Gas Meter
Object Details
- Description
- This small capacity meter was designed for use with a Sargent gas calorimeter. It consists of a stationary case and a revolving drum, both made of cold rolled brass tinned where in contact with the water or gas. The drum is brazed to its shaft, and accurately balanced so that it rotates uniformly. The inscriptions on the dial read “SARGENT WET TEST METER” and “MANUFACTURED BY / PRECISION SCIENTIFIC CO. / CHICAGO, U.S.A.”
- Charles Elliotte Sargent (1862-1934) was a graduate of the University of Illinois who established the Sargent Steam Meter Co. in Chicago, and patented a gas calorimeter in 1906. In 1907, in a paper to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, he argued that “With the increasing demand for internal combustion engines, the great activity in by-product and producer plants, and the vigorous growth of gas industries, the testing of gases for their calorific value and foreign ingredients is one of the duties of the engineer, and a simple, quick, and efficient method of making such determinations greatly facilitates his work.” His calorimeter did that job.
- Walter W. Pitann worked for the Sargent Steam Meter Co. before founding Precision Scientific.
- Ref: C. E. Sargent, “Gas Calorimeter,” U.S. Patent 816,042 (March 27, 1906).
- Sargent Steam Meter Co., The Improved Sargent Automatic Gas Calorimeter and Accessories (Chicago, 1900).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Transfer from U.S. Department of Commerce
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- ID Number
- CH.330327
- catalog number
- 330327
- accession number
- 1978.0483
- maker
- Precision Scientific Company
- Object Name
- Gas Meter
- Sargent Wet Test Meter
- Physical Description
- brass (overall material)
- painted alumnium (overall material)
- Measurements
- hose fitting: 3/8 in; .9525 cm
- pipe: 1/8 in; .3175 cm
- dial: 20.3 cm; x 8 in
- dial: 15.3 cm; x 6 in
- overall: 34 cm x 37 cm x 23 cm; 13 3/8 in x 14 9/16 in x 9 1/16 in
- place made
- United States: Illinois, Chicago
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Chemistry
- Subject
- Science & Scientific Instruments
- Record ID
- nmah_2602
