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

General Arrangement.—A suction gas-generator

plant of the character we have been discussing is shown in Fig. 91.

Fig. 91.—Engine and suction gas-producer.

The apparatus A is the generator proper, in which combustion takes place. The gas produced passes into the apparatus B through a series of tubes, to be conveyed to the washer C. In the apparatus B, which is the vaporizer, the water admitted at the top under atmospheric pressure is vaporized by contact with a series of tubes, heated by the gas coming from the generator. The steam, together with air, is drawn into the lower part of the generator to support combustion. This vaporizer is provided with an overflow for the outlet of the water which has not been vaporized. The producer-gas pipe which leads from the vaporizer to the washer has a branch D, for the temporary escape to the atmosphere of the gas produced before and after the operation of the engine. In the washer, as the drawing shows, the gas enters at the bottom and leaves at the top to pass to the gas expansion-chamber E and thence to the motor. The gas thus passes through the body of

coke in the opposite direction to the wash water, which then flows to the waste-pipe. The coke and the water free the gas not only from the dust carried along, but from the ammonia and other impurities contained in the gas.

When firing the generator, a small hand ventilator G is used for blowing in air to fan the fire. The gas obtained at first, being unsuitable for combustion, is allowed to escape through the branch D. After injecting air for about 10 to 15 minutes, the engine can be started after closing the branch D. The suction of the engine itself will then gradually bring about the proper conditions for its regular running, and after a quarter of an hour or half an hour the gas is rich enough to run the engine under a full load.

The apparatus just described is the original type, upon which many improvements have been made for the purpose of securing a uniform gas production and of diminishing the interval of time elapsing between the firing of the generator and the running of the engine under a full load.

Each of the elements of this apparatus—to wit, the generator, vaporizer, super-heater, and washer—have been modified and improved more or less successfully by the manufacturers; and in order that the reader may perceive the merits and the drawbacks of the various arrangements adopted, the most important ones will be separately discussed.

Generator.—With respect to the general arrangement of parts, generators may be divided into two classes: