COAL - GAS PROGRESS.
Page 18
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Equipping the 20 Goods-carrying Vehicles for Gas:
We .dealt fairly fully in our last .issue with the announcement that the Gas -TractionCommittee has, by -arrangement with the Petrel Control Department and the Coal Controller, granted the necessary authority to conduct trials with 20 goods-carrying . commereiei vehicles equipped to run on coal-gas in the Metropolitan area.
This arrangement has been effected under Section 17 of the interim report of the Gas Traction Committee which reads as follows "Metal cylinders.—It is desirable to encourage forthwith, under special licence from the Board of Trade. where necessary, a limited number of .experimerits on a commercial scale with compressed , gas in -rigid metal cylinders, plain or wire-bound; at pressures up to at lead -1800 lb. (120 atmospheres) an .the squire inch, in connection more particularly s ith certain of the larger motor omnibus undertakings and the transport departments of certain of the more Important municipal authorities, in order to Obtain data for dealing with this postwar development."
We understand that Messrs. Flugel and Co. Ltd:, of • Green Lane's; London, N., early applied under this section for the assistance of the committee inrespect of: priority and such other faeilitieS as may prove to be necessary to nable theta to carry out the erssential Work in conneetiOn -with the equipment of 'goodscarrying commercial motors running on compressed coal-gas in steel cylinders.
The Gas Traction Gmumittee have indicated their approval of Messrs.' Flugel■s scheme for the adoption of cempressed coal-gas, and ar willing to grant them. or each of their approveccelients a special gas permit for 250,000 cubic ft. of gas (the equivalent of 1000 gallon's. of _petrol) per annum for each such goods-cd'irying B42
commercial motor vehicle; such gas to be Compressed and carried on ,the vehicles. in steel cylinders at 80 atmospheres p•ressine. No petrol will be withdrawn from the existing -.licence 'for one month after putting the compressed gas.: vehicle on the road, but after that-period one-third of the petrol allowance for that particular vehicle will be withdrawn in exchange for 250,000 cubic: ft. of gas.
Aswe pointed out this is a valuable concession, as it provides for each vehicle equipped to run both on gas and petrol the opportunity to obtain a much greater. allowance Of fuel, amounting really to an increase of 20 per cent, for the year, even if at the end of the first aIx months all petrol a•ifewance,. except
the, fear gallons per month for emergency . „
pa:po .ses, withdrawn. . • • We believe, however, that the general Jun:Cage of gas for traction purposes will seta Severe limit to the number of the.:e special gas permits for the present. Commercial vehicle owners who consider that it would be an advantage to equip one or more vehicles to run on thisa'ternative fuel should eienunmicate with Messrs. ,Flugel.
Paris•Cahs Run on Gas..
The -shortage of petrol in, France has brought coal-gas into use as a motor fuel in Paris, but not to the extent to which the movement developed in London, largely owing to the fact that coal-gas is not •sO extensively Used over there. How'evr, as Wre have already recorded,, influences are"at work in Paris, with GOyernment as,sistance, which may give to ,gas a greatly extended field • of use for the
purpose of road traction. ! Already it is employed to a certain extent for the propulsion of French Arm motors, and we are able to illustrate a Renault twocylinder cab with a gas bag on its roof, one of several which have been eommis'sloped to replace, the big Army ears formerly used by the military staff.
Carburetter Troubles when Gas . is Used.
A paragraph under the above heading appeared on page 414 of our issue of the 4th inst. It was explained that the Scottish Motor Traction Co. had experi-i enced difficulty when endeavouring so to arrange their, fuel supplythat they emild;change over from petrol to gas and vice .versa as occasion demanded. It is -pointed out that when running on coalgas with the petrol turned off, the float. chamber of the _carburetter becomes quite empty. • Vibration then acts very severely on tneedle, flOat and weights, so that. these have to be repaired almost every other day. F. E. Raymond, in calling attention to this paragraPh; 'reminds us that on the occasion when he demonstrated his blinkity van to us some time ago, he was able to change front gas to petrol, and: from :petrol to gas, without stop-ping the engine; furthermore, he did not experience any of the troubles named above, -Which !have presented such difficulty to the Scottish Motor Traction Co.
He believes that this advantage is due to the construction of the carburetter with which the engine of his vehicle is fitted, this being a M6reedes carburetter in which the petrol_ is that off at the top of the jet be means of a needle which screws down and fills the jet orifice. This needle is operated from the dashboard by. a. lever, and coupling rod
operatiug a quick thread screw the float :chamber; of course, in this instance, always 'carries a reg.-tiler amount of petrol, the float remains at a cOnstant height. and there is no unusual wear of any kind in these carburetter fittings..
• . Gas-driven Buses.
With reference to the police sanction given to the London General Omnibus Co.,. Ltd.,: to run 20 gas-driven motorbuses, ,the company are proposing first of all to start with five buSes, which will operate Out of Cricklewood garage and ran on ronte. No. 16. It is not anticipated that these, bnses Will be ready for service until towards the endof August. 'Very extensive trials of a gas-driven bus have been carried out by the L.G.O.C. and the police, and the result has been extremely itisfaetory. The .cylinders containing the compressed gas' are composed of a Steel shell with a certain number of layers of gun tape wound round them. The maximum pressure in the cylinders will be 1000 lb. to the square inch, and they are 'tested to Withstand • four times. the pressure that they will be needed to hold. When charged, the cylinders w ill contain sufficient storage to make two complete jo.urneys, and arrangements are being made to recharge the cylinders at Cricklewood garage during a "Jay-over time of about 10 minutes.