Bench and Field Tests of Vehicle Gas Producer Plant as Applied to Farm Tractors

Abstract

During the past three years producer gas plants suitable for vehicles have been manufactured and marketed by several firms in Western Australia, to an extent that over seven hundred agricultural tractors in that State are now working successfully on producer gas. Australia as a whole, and Western Australia in particular, is fortunate in possessing large areas of hardwoods eminently suitable for making high-grade charcoal. As a consequence, producer gas development in Australia has been largely confined to the charcoal-burning type of producer.

The present investigations were undertaken by the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Western Australia under the direction of Dr. Bowden, then Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, the object being to obtain information relating to the performance of producer-powered tractors. Funds for the purpose were made available by the Commonwealth Government of Australia through the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

Experimental stations were established at Kellerberrin, and at Cranmore Park near Walebing. At the former, trials were conducted using two types of producer gas plant (the “Powell” and the “Herbert”), and two types of tractor (a “Case 12–20” and an “Allis-Chalmers” model “U”). Considerations of space allow of only brief reference to the trials carried out with the latter tractor. At the Walebing station a standard “Fordson 14–26” tractor was used in conjunction with “Powell” and “H.S.G.” producer gas plants. The results of the Kellerberrin trials are recorded in part I of the paper, and those of the Walebing trials in part II. A typical daily log sheet is reproduced in the Appendix.