Abstract
I.—Processes and Paints. IT is well known that what is technically called “producer gas” has been in use for many years in connection with furnace work. Herr Bischof, of Mägdesprung, Was the first to use an internally fired gas producer for this purpose in 1839; but little progress was made in our country until 1857, when the late Sir William Siemens introduced the combined gas producer and regenerative furnace with which his name is associated. Some twenty years later it occurred to me that a gas engine might be worked with producer gas if a suitable plant were devised. For furnace work the hot gas is taken direct from the producer to the furnace without cooling or cleaning, and the condensable hydrocarbon vapours, which usually accompany the gas, and add appreciably to its value, are burnt. But for engine work it is essential to wash and clean the gas, especially as it must be free from tar. It is also desirable that the gas should be cool when it enters the cylinder of the engine. Incidentally, this involves the removal by condensation, &c., of the condensable hydrocarbons which leave the producer, and after their removal the gas must still be strong enough to fire well and give good working results in the engine. I succeeded in making a suitable plant, and it was first tried with. a. small Otto engine in 1879; the results were good, and they encouraged the makers of the engines to build them of larger size so as to compete favourably with steam-power. Many thousands of horse-power are now working with gas plants of this type, and during the last few years a still further impetus has been given to the subject by the use of. a modified plant, which is known among engineers as a suction plant, and which will be more fully described later.
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DOWSON, J. Producer Gas for Engines . Nature 80, 200–203 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/080200b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/080200b0