During the last few years, on account of the great demand for gas engines for power boats and automobiles, the efficiency and reliability of these engines depending upon the explosive power of the mixture of gas and air has greatly increased. To-day, probably no better device for furnishing a satisfactory source of power in small quantities at a reasonable cost can be found. One engine might readily be used in several capacities, pumping water during the day or at intervals during the day when not needed for running feed cutters; and possibly running a dynamo for electric lights at night. It would be easy to arrange the gas engine so that a shift of a belt would transfer the power of the engine from a dynamo to a pump or to other machinery. In this case the pump is entirely distinct and separate from the engine, and while the gas engine may be directly connected with the pump and bolted to the same bed plate, if the engine is to be used for other purposes than pumping, an intermediate and changeable belt is desirable.
The term "gas engine" is properly restricted to engines literally consuming gas, either illuminating gas or natural gas; but the term is also applied to engines using gasolene as a fuel. The same principle is used in the construction of oil engines where kerosene oil is the fuel instead of gasolene, and it is probable that the latter engines are safer; that is, less subject to dangerous explosion than the former. Whichever fuel is used, the engine may be had in sizes ranging from one half to twenty horsepower and are very satisfactory to use. Any ordinary, intelligent laborer with a little instruction can start and operate them, and except for occasional interruptions they may be depended upon to work regularly. The cost of operation with different fuels may be estimated from the following table, which also shows the cost when coal is used as in an ordinary steam plant, the data being furnished by the Otto Gas Engine Works:—
TABLE XIII
| Fuel | Price of Fuel | Fuel Consumption Per Brake H.-P. 10 Hours | Cost of Fuel Per Brake H.-P. 10 Hours |
| Gasolene | 10c per gal. | 1.25 gal. | 12.5c |
| Illuminating gas | $1.00 per 1000 cu. ft. | 180 cu. ft. | 18c |
| Natural gas | 25c per 1000 cu. ft. | 130 to 160 cu. ft. | 3.25 to 4c |
| Producer gas, anthracite pea coal | $4.00 per ton | 15 lb. | 2.67c |
| Producer gas, charcoal | $10.00 per ton | 12 lb. | 5.35c |
| Bituminous coal, ordinary steam engine | $3.00 per ton | 80 to 100 lb. | 10.7 to 13.4c |
A photograph of a small (2 H.P.) gas engine made by the Foos Gas Engine Co. with pump complete is shown in Fig. 47. This pump will lift forty gallons of water per minute, with a suction lift up to twenty-five feet, to a height of about seventy-five feet above the pump. The pump gear can be thrown out of connection with the engine, so that the latter can be used for other purposes where power is desired.
Steam pumps.
Fig. 47.—A gas engine.
The use of a steam pump would probably not be considered for a single house unless a small boiler was already installed for other purposes. Not infrequently a boiler is found in connection with a dairy for the purpose of furnishing steam and hot water for washing and sterilizing bottles and cans. Where silage is stored in quantity, a steam boiler and engine are often employed for the heavy work of cutting up fodder. In both these cases it may be a simple matter to connect a small duplex pump with the installed boiler, as is done frequently in creameries, for the sake of pumping the necessary water-supply for the house. Whenever extensive improvements are contemplated, it is well worth while to consider the possibilities of one boiler operating the different kinds of machinery referred to. In Fig. 48 is shown a small pump, made by The Goulds Manufacturing Co., capable of lifting forty-eight gallons of water per minute against a head of a hundred feet. The diameter of piston is four inches and the length of stroke is six inches. It is operated by a belt from a steam engine used for other purposes as well.
