PETROLEUM GAS SUPPLY

Southland Times, Issue 24229, 12 September 1940, Page 8

PETROLEUM GAS SUPPLY

Taranaki Farmer’s

Experiment

OLD OIL BORE TAPPED (Special to The Times) NEW PLYMOUTH, September 11. With a constant of petroleum gas, capable of propelling a car with more efficiency than petrol, pouring from an old oil bore on his farm, petrol restrictions may shortly cease to worry Mr O. Foreman, of Tikorangi. Mr Foreman, who for some years has been drawing on this apparently inexhaustible source of gas for his lighting, cooking, and for the small motor driving his milk plant, is now turning his attention to overcoming the petrol problem, not by substituting the inferior producer gas, but a clean gas, the power of which exceeds that of petrol.

When this bore gave off gas instead of the desired oil, Mr Foreman erected a small gasometer over the bore. Not only is the gas colourless and odourless, but, bubbling up through pure artesian water, it is perfectly clear, and in cooking leaves no deposits on the pans.

More recently Mr Foreman has conducted experiments with his 11-year-old farm truck and has found that the gas gives results far superior to petrol Without any adjustment to the engine, the gas can be put straight through the carburetter. Storing the gas in a cylinder not much larger than one of the cylinders used in the producer gas plant, sufficient can be carried to run the lorry for 10 hours, which, considering the huge consumption of a lorry engaged in farm work, is an amazing performance. After further experiments, Mr Foreman intends trying out the lorry on the road.

It is also Mr Foreman’s intention to fit his car with a smaller cylinder, which he considers will give him 10 to 12 hours’ constant running. The gas, states Mr Foreman, is not so hard on the engine as petrol, being devoid of all impurities. After 12 months’ use, the points of the sparking plugs of his truck were found to be as clean as when they were new.

Mr Foreman demonstrated the running efficiency given by the gas by starting the two and a-half horsepower motor with which he drives his milking plant, the generator to charge his wireless battery, the compressor, with which he fills, the cylinder for his truck, and several other small machines.