided into three compartments by two glass plates which nearly reached to the bottom of the vessel. In the two exterior compartments copper tubes were placed, which served for the introduction of the carbonic oxide, while the middle compartment contained a bell-shaped mass of carbon. This carbon bell constituted one plate of the cell, and the oxygen was introduced by means of a tube within this bell. As electrolyte the author uses an ammoniacal or acid solution of cuprous chloride; this liquid readily absorbs both oxygen and carbonic oxide, and is therefore particularly well suited to form the electrolyte in a gas battery in which these gases are used. Coal gas which contains 5 per cent, of carbonic oxide was, after the first experiments, used in place of pure carbonic oxide. The copper tubes were weighed before and after each experiment, and no decrease in their weight was ever found. With such a cell working through an external resistance of 0˙1 ohm a current of 0˙5 ampere was obtained, while with an external resistance of 50 ohms the difference of potential between the terminals was 0˙4 volt.
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The Relation of Energy of Combination to Electrical Energy. Nature 51, 141 (1894). https://doi.org/10.1038/051141a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/051141a0