Home-produced Fuel Demonstration
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TO-DAY (Friday) is the last day of 1 the demonstration that the Coal Utilisation Council has organized in collaboration with certain important companies and organizations with the object of showing that a variety of home-produced motor fuels is now available, and of proving that a vast potential market is opening up for the use of British coal. The demonstration, which commenced on Wednesday last, is being held in Old Palace Yard, Westminster, London, and the vehicles taking part will be available for inspection from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. today It is attracting much attention from transport operators, whilst the Secretary for Mines has shown his interest by making a personal tour of the demonstration.
The steam-wagon industry is represented by one of the latest products of the Sentinel Waggon Works, Ltd., this being an S4 model with automatic mechanical stoker and feed-water control. As was clearly revealed when we subjected this model to our standard road test, it has a most satisfactory performance: outstanding features being good acceleration and braking, remarkable power and unusual manceuvrability.
The Electric• Vehicle Committee of Great Britain is showing the products of three of its manufacturer members, these comprising a boxvan on a 1-ton chassis, a three-wheeled food-delivery van and a 30-cwt. boxvan. These vehicles are representative of electric types that are finding increasing fa.I. amongst light-transport operators.
The Gas Light and Coke Co. has its experimental vehicle running on creosote on view. This is a standard Dennis 30-cwt. lorry in which a manifold is fitted to vaporize by exhaust gases the light creosote fuel prior to its entry into the cylinders. The compression ratio has been raised from 5 to 1 to 6.5 to 1. The engine is started on benzole mixture and changed over to a light creosote fuel when a temperature of 80 deg. C. is reached in the induction pipe.
The vehicle has run 25,000 miles since its conversion in April, 1932. As B36 it requires to run for a mile or so before the change-over temperature is reached, it is more suitable for longdistance work than for journeys involving short distances.
The Whitwood Chemical Co., Ltd., Normanton, is demonstrating a standard-typo Leyland petrol-driven Beaver lorry, which has been equipped to run on coal gas. The equipment consists of six lightweight steel cylinders, supplied by the Chesterfield Tube Co., Ltd. The engine is standard except that the compression ratio has been raised from 5 to 1 to 5.64 to 1, and an additional gas carburetter and change-over switch fitted, so that the vehicle can be run on straight or en-. riched coal gas or petrol.
To draw attention to the highpressure storage cylinders which it makes for vehicles running on coal gas, the Chesterfield Tube Co., Ltd., is showing a Karrier refuse collector which is in the service of Chesterfield Corporation. It has been running on coal gas for some considerable time at a cost for fuel of approximately half that when the vehicle was run on petrol.
The National Gas Council is represented by a Ford 2-ton lorry, lent by the Wandsworth Gas Co. Gas is contained in three cylinders, lying transversely across the frame, each cylinder having a gas capacity of 350 cubic ft. at a pressure of 3,000 lb. per sq. in.
The Koela Producer-Gas Plant Co., Ltd., is demonstrating a MorrisCommercial 2-ton lorry converted to run on gas produced on the vehicle. The gas-producer is mounted on the running board and gas obtained from low-temperature coke is fed to tho engine through a scrubber. A fan is fitted to assist in starting.
Low Temperature Carbonisation Ltd., employs the Claude]. Atomizot fitted to a Bedford 2-ton lorry running on heavy oil. An impression gained from a short run on a car fitted with this device appears elsewhere in this issue. The same concern is demonstrating a standard 31-litre Bentley car running on Carless Coalinc, and a Dennis six-wheeled tanker driven on petrol produced from coal by the same process.
The Fuel Research Board has supplied petrol produced by hydrogenated tar, for use on a standard Daimler 15 car participating in the event.