LORRY RUNS ON GAS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20109, 1 December 1939, Page 10

LORRY RUNS ON GAS

GENERATED ON VEHICLE 4iD DAILY TO OPERATE GISBORNE EXPERIMENT What motorist would not like to be able to run his motor vehicle all day at a cost of only 41d, and now that the price of petrol has increased it is without doubt that that would be the ambition of all. To be able to do this is the claim o 1 a Gisborne experimenter, Mr. H. E. Willis, a partner in the Star Delivery carrying firm. During the past three months he has adapted the petrol engine of his motor truck to burn coal gas generated on the vehicle. He has made application for the necessary patent papers to cover hi: enterprise. Although Mr. Willis realises that the idea is not original, he made it clear that the plant he has in operation is all the result of his own experiments. On Wednesday he worked the motor all day delivering wood and later harnessed one of the wheels to a circular saw to cut wood, all those jobs being done on the- gas generated from a bucket of slack coal costing 4 id. When using the motor for the cutting of wood for delivery he uses sawdust in the furnace and that is just as effective for his pur* pose as coal. It is possible also to use charcoal in the fire to generate the necessary gas. Furnace Under Lorry’s Tray A small furnace is housed underthe tray of the lorry at the rear of the driver's side of the cab and the gas is conducted from there by a pipe running around the bottom of the tray to permit the gas to cool before entering the purifying tank on the opposite side of 'the lorry from the furnace. Before leaving the furnace the gas is forced through the fire to remove the pitch and the other imDuritics are all cleared from the gas in the purifying tank, which contains lime, ferrous oxide, and other chemicals. The intak-d for the gas is on the manifold, and that is the only alteration that has been made to the motor. Slight improvements are under consideration by Mr. Willis and also a means of regulating the mixture of pure gas and air to get the ratio that will give the best performance. Even though the six-cylinder lorry he -is operating at present for the purpose of his experiments looks to be in a dilapidated state it is most suitable for the work it is being asked to do. and already it has created much interest among the public of Gisborne.