WOOD FUEL FOR PASSENGER - VEHICLES.
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A Berliet 17-seater Bus, Equipped with a New Type Gas Producer, is now Undergoing a 5,000-kilometre Test.
TplIE Berliet gas producer for corn mercial vehicles was described in this journal upon its first appearance some three years ago. The original producer had a horizontal furnace and employed charcoal as a fuel, but Berliet has recently brought out a new form of generator, built under licence from the patentees (Imbert-De Dietrich). This producer has a vertical furnace and
uses wood. The apparatus is particularly compact in relation to its capacity for gas production. The furnace is of the " reversed " type, in which the air enters at the top and passes downwards
through the fuel. .
In construction the generator is of unusual simplicity. It is cylindrical in form and made from sheet steel,. The upper portion forms a fuel hopper. This contains sufficient wood for a run of 450 miles with a medium-powered lorry fully loaded. Considering the small size of the gas machine, this radius of action is really remarkable. Beneath the fuel hopper is the inverted furnace of the generator. The cpening through which the wood fuel reaches the furnace is surrounded by a circular pipe having eight 7 mm. air holes or jets pierced in it. Four of these jets point directly inwards, and the remaining four inwards and upwards in order to increase the distillation zone for the wood. The air is drawn in through the jets by the engine suction.
The gas-cleaning and cooling arrangements comprise a series of large-diameter 'pipes fitted with a number of bellies perforated with small holes. These pipes may be placed either transversely or longitudinally in the chassis. In the case of standard types of Berliet lorry the pipes are mounted longitudinally at the rear for convenience in cleaning out and drawing off condensed water.
When cleaning out one of the purifiers the cover plate is first removed from the
end of the pipe. The series of perforated plates can then be drawn out in one, as they are all mounted on two long bolts. Only the one purifying process is used for the gas, which finally reaches the engine through a mixing
valve of the usual and quite simple type.
A demonstration passenger service was run during the last Lyons Fair by a 17-seater single-deck Bernet omnibus using wood fuel. This omnibus set out last week upon the "Tour de France," a 5,000-kilometre run, which includes the Alps, the Juras and Pyrenees in its circuit. This severe . trial has been arranged through the enterprise of Monsieur Alfred Theodor, director and proprietor of our French contemporary, "Le Poids Lourd," the industrial vehicle journal, M. Theodor making the entire circuit on the omnibus.
This journey has more than a demonstration vale. The fuel consumption, behaviour of the engine, etc., will be carefully and scientifically checked. throughout the run by M. J. Delpeyroux, the well-known engineer and technician, who has charge of the laboratories Of the Automobile Club de France. The results will thus be officially vouched for, and the report whip', will subsequently be issued by the Technical Committee of the A.C.F. should contain information of great value to prospective users of producer gas.