Simplifying Gas Producer Running and Maintenance
Page 25
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Practical Ideas Which Have Contributed Towards Ease of Servicing. Amendments in Design of P.S.V. Outfits
FROM time to time, as experience in the field dictates, the M.O.W.T. issues details Of modifications which can, with advantage, be made to Government Utility producers. The most recent amendments concern the p.s.v. outfit and are directed, principally, to the first-stage cooler. This component will, in future, be supplied with the lower 18 ins, of the body in 10-gauge metal and. the upper portion in material of 16 gauge. The horizontal cross tubes will be omitted, as will be thep.ipe-cleaning extension pieces.
It is pointed out that coolers of amended design and construction are interchangeable with existing types. In respect of the second and third .coolers, the only change to be made, when present stocks have been absorbed, concerns the cleaning extensiot pieces which will be omitted.
• During the course of running vehicles on producer gas, p.s.v. operators have, naturally, come up against certain servicing 'problems and, in order to sim, plify procedure, various hand tools and pieces of equipment have been evolved. Some have proved more satisfactory in use than normal appliances, whilst others have shown themselves to be real time-savers.
The. Directorate of Vehicle Maintenance and Alternative Fuels, BUD-WT., has collected a considerable number of ideas of this kind, sdme of which are here given for the benefit of other operators. A double-ended hiird-brace, xvith one end to fit j-in. B.S.F. nuts and the other to accommodate 1-in. Whitworth nuts, has been found a great convenience when cleating with the nuts on the fire door and hopper lid.
A useful servicing box, to carry the hand brace, spare nuts and bolts, covers, jointing material and other small items, can be made up from odd pieces of sheet metal. It can be suitably partitioned, and a satisfactory way of making the corner joints and attaching the handle would be by welding.
In order to facilitate the removal of deposits from the grate, a rake, having a handle 6 ft. in length, has been found most useful. The rake proper is semicircular in shape and is made from a 6-in, disc of 1-in, thick material.
A particularly useful type of spanner is shown in Fig: 1. It is for use on the filter-sump drain cap which has to be removed daily. The use of such a spanner as that indicated greatly reduces the chances of stripping the thread as a result of using undue force.
A special spanner, for. use on filler caps and hose couplings, is shown in Fig, 2. By providing such a tool as this, damage to the fittings, as might result from using, perhaps, a hammer or other, unsuitable implement, is avoided.
Fig. -8 shows a dip-stick which can readilybe fabricated from odd pieces of material. It has been found nseful in
determining the amount of fuel required when topping-up.
Two special types of poker, one for .use in the garage, and the other for carrying on the trailer, form two further items of interest: The feature, in both cases, is the, provision of a disc of -s metal, welded on the poker at a distance of 2 ft. 1 in, from the business end. The idea of this is to act as a stop and so prevent damage to the grate. In addition, it acts as a flame
guard. .
In Pig. 4 is shown a portable paraffin-, type of fire-lighter, which should save quite, a lot of troubte when' dealing with a. number of vehicles. A can, specially made to facilitate topping-up the fuel hopper, should be about 1' ft. 5 ins. tall, 10 ins, diameter at the base, tapering to 5 ins, diameter at the top. ,A handle should be provided midway in its depth and another near the can be exerted when using this spanner on top. Its capacity, to these dimensions, the filter-swap dr-Mn cap, the chances of would be about 20 lb. strippine the thread are reduced. A servicing trolley, measuring about 3. it. wide by 4 ft. long, will come in useful when transporting equipment about the .depot. The wheels might be four discarded cast-iron pulleys.
Arranging the handling plant and servicing equipment in an orderly fashion is to make for efficiency—the Directorate has plan drawings showing a number of alternative layouts for the fuel bunker, elevator, storage hopper and emptying and filling stalls.
It should be mentioned that the Directorate wodld appreciate details of ideas of a sirnilar character to the foregoing with a view to passing the information on for the benefit of other operators.