Practical Progress with Producer Production
Page 42
Page 43
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
As we announced recently, 250 of the Government producer-gas plants for goods vehicles are being made by Fry Brothers, Ltd., Norman Road, Greenwich, London, S.E.10. This concern has been a, wellknown builder of the various types of Government apparatus that have hitherto appeared, since the early 'days of its development, and has • frequently co-operated with the Fuel Research Station, which, of course, is situated in the same locality, in testing and improving the unit.
This, however, is not the company's only claim on readers interest. Fry Brothers, Ltd,, is definitely a pioneer concern in the commercial-motor world. Founded in the eighteenseventies and describing itself then as a road-contracting concern, it was primarily engaged in road construction. Haulage and vehicle engineering were naturally included in its activities, and, as the organization deVeloped, many steam vehicles and, later, internalcombustion-engined lorries were put into operation, whilst overhauling and body-building, as well as road-transport work in a variety of forms, were undertaken on what was then a big scale.
All types of body, including doubledeck bus bodies, complete trailers, and wheels of a patent design that overcaste certain disadvantages of the exist-' irtg wooden wheels of that period and were superseded only by the steel. wheel, were produeed by the company. One branch in which it specialized was the building of road tankers, and Mr. G. F. Fry, the present managing director, tells us that the concern was the first to incorporate wheel-arches in the tanks,, of these. vehicles.
To . meet export requirements, it designed and built a " knock-down " van body that could be packed in a space measuring 8 ft. T ins. by 5 ft. by 1 ft. 6 ins., and could be quickly assembled on a chassis by unskilled labour.
Possessing machinery for ' tank construction, together with experience in this branch of engineering, Fry Brother, Ltd., is well equipped for making producer-gas apparatus. It is not without interest, in this connection, that the concern was pioneering electric welding before the 1914-18 war. A considerable part of its works is now given over to making the G.E.P., but production has not yet been brought up to full rate;, it is • expected, however, that the output per week will ,be between 15 and 20 units.
This is not what is commonly regarded as mass-production. It is, in fact, better. With a number such as 250—or even 500—the employment of real mass-production methods would not pay. As it is, the company's craftsmen, forges, blow-pipes, electrodes, rolls, presses, shears, skill and experience are probably being employed to the very maximum advantage.
Here is an excellent instance of the proper co-ordination of an item with the whole. How much less would be the country's productive power at the present moment if there had not been such a splendid rallying of the thousands of small concerns and a dovetailing of them with the large.
Mr. Fry is not allowing the work of expediting production and his other activities of national importance to absorb his energies to the detriment of research. He still has time for experiment and far trying out ideas. As he uses,for his own business needs, a G.E.P.-trailer-equipped car (a 24 h.p. Chrysler), he is able to conduct personally many of the tests entailed.
One extremely interesting fact that
has emerged from his recent investigations, that may have an important bearing upon future developments and that has already .resulted in the supply of an optional fitment for the plant, is the influence on the functioning of the producer of the control of the speed at which the air enters the system.
Attempts to explain, scientifically, the benefit resulting from the use of a restriction in the intake, hitherto have been unsuccessful, It must be remembered that on the G.E.P. for goods vehicles—the . plant under consideration—the intake is remote from the tuyere, the pre-heating apparatus being interposed, so the velocity of flow at the tuyere nozzle seems unlikely to be affected..
At the point where the air enters the water carburetter, Mr. Fry has fitted a cone-shaped funnel with a, detachable venturi in its small end. For test purposel he has 4 number of these detachable chokes varying in minimum bore from I in. to 1 in. Trial indicates which size gives the best results on engine performance. In the case of the ,Chrysler a I3-52-in, choke is used.
Experiments that have been made in the past by various gas-producer experts, with means for varying tuyere nozzle sizes, and with air-speed regulators at the butt of the tnyere, have proved disappointing. The use of such device's has seemed to make little, if, any, difference to the functioning of the plant. With the Fry method. however, according to its inventor, small alterations to the bore of the ventiiri have a pronounced result, the engine being very sensitive to variations and its performance improving as the restriction is increased to a certain minimum diameter.
Until further research has been done, there seems little useful Purpose in theorizing and speculating about the possible reasons for this phenomenon. Mr. Fry, who has provisionally patented the device, will, no doubt, arrive ultimately at a satisfactory conclusion. It is to these sort of experiments that we look for the future success of producer
Another line of investigation that he is pursuing is in connection with upper-cylinder lubrication. In this, Alexander Duckham and Co., Ltd., is cooperating with him. Already his experiments are bearing fruit and a special lubricant has been evolved that seems particularly suitable and is showing good promise as regards minimizing cylinder-bore wear.
In conjunction with these tests of oil, an improved means for feeding it to the ingoing gas Mixture is being evolved, and will be put into production, we understand, it an early date. One detail associated with this. item is the use Of a device in the induction pipe, which ensures the proper atomization of the oil.
Finally, we must Mention the jointing material which is being standardized . by Fry Brothers, Ltd., on the G.E.IA, units it produces and which it can supply for other requirements. It is named Sealite packing and is claimed to be highly efficient as a preventer of air. leaks, to be capable of withstanding high temperatures, and to be of considerable durability. It is of slightly plastic consistency, which enables the seating to be renewed, as may become desirable occasionally; without renewing the material. The proper making of joints is of such great importance that we feel that this preparation deserves to 'he better known. '