Bench tests with a four-cylinder stationary engine were made with gasoline
and producer gas from charcoal as the fuels. A comparison of their performance
revf'aled that maximum power from producer gas from charcoal is about 55 per-
cent of gasoline power, and that about 11.4 pounds of charcoal is equivalent to
1 gallon of gasoline. When operating an engine on producer gas the spark should
be advanced beyond the setting for maximum power with gasoline.
The work reported herein is a portion of an extensive investigation
[1]1 of substitute motor fuels, conducted by the National Bureau of
Standards for the Foreign Economic Administration. The objective
of this phase of the investigation was the evaluation of charcoal as
a fuel for automotive purposes and the determination of the per-
formance both of the gas producer and of the engine when operating
on producer gas from charcoal.
The engine used for this study was a four cylinder International
Model U-4 with a displacement of 152.1 cubic inches. It was de-
signed for multifuel uses and was supplied with a combination gas-
gasoline carburetor, a distillate carburetor, a manifold with heat
control, and also cylinder head, piston and cylinder sleeve combina-
tions to give compression ratios of 4.75, 5.9, 7.35, and 10.0. '1'he
5.9 compression ratio was used in this work. Ignition was by an
impulse-coupled magneto. A spark-advance indicator was added,
and the range of adjustment of the ignition timing was increased to
50 degrees. An adjustable carburetor was used so that air-fuel
ratios could be changed easily.