John B. Rathbun

“ The efficiency of a producer is from 75 to 85 per cent, that is, the producer will furnish gas that has a calorific value of an average of 80 per cent of the calorific value of the fuel from which it is made, the remaining 15 to 20 per cent being consumed in performing the combustion. This is far above the efficiency of the furnace in a steam boiler, as an almost theoretically exact amount of air can be supplied in the producer to effect the combustion, while in the boiler furnace about ten times the theoretical amount is passed through the fuel bed to burn it. ”

“ A magneto is a device that converts the mechanical energy received from the engine into electrical energy, the electricity thus produced being used to ignite the charge in the engine. This appliance does away with all of the troubles incident to a rapidly deteriorating chemical battery and produces a much hotter and uniform spark. A magneto is especially desirable with multiple cylinder engines where the demand for current is almost continuous, as the amount of current delivered by the magneto has no effect on its life or upon the quality of the spark. ”

“ Heat engines, of which the steam engine and gas engine are the most prominent examples, are devices by which heat energy is transformed into mechanical power or motion. In all heat engines, this transformation of energy is accomplished by that property of heat known as “expansion,” by which an increase or decrease of temperature causes a corresponding increase or decrease in volume of the material subjected to the varying temperatures. The substance whose expansion and contraction actuates the heat engine is known as the “working medium,” and may be either a solid, liquid, or a gas. ”

“ It is the purpose of the ignition system to raise a small portion of the mixture to the combustion temperature, or the temperature at which the air and fuel will start to enter into chemical combination. When combustion is once started in a compressed combustible gas it will spread throughout the mass no matter how small the original portion inflamed. The rate at which the flame spreads through the combustion chamber depends upon the compression pressure, the richness of the mixture, the nature of the fuel and upon the number of points at which it is ignited. ”

“ It is by no means uncommon trouble in cold weather to find excessive fluctuations in pressure as the engine speed and temperature of the oil varies. Thus, if the pressure be set correctly with the engine running fast, and when just started up, it will be found, after half-an-hour’s running, that, with the engine turning slowly, the pressure is far too low, owing to the oil having become thin. If the pressure be then reset, it may be found on next starting up from cold that the gauge goes hard over, and may very easily be burst if the engine is run fast. ”

“ The phenomenon called combustion by which we obtain the heat energy necessary for the operation of the internal combustion engine is a chemical combination of the air with the fuel. This process results in heat and some light which is equal in quantity to the energy required to separate the fuel compound into its elements or to build it up in its present form from the original elements. If the process is comparatively slow, the compound is called a fuel, if it is instantaneous it is called an explosive. ”

“ The quantity of air necessary for the combustion of the fuel determines the amount of fuel that can be drawn into a given cylinder volume, and as we are dependent upon the fuel for the expansion it is evident that with two fuels of the same calorific value, the one requiring the least air will develop the most power. Since the air required to burn hydrogen gas is only one fourth of that required to burn the same amount of 17methane it is clear that more hydrogen can be burned in the cylinder than methane. ”

“ The carburetor is a device for converting volatile liquid fuels, such as gasoline, alcohol, kerosene, etc., into an explosive vapor. Besides vaporizing the liquid, the carburetor also controls the proportion of the fuel to the air required for its combustion. The mixture produced by the carburetor must be a uniform gas and not a simple spray to accomplish the best results for complete and instantaneous combustion. Proper combustion cannot be attained with any of the fuel in a liquid state as all of the fuel contained in a liquid particle cannot come into contact with the consuming air. ”

“ While the fuel most commonly used is coal, straw and wood, crude oil is often used, the fuel being determined principally by the location of the engine, and by its cost on the job. The matter of fuel should be taken into consideration when the engine is purchased as the different grades demand different fire box and boiler construction. When it is possible to obtain crude oil at a reasonable figure, it certainly should be used in preference to all others as liquid fuel is the most compact, most easily controlled, and efficient of any. ”

“ With a gasoline or oil tractor equipped with engine plows one man can tend to both the plows and the engine, although some operators prefer to have two men, one relieving the other consequently plowing more acres per day and reducing the cost per acre. In some cases one man is placed on the plows and the other on the engine. By running the tractor twenty-four hours per day, with two shifts of men, a much better showing is made by the tractor when compared with horse plowing, for with the latter method it would be necessary to supply twice the number of horses. ”

“ While producer gas has been obtained from practically every solid fuel, of which coal, coke, wood, lignite, peat, and charcoal are examples, the fuel most generally used is either coal or coke. While producer gas is much lower in calorific value than either natural or illuminating gas it gives admirable results in the gas engine and is a much cheaper fuel than coal gas in units above 3450 horse-power capacity. The fuel is completely burned to ash in the producer without the intermediate coke product that exists in the manufacture of coke. ”

“ The best ignition system will be that which will cause the ignition to occur invariably at the point of highest compression and which will supply ample heat to start the process of combustion with a cold cylinder, imperfect mixtures, and low compressions. An efficient and reliable ignition system is without a doubt the most important unit in the construction of a gas engine. As ignition systems have improved and become more reliable, so has the gas engine become more widely used and appreciated, and in almost a direct proportion to these improvements. ”

“ To reduce the ill effects of the heavy intermittent blows, the majority of automobile and stationary engines are provided with two or more cylinders, the power being equally divided among them. In a four cylinder engine, there are four times as many impulses as in a single cylinder engine and the blow dealt by the individual cylinder is only one-quarter as great. While a single cylinder engine has an impulse only once in every other revolution, the four cylinder has two impulses in one revolution. ”

“ A gas engine is practically a steam engine with the furnace placed directly in the working cylinder with all intervening working mediums removed, the gases of combustion acting as the working medium. It derives its power from the instantaneous combustion of a mixture of fuel and air in the cylinder, the expansion of which causes pressure on the piston. Under the influence of the pressure on the piston, the crank is turned through the connecting rod and delivers power to the belt wheel where it is available for driving machinery. ”

“ When threshing or plowing in a remote field considerable difficulty is always experienced in supplying the steam tractor with the enormous amount of water that it consumes. To supply the water requires a team, tank wagon and drivers which is a considerable item in the running expense. The small amount of water used for cooling the gas engine is renewed once, or at the most, twice a day. Steam coal is bulky and requires the continuous service of a man and team to keep things moving, and this expense is greatly increased by the expense of the coal. ”

“ Many systems have been devised for the purpose of clearing the cylinder of burnt gas in order to minimize the loss of fuel in large engines, but owing to their complication have never been successfully applied to small engines of the automobile or marine types. In general, the “scavenging” is accomplished by pumping out the clearance space at the end of the scavenging stroke, while fresh air is admitted to the cylinder through the inlet valves, or by blowing out the clearance space by a blast of pure air furnished from an air pump attached to the engine. ”

“ The modern gasoline and oil engine has been the greatest factor contributing to the farmer’s ease and prosperity for it has eliminated the terrors and drudgery of plowing, churning, watering stock, sawing wood, threshing, and has besides given him many of the conveniences of city life, such as running water and electric light. ”

“ A fuel is essentially a substance which is capable of generating heat, which is a form of energy, and not static pressure. The heat engine is an instrument which transforms this energy into power which is again dissipated into heat through the friction of the engine itself and by the load that it drives. ”

“ As the semi-Diesel type engine will operate successfully on the lowest grades of crude oils, with an efficiency that compares favorably with the true Diesel type, the operating expenses are very much lower than with the gas or gasoline engine. With the same fuels, the semi-Diesel will show greater net saving than the Diesel with a low load factor, as the fuel saving is not eaten up by the high first cost, and overhead charges of the true Diesel. ”

“ This is an illustration of the physical law that “energy can neither be created nor destroyed,” that is, the heat energy developed by the fuel is converted into mechanical energy which is again transformed into heat energy through friction. ”

“ Some substances produce mechanical force through an instant, without the evolution of much heat, due to the disintegration of an unstable compound. The effect of the latter type of which dynamite is an example is static, that is to say, it is not capable of producing power, but only pressure. For this reason, compounds having an instantaneous effect without the ability to produce the pressure through a distance, or an expansion, are not considered as suitable fuels for a heat engine. ”

“ The majority of engines are readily converted from gasoline to gars, or in some cases kerosene, by changes in the vaporizing device, and with the exception of changing the compression pressure, little further alteration is needed. Since the vaporization and admission of the heavier oils, such as crude oil and kerosene has a more intimate relation to the engine than the use of gasoline or gas, the heavy oil engines will be described in a separate chapter in order that the process of oil burning may be more fully explained. ”

“ Some makers of high speed engines open the inlet slightly before the exhaust closes as it is claimed that the inertia of the exhaust gas passing through the exhaust pipe creates a slight vacuum that is an aid in filling the cylinder with a fresh charge. It should be borne in mind that this condition only exists when the piston has come to rest and exerts no pressure on the exhaust gas. The vacuum is due to the velocity inertia of the gas after it has been reduced to atmospheric pressure. ”

“ The heat energy developed by a gas when burning in the open air depends on its chemical combustion, but its mechanical equivalent in power when burned in the cylinder of the engine depends not only upon its composition but upon the conditions under which it is burned as stated in the chapter devoted to the subject of heat engines. ”

“ Diesel Oil Engine. The Diesel engine marks the greatest progress in the internal combustion field made in the last few years. It marks a distinct advance in both thermal efficiency, and in the character of the fuel that it has made a commercial possibility. By the use of cheap fuel heretofore unavailable for any type of prime mover, such as the asphaltum residual oils, coal tar, etc., it has lowered the cost of power production to a point where it is unapproached by any type of heat engine. ”