COAL GAS

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20786, 22 April 1939, Page 28 (Supplement)

COAL GAS

FUEL FOR MOTOR VEHICLES The results of the research into th use of cod gas as a fuel for moto vehicles by the Birmingham Corpora tion (Eng. are of interest, in vle\ of the possibility of a National emerg j ency of long duration causing a short I age of petrol. Dr. J. Clarke, wh conducted the investigation with coal-gas driven 20 h.p. Austin var points out that the possibilities of th use of gas for motor vehicles hav been enhanced by the introduction o nickel-chrome-molydenum steel, fror which modern storage cylinders ar made. Storage capacity had been in creased by the greater pressures no\ practicable, and the serious weigh handicap had been overcome. The Austin van was equipped mk three long and three short gas con tainers. The experiments on man engines were conducted in the ligh of the recent developments of th high-speed fuel oil engine, and the showed that about 90 per cent of th power output on petrol could be ob tained when using gas. The loss o power, when the gas was used as fuel, resulted in a lower acceleratior but this could be improved by increas ing the engine compression ratio. D Clarke’s conclusions were:— (1 Gas consumption can be re duced by 30 per cent when usi-ng compression ratio of 15 to 1, compare with a compression ratio of 7 to 1. (2) Gas can be used without an sign of preignition up to compressio: pressures of 64)0 lb per square Inch i.e. 17 to 1 compression ratio. (3) Spark ignition can be success fully used with compression pressure up to 600 lb per sq. in. (4 Exhaust gases admitted on in duction stroke, eliminate hammerinj due to excessive rate of flame propagation. (5 Engine developed more power i on gas than on fuel oil, i.e. 10.29 b.h.p. at 900 r.p.m. on gas; 8.6 b.h.p. at 900 r.p.m. on fuel oil. 6) Optimum gas-injection pressure is 20 lb per sq. in. (7 ; The tests demonstrated that it is impossible, with a small-bore cylinder, to obtain self-ignition of coal gas at a compression ratio of 17 to 1. This eliminates the possibility of running engines with coal gas on the selfignition principle. 8, The experiments demonstrated that an engine designed to use coal gas as a fuel will compare favourably with an engine run on oil fuel, both in economy and in the power developed.