Abstract
ON December 13, Mr. Robert Cook read a paper on “Compressed Gas as a Fuel for Motor Transport” before the East Midland Section of the Institute of Fuel and the Society of Chemical Industry at Nottingham. This comprised a brief history of the utilisation of gas as a fuel for internal combustion engines, together with an assessment of its economic possibilities in competition with petrol and heavy oils. Comparisons of the usefulness of gas and petrol for internal combustion engines are not unfavourable to the former. A higher thermal efficiency is obtained with gas than with petrol; the carbon monoxide content of exhaust gases is very much lower than with petrol; starting is as good; flexibility and acceleration are superior to petrol when the engine is cold; and it is quite as safe in use as petrol. The chief drawback to gas as compared with petrol is, of course, the difficulty of carrying a sufficient quantity for any considerable mileage. Latterly, however, various firms have been experimenting in the production of light high-pressure cylinders. The real competitor of gas for road transport services is heavy oil, and at present virtually no comparison can be made between these two fuels, since in every case the greater the annual mileage, the greater the economic superiority of heavy oil. The balance in favour of heavy oil might be substantially reduced by a rise in its price; an allowance in respect of the weight of vehicle cylinders when assessing licence duties; development of a special engine for gas propulsion; or by the enrichment of coal or coke-oven gas. Without such adjustments, gas cannot enter into successful competition with heavy oil for road transport service.
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Compressed Gas as a Fuel for Motor Transport. Nature 137, 309–310 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137309d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137309d0