Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1905-12-27


planted by the internal co.nul:jtion
motor, in which the explosive force Of
the gases produced by the vaporiza-
ton OF decomposition of the fuel used
instead of the expansive force of the
steam produced in the heat of com
bustion acting or water. In motor OF
power boats and automobile vehicles,
where liquid fuel is available, Che in
ternai combustion engine has obtain
ed recognized supremacy, while the
gas engine burning blast furnace
case or Illuminating or fuel gas, or
producer gas made in adjacent appa.
ratus. shows under some conditions
great economy. and in certain favor
able instances requires only half the
amount of fuel demanded by steam to
produce a given output of power,
Such success has been secured al
ready with gas engines that it is now
demonstrated th'tt it is far more
economical to use a so-called producer
plant to transform coal into gas and
then use the gas in a gas motor than
to burn the fuel under the boiler of a
steam engine Accordingly with the
experience gained from constructing
iarge gas engines for power plants on
land, it was but natural that engl
neers should consider whether the
same efficiency could not be secured
in marine gas engines.
If the conditions demanded in this
class OF machinery could be met the
advantages of the gas engine would
be even more striking than on land.
Thus the absence Of smoke would be
as valuable for q naval vessel as it
would be agreeable for the passengers
on liner, while the fact that pound
of fuel would carry a gas-Dropelled
steamer '1e as far as one using
steam would increase the radius Of
action of a war vessel and would re-
suit in the substantion economies for
the merchantmen. Furthermore, there
would be no need of a foixe of stok-
| ers for the furnaces on the gas-propel.
led ship, as the little handling of fuel
! could be done largely with machinery.
| Even more important would be the
great saving in weight, since, while
the gas engine may be slightly heav
/ Ter than reciprocating steam engine
| the produced weighs less than The
boilers and there is a great gain in
| the weight of water saved.
There is also saving in space, and
this saving, as we'll as that in weight
and in fuel, acts in two ways; either
more space is released for cargo trans
portation, with a consequent increase
in earning capacity, or more fuel
bought at cheaper market, can b,
carried With the gas engine there il
| greater amount of auxiliary maehin
! cry required than with steam, ant
sGcn as there is is far less complicat
ed. The pumps are driven by electri
city. and this same form of energy i,
utilized for power and for illuminita
ton, in the case of the p, mps belns
much more economical than steam.
That such consideration should
prove attractive to engineers is appar
ent at first glance, and accordingly
is not difficult TO understand why il
| England and Germany considerable
attention recentlw has been paid L
the designing of marine engines il
which producer plant and a ga
| motor take the place of boilers ant
reciprocating engines or turbines
In Germany the most important worl
in this field. perhaps, has been dom
by E. Capitaine. who has spent man,
years in the study of the gas engine
and producer and has carried on I
large number OF experiments of grea
practical value. He has prepared de
signs for several vessels of consider
able size and has actually constructed
launches and barges in which his en-
gines have been tested. His methoC
is 10 use a number of single-actinl
cylinders. as in gas engines a number
Of small units are more economical
than a single cylinder and piston OF
large size.
The principal advantage asserted
| for a gas engine built on this princi
! pie is that 1t con he operated at a
comparatively high rate Of speed
while at the same time the reciprocal
| ing parts and the fly wheels are OF
sma Ter mass. Furthermore, such en-
gines are more susceptible Of regula
tioa and involve a smaller initial out
| w. The individual parts of the mo.
/ tor are small and are accessible for
cleaning and repairs.
The gas from the producer consists
Of carbon monoxid GA per cent?. car.
/ bon dioxid 6 per cent?, hydrogen N
| per cent? and nitrogen "a per cent?.
II can be made from anthracite coal
! or coke in the smaller sizes, or from
+ lump coal and It. is interesting to
note that certain of the leaner Goals
that are deficient In steam-producing
properties can be employed most adj
yantageousy In the gas producer.
The action Of the producer consists in
raising to incandescence by means Of
an air blast the fuel at the bottom of
the producer. so that by combustion
carbon dioxid results This passes
through the heated coal aud becomes
carbin monoxld. which is com Dust
ible gas. Steam from small boiler
may be introduced at the CRATE. and
this on passing through the coal be
comes decomposed It's hydrogen go,
ing 10 enrich the carbon monOxid
while its oxygen combines with thu
carbon and eventually forms carbon
..---..,--..ta ~ = - n. 1911 - 4