water gas

noun

Definition of water gas

: a poisonous flammable gaseous mixture that consists chiefly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen with small amounts of methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, is usually made by blowing air and then steam over red-hot coke or coal, and is used as a fuel or after carbureting as an illuminant

Examples of water gas in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Romania has shallow-water gas projects, but a major deep-water find by eight years ago has still to be exploited. — Selcan Hacaoglu, Fortune, "Erdogan hails Turkey’s biggest ever energy discovery. The markets are unimpressed," 21 Aug. 2020 The reaction at play here is called reverse water gas shift, and it’s used in this context to turn carbon dioxide separated from regular seawater into carbon monoxide that can be synthesized into hydrocarbons. — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, "How Ships Could Produce an Unlimited Amount of Their Own Fuel," 17 July 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'water gas.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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