Great Encouragement of Producer Gas
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in Australia A Recent Letter From The Commonwealth Gives News of Alternative-fuel Developments AUSTRALIA is paying great attention to the development of producer gas for use on motor vehicles, and some interesting information on this matter is contained in -a letter recentlyreceived from that country by Major W. H. Goddard. The writers had seen in The Comtner,cial Motor (which, incidentally, they regularly obtain in the Commonwealth) a reference to Major 'Goddard's withdrawal from producer
• gas interests, and were rather :surprised at his action.
They feel that operators are in a more fortunate position in Australia in connection with the progress of producer-gas plant. The Common-wealth Government has taken a very -active interest in the development of -this fuel and has carried out a certain amount of research work at one of the universities, mainly in respect of the power output of engines running on it. Standard specifications for .charcoal fuel, equipment to test the efficiency of scrubbers and filters, and :special testing appliances for determining the efficiency of the producers -themselves have all been prepared.
Laboratory in Each Capital This work is now being coordinated by means of a testing laboratory in each of the capital cities of Australia. These will be -equipped to carry out all the aforementioned work.
It appears, however, that the only fuel which will be used will be charcoal. There is an abundant supply of good-quality hard woods, -which form the foundation of an excellent fuel for producer plants, and -such problems as the formation of acid, which may corrode the plant, and the deterioration of the lubricating oil have not, so far, cropped up.
Government Orders 400 Producers The control of the manufacture and -distribution of this charcoal is under
.' -taken by the Forestry Department in the various States, and only the best .quality is permitted to be sold, and this at an economic price fixed by the Government. The Government is also taking the lead by ordering 400 -units to be fitted to vehicles used by it throughout the country. Many of -these have been in actual service for a considerable time and are providing .excellent data for the future develop-ment of what may be an important industry.
In addition, some six designs of producer have been selected. these being purchased to encourage concerns to enter into quantity produc-lion, also to help, to a certain extent, in standardization. The small manufacturer is not given this encouragement, as it is desired to keep the number of designs to the minimum.
So far, power units are not being altered to any great extent in respect of their compression ratios, as the majority of the vehicles is of American manufacture with ratios ranging from GI-7 to 1. No difficulty is being experienced with the bearings.
The Government has determined in its specification the quality and thickness of materials used in the construction of the producers and only robust plants are manufactured. There has been no great difficulty, so far, in obtaining the necessary materials. Also, operators are fortunate in that petrol is not rationed, so that those using producer gas are able to enrich this with a certain amount of petrol to help the vehicles over the steep grades and when there are heavy hauls.
Development on Right Lines The Forestry Department and the Government analyst in each State are doing much research work in technical matters connected with charcoal fuel. The benefit of this is showing itself in connection with the quality of the fuel now being distributed.
It is felt, however, that development has not reached a stage where the plants at present on the market in Australia may be considered as 100 per cent, efficient, but it is felt that the means taken by the Government to develop them are along the right lines and will, within a reasonably short time, ensure the availability of reliable plants.
A particularly important point is that the Government is co-ordinating this producer-gas work with a policy of afforestation, so that it is easy to see that the matter is being studied with a broad mind.
No attempt has yet been made to use compounded fuels. This for the reason that there is no difficulty in obtaining really good-quality charcoal. It is probable that the testing laboratory in each State will, later on, carry out research work with a view to increasing the efficiency of engines, and so help manufacturers in formulating designs which will result in increasing the efficiency of the engines to bring them more in line with the usual performance on petrol.
It seems hardly likely that, with. out increasing cylinder dimensions, it will be possible to achieve equality of performance, but, judging by what has already been done in this country in this direction, appreciable improvements can be effected by modifying design.
Test Certificates for Producers
Every maker will be invited to present his producer-gas plant for official test at the central laboratories, after which, if they reach the required standard of efficiency, they will be provided with test certificates which can be used for sales propaganda. The public will be warned against purchasing any plant which has not obtained such a certificate, whilst the makers can be called upon, from time to time, -to present their products for further test as they make any modifications to them.
In each State through the country there is a producer-gas committee, comprised of leading Government administrative and technical officers. All developments are controlled by these committees, each of which can work independently, but all are correlated by a combined committee of all the States, and the policy is drawn up by this.
A Lesson We Can Learn After learning of all this activity in Australia, where, after all, the need for alternative fuel is, for the moment, not so urgent as it is here, and petrol is not rationed, we might well ask why our Government has not done more in this direction.
So far as results have shown, the Committee considering the matter has done little more than bring out a Government standard design, which, up to the present, does not seem to have made any great progress; at least, there do not appear to be many vehicles in service equipped with it, and this despite the fact that it was stated months ago that many makers had sought permission to utilize the design.