It may be asked why producer gas has not come into general use and displaced imported fuels in times of peace. The reasons are many, but four predominate: (1) Higher first cost, (2) cumbersome equipment, (3) loss of power as compared to petrol, and (4) lack of flexibility.
That producer gas running costs are lower than petrol costs is undeniable. But the easy starting of the petrol engine, its flexibility of control, the smaller amount of space required for the carriage of fuel, as well as the network of pumps whereby petrol supplies are ensured at all times and all places (in other words the selling technique of the oil companies), has kept imported motor fuels in the foreground, and producer gas has remained in the background—a scientific curiosity only.
In the year 186o Lenoir invented the first successful gas engine, which operated on coal gas. This gas was expensive and required large equipment for its manufacture. The natural outcome of this was the introduction of a system whereby large quantities of gas could be made quickly, with comparatively small equipment and from low-priced fuels such as coke, charcoal, wood etc. The gas producer satisfied all of these points and so was slowly introduced.
The modern gas producer is made up of three distinct elements, the efficient functioning of each being the deciding factor in the results achieved by the plant as a whole. These elements are:
1. The generator in which the fuel is burnt to produce the gas ultimately used in the engine. This is usually a cylindrical or rectangular metal container holding the fuel and into which air is admitted by means of either a grate or tuyere.
2. A scrubbing or cleaning element which removes from the gas any of the impurities it may contain. The means, of achieving this result are either dry or liquid cleaners, or in some cases a filter through which the gas is drawn.
3. A cooler or radiator. As the gas is generated from the fuel by means of a fire, the temperature of which is, very high, it will have a correspondingly high temperature which results in a loss of engine power if it is not first cooled down to a temperature of about 130° F. This is done in the cooler, or radiator as it is often called, by passing the gas through a number of pipes which are air cooled.
In addition to the units just mentioned there must be some apparatus in which the producer gas and air mix to form a combustible mixture.
That a gas producer is an inconvenient, bulky, and in many cases, unsightly, piece of apparatus must be admitted. But some of this prejudice must vanish when we consider the important task that it is performing. Nature itself took millions of years to produce petroleum, so it is indeed a technological feat that man, with the aid of a very simple apparatus and some wood, can produce an efficient substitute. Giant hydrogenation plants capable of producing a satisfactory substitute fuel from coal have been built at enormous cost; but the producer gas plant is the only plant that can produce a satisfactory substitute for petrol and be built within the means of any individual.
This book will easily add to your general knowledge of this subject, and will help you as part of the motoring public give more thought to producer gas. Engineers, mechanics, students, experimenters and tinkerers will find the book thought provoking.