A ROAD TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN WEST CHINA 1942-46
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3. The presence of acid volatiles carried over from the fuels (except charcoal).
4. The time required for daily maintenance.
5. The difficulty of cooling the gas sufficiently in hot weather to give a reasonable calorific value per engine cylinder charge.
Producer Gas in China
It is not known to the writer when producer gas conversion vehicles were first used in China or who introduced them. It was probably done by one of the Government Agencies such as the National Resources Commission (NRC) about 1937-38, but information on source material would be welcome. By 1942 numbers of trucks were fitted with gas units, mainly of the updraught type. These were considered less efficient than the cross draught type used by the FAU but were easier to construct. A diagrammatic layout for the producer gas plant as installed on the FAU trucks is given in Fig. XI. When in operation the system works as follows. Air is sucked through the unit by the action of the engine just as air is drawn through a petrol carburettor. The air enters the firebox (1) through a water-cooled coned tuyere (2). In the firebox the air reacts with the white-hot charcoal in a generalised 2C+O2→2CO reaction. If water vapour is introduced as well there is another general reaction 2H2O+2C→2H2+2CO (or CH4+CO2). The fire is small (6-7" diameter) and very intense. The firebox has a bottom drop door for ash removal and a large charcoal hopper (2'x2'x4') above. The tuyere cooling water is in a tank above the hopper and circulates through pipes. The gas comes off through a removable cast iron grid (3) and into a cyclone (4) which removes larger dust particles. The gas then travels through a 21⁄2” diameter pipe to the cooler (5) which consists of two chambers connected with multiple cooling tubes and arranged to get the maximum air draught under the truck body. The cooled gas then passes into a cylindrical chamber bag filter (6). The bags are tied over removable wire frames mounted on a perforated inlet pipe. From this the gas passes to an oil bath scrubber (7) to the air mixing valve (8). This is controlled from the cab by the driver who uses it to give maximum power in the mixture. The valve requires adjustment as the resistance to gas flow increases with the dust accumulating in the filters. From this valve the gas/air mixture passes through the petrol/gas changeover valve (9) and into the
A ROAD TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN WEST CHINA 1942-46
151
3. The presence of acid volatiles carried over from the fuels
(except charcoal).
4. the time required for daily maintenance.
5. the difficulty of cooling the gas sufficiently in hot weather to give a reasonable calorific value per engine cylinder charge.
Producer Gas in China
It is not known to the writer when producer gas conversion vehicles were first used in China or who introduced them. It was probably done by one of the Government Agencies such as the National Resources Commission (NRC) about 1937-38, but infor- mation on source material would be welcome. By 1942 numbers of trucks were fitted with gas units, mainly of the updraught type. These were considered less efficient than the cross draught type used by the FAU but were easier to construct. A diagrammatic layout for the producer gas plant as installed on the FAU trucks is given in Fig. XI. When in operation the system works as follows. Air is sucked through the unit by the action of the engine just as air is drawn through a petrol carburettor. The air enters the firebox (1) through a watercooled coned tuyere (2). In the fire box the air reacts with the white-hot charcoal in a generalised 2C+0,→→2CO reaction. If water vapour is introduced as well there is another general reaction 2H2O+2C- ➤2H,+2CO (or CH,+CO,). The fire is small (6-7" diameter) and very intense. The firebox has a bottom drop door for ash removal and a large charcoal hopper (2'x2'x4') above. The tuyere cooling water is in a tank above the hopper and circulates through "pipes. The gas comes off through a removeable cast iron grid (3) and into a cyclone (4) which removes larger dust particles. The gas then travels through a 21” diameter pipe to the cooler (5) which consists of two chambers connected with multiple cooling tubes and arranged to get the maximum air draught under the truck body. The cooled gas then passes into a cylindrical chamber bag filter (6). The bags are tied over removeable wire frames mounted on a perforated inlet pipe. From this the gas passes to an oil bath scrubber (7) to the air mix- ing valve (8). This is controlled from the cab by the driver who uses it to give maximum power in the mixture. The valve requires adjustment as the resistance to gas flow increases with the dust accumulating in the filters. From this valve the gas/air mixture passes through the petrol/gas changeover valve (9) and into the
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