Gas-Engines and Producer-Gas Plants / A Practice Treatise Setting Forth the Principles of Gas-Engines and Producer Design, the Selection and Installation of an Engine, Conditions of Perfect Operation, Producer-Gas Engines and Their Possibilities, the Care of Gas-Engines and Producer-Gas Plants, with a Chapter on Volatile Hydrocarbon and Oil Engines

by Rodolphe Edgard Mathot

small regulating bell, the function of which is to insure a uniform pressure. This bell is emptied during the suction period and is filled during the three succeeding periods of compression, explosion, and exhaust (Pintsch, Fig. 132).

Fig. 133.—Types of gas-driers.

Drier.—Sometimes, toward the end of a producer-gas pipe, a drier is located for the purpose of keeping back the water carried along, the drier being similar to that employed in steam conduits. It will, of course, be understood that such driers are useful only in plants having no purifiers (Fig. 133). The employment of the drier is advisable to prevent the entrance of moist gas into the cylinder and the condensation of moisture on the electric igniter.

Fig. 134.—Elbow with closure.

Pipes.—The pipes connecting the several parts of

a gas-producing plant should be disposed with particular care to insure tightness and cleanliness. It should be borne in mind that the gas is under a pressure below that of the atmosphere, and that the least leakage will cause the entrance of air, which will impair the quality of the gas. The greatest care should therefore be taken in fitting the joints. These joints are numerous, because there are joints wherever tubes are connected with each other and with the apparatus. Furthermore, all elbows should be provided with covers held in place by a yoke and compression screw, this being done for the purpose of providing for the introduction of a brush or other implement to remove the dust and pitch (Fig. 134).

For conduits of small diameter the elbows with covers may be replaced with T connections, or connections provided with plugs.

Gas piping in the immediate neighborhood of the cock for admitting gas to the motor should be provided with a conduit of proper diameter leading to the open air and serving to clean the apparatus and to fill them, during the operation of the fan, with gas suitable for combustion. This conduit should be provided with a stop-cock. Test-cocks for the gas should be placed on the piping immediately beyond the vaporizers, the scrubber, and near the engine.