544 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 721 



gas producer and the gas engine utilize 

 from eleven to eighteen per cent. Coal 

 converted into gas produces, then, two and 

 one half times as much power as when 

 burned under a boiler. The best Poca- 

 hontas coal under a boiler was found to 

 produce .28 H. P. per pound of coal per 

 hour, while with a gas producer the same 

 amount of coal produced .96 H. P., or 3.34 

 times as much as when used in the ordinary 

 way. A lignite which would produce only 

 .01 H. P. per pound of coal per hour when 

 used under a boiler produced .35 H. P. 

 when used in a gas producer. A still more 

 interesting fact is that the best Pocahontas 

 coal used under a boiler produced .28 H. P. 

 per pound per hour while a lignite in a 

 producer gave .30 H. P. Thus, lignite 

 turned into gas gave more power than the 

 best coal when used under a boiler. These 

 results indicate that there is fuel in all 

 parts of the United States which can be 

 used to produce power through the gas 

 producer and gas engine, so that the 

 amount of valuable fuel for power pur- 

 poses has been increased many fold by the 

 work of the Technologic Branch. 



It is true that these results, while they 

 show a great improvement over ordinary 

 methods, look small compared to what 

 should theoretically be obtained. Even the 

 gas engine under the most favorable condi- 

 tions does not utilize over eighteen per 

 cent, of the heat value of the coal. There 

 is still a great opportunity for the scien- 

 tific man and the engineer to devise meth- 

 ods by which a larger per cent, of the en- 

 ergy of our fuels can be utilized. And the 

 engineer has an important work to do in 

 connection with the results already ob- 

 tained. The gas engine has been in use in 

 Europe for a number of years and is now 

 being introduced into this country. There 

 are some installations where the horse 

 power runs into thousands, but these are 

 isolated and are principally in connection 



with steel plants. The average manufac- 

 turer hesitates to install a gas engine be- 

 cause he fears that he can not depend upon 

 it every day as he can upon the steam 

 engine and because he knows that it can 

 not be operated by the same engineer who 

 can operate his steam plant. The steam 

 engine is so simple and has been in use so 

 long that it is very easy to make repairs 

 upon it and it does not take very long 

 comparatively to train a man to use it. 

 The gas engine is more complicated, is not 

 as well understood and at present there 

 are very few men who are experienced in 

 its use. The greater initial cost of the gas 

 plant, the cost of operating and the feeling 

 which the manufacturer has that it is un- 

 reliable will retard its use, but if our 

 mechanical engineers, and especially if our 

 engineering colleges, will make the thor- 

 ough study of this question which it de- 

 serves, there is no doubt that within a few 

 years the gas engine will practically sup- 

 plant the steam engiae. The manufacturer 

 wants power and he wants it as cheaply as 

 it can possibly be obtained. If a new form 

 of prime mover will develop two and one 

 half times as much power as the old with- 

 out too much initial cost or expense of 

 maintenance, the manufacturer will rap- 

 idly install the new form. I believe our 

 engineering colleges should install gas 

 plants and make a thorough and systematic 

 study of their use from day to day. In 

 this way their faults can be remedied and 

 through published reports the manufac- 

 turer can be made to feel that they are 

 reliable. At the same time it will be of 

 immense benefit to the students in the 

 mechanical engineering departments to 

 have a thorough training in the principles 

 and the use of this new form of engine. 



lEON AND STEEL 



This is an iron age. A nation's indus- 

 trial progress is determined by the amount 



