Abstract
IN a paper on “Marine Engineering Problems of To-day” read to the International Conference of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers in June of this year, Mr. Sterry B. Freeman suggests that the time is now ripe for a reconsideration of the gas engine for ship propulsion. On October 11, Mr. J. F. Gibbons read a paper at the Institution of Marine Engineers on “Gas Engines for Small Craft”. The author considers only small vessels like tugs, colliers, coasters and trawlers, using gas producers of ordinary type, and the power contemplated lying between 300 and 1,500 h.p. Mr. A. E. L. Chorlton in 1913 outlined a proposal for a gas steam plant of 5,500 brake horsepower suitable for driving a Channel passenger vessel, and took as an example the well-known passenger steamer La Marguerite. The gas engines in this design were to be arranged athwartship and geared to the paddle-shaft. They were assisted in manoeuvring by uniflow steam cylinders, the steam being supplied by a waste-heat boiler operating on the gas engine exhausts. In the early stages of development there was no competition by the oil engine, as it had not yet been developed. The ordinary type of marine steam reciprocating engine often operated more economically. In those days, the cost of coal was much less than it is now so there was less urge to reduce its consumption. The question now is very different. Apart from the national advantage of having fuel in the country that does not need to be imported, a great deal of experience has been gained in the design of small producers for use on road vehicles. In an article in Engineering of November 4, it is stated that if the use of gas engines and producers afloat, instead of being tentatively explored by individuals, had been persevered in by established engineering firms, with only a fraction of the financial backing that has been given to Diesel engines, there is little doubt that by now the technical problems would have been commercially solved.
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The Gas Engine Afloat. Nature 142, 1114 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/1421114a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1421114a0