Fig. 1-b. The English Adams Automobile Motor (End View), Showing the Magneto Driven by Spiral Gears at Right Angles to the Crank-Shaft. ]
As the working medium in an internal combustion engine is in direct contact with the fuel it must not only be uninflammable but it must also be capable of sustaining combustion and must have a great expansion for a given temperature range. Since atmospheric air possesses all of these qualifications in addition to being present in all places in unlimited quantities it is natural that it should be used exclusively as the working medium for gas engines. Unlike the vapor working medium in a steam engine the medium in the gas engine not only acts in an expansive capacity but also as an oxydizing agent for burning the fuel, and therefore must bear a definite relation to the quantity of the fuel in the cylinder to insure complete combustion.
In the gas engine the use of gaseous fuel is imperative since there must be no solid residue existing in the cylinder after combustion and also for the reason that the fuel must be in a very finely subdivided state in order that the combustion shall proceed with the greatest possible rapidity. In addition to the above requirements the introduction of a solid fuel into the cylinder would involve almost unsurmountable mechanical problems in regard to fuel measurement for the varying loads on the engine. This limits the fuel to certain hydrocarbon or compounds of hydrogen and carbon in gaseous form of which the following are the most common examples:
(a) =CARBURETED AIR= consisting of a mixture of atmospheric air and the vapor of some hydrocarbon (liquid) such as gasoline, kerosene or alcohol.
(b) =OIL GAS= formed by the distillation of some heavy, nonvolatile oil, or the distillation of tar or paraffine.
(c) =NATURAL GAS= obtained from natural accumulations occurring in subterranean pockets in various parts of the country.
(d) =COAL GAS=, made artificially by the distillation of coal, commonly called “illuminating” gas.
(e) =PRODUCER GAS=, some times known as “fuel gas,” produced by the incomplete combustion of coal in a form of furnace called a “producer.”
(f) =BLAST FURNACE GAS=, the unconsumed gas from the furnaces used in smelting iron, somewhat similar to producer gas but lower in heat value.
