Electro-Mechanical Series
GAS AND PETROLEUM
ENGINES
_TRANSLATED AND ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH
OF HENRY DE GRAFFIGNY_
AND EDITED BY
A. G. ELLIOTT, B.Sc.
LONDON
WHITTAKER AND CO.
2 WHITE HART STREET, PATERNOSTER SQUARE
NEW YORK: 66 FIFTH AVENUE
1898
RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON & BUNGAY.
PREFACE
The great and increasing importance of internal combustion motors
is perhaps scarcely realized by the general public. For industrial
purposes they have for many years been steadily gaining favour, and now
hold an assured position. It is only in the last few years, however,
that we have begun to recognize the drawbacks of horse-drawn vehicles,
and the immense advantage gained by propelling them mechanically.
The suitability of oil engines for the purpose has awakened a
widespread interest in them. The Editor therefore hopes that this
little volume will be especially welcome to non-technical readers who
like to keep ahead of the times in matters of such universal importance.
One chapter deals exclusively with the theory of the gas engine, but
the non-technical mind should have no fear, for mathematics have been
as far as possible avoided. It may also serve to dispel wrongful
notions concerning the practical limits of the efficiency of gas
engines which, we are sorry to say, exist even among persons living in
a scientific atmosphere.
We have not spoken in the text of the extremely interesting results
obtained from the oil engine invented by Herr Diesel of Berlin, because
it has not yet been proved that this motor is strictly practicable.
If, however, it turns out to be a commercial success, we hope to add a
description of it at some future date.
_May 1898._
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. HISTORY OF THE GAS ENGINE 1
II. THE WORKING PRINCIPLES OF THE GAS ENGINE 13
III. DESCRIPTION OF EXISTING GAS ENGINES 23
IV. CARBURETTED AIR ENGINE 67
V. PETROLEUM ENGINES 77
VI. GAS GENERATING PLANT 103
VII. ENGINES FOR USE WITH POOR GASES 121
VIII. MAINTENANCE OF GAS AND OIL ENGINES 130
INDEX 139
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIG. PAGE
1. Early Lenoir Motor 24
2. Bisschop Motor 25
3. Bénier Motor 26
4. Forest Motor 27
5. Plan of Dugald-Clerk Engine 30
6. Benz Gas Engine 32
7. Otto Gas Engine 36
8. ” ” ” (vertical type) 38
9. Lenoir Gas Engine 39
10. Koerting-Boulet Motor 40
11. Niel Gas Engine 44
12. Martini Motor 45
13. Lablin Three-cylinder Motor 46
14. Crossley Gas Engine (X type) 47
15. Crossley Gas Engine 48
16. Pygmée Gas Engine 50
17. National Gas Engine 52
18-19. De Forest Gas Engines 54
20. De Forest Double Piston Motor 54
21. Diagram of Atkinson Mechanism 58
22. Section of Charon Motor 58
23. Charon Motor 59
24. Roger Vertical Gas Engine 60
25. Vertical Gas Engine of the Compagnie Parisienne du Gaz 62
26. Maurice Motor (de Cadiot) 64
27. Durand Carburetted Air Motor 72
28. De Dion Motor Tricycle 75
29. Campbell Oil Engine 81
30. Section of Grob Motor 83
31. Exterior View of Grob Oil Motor 84
32. Capitaine Gas Engine 86
33. Horizontal “Balance” Motor (Capitaine) 87
34. Capitaine Two-cylinder Gas Engine 88
35. Hornsby-Akroyd Oil Engine (section) 91
36. Exterior View of Hornsby-Akroyd Oil Engine 92
37-38. Sections of Ragot Petroleum Engine 94
39. Carburator of Ragot Oil Engine 96
40. Crossley-Holt Petroleum Engine 99
41-42. Griffin Oil Engine 101
43. Dowson Gas-producing Plant 108
44. Taylor Gas-producing Plant 114
45. Simplex Gas Engine (Delamare-Deboutteville) 123
46-47. Governor of Simplex Engine 123
48. Combined Simplex Engine and Buire-Lencauchez
Gas-producer 124
49-50. Bénier Engine and Gas Plant (sectional plan and
elevation) _face p._ 127
51. Section of Simplex Gas-producing Plant 135
52. Agricultural Oil Locomotive 137
GAS AND PETROLEUM ENGINES
CHAPTER I
HISTORY OF THE GAS ENGINE
The history of gas engines may be said to date from a time when coal
gas and petroleum were unknown. This statement appears at first
somewhat paradoxical, but it arises from the fact that the first
gas engine, invented by the Abbé de Hautefeuille in 1678, used the
explosive force of gunpowder as a motive power. The principle of this
early gas engine, however, is exactly the same as that of its more
modern brothers; that is, the work is done by the expansion and cooling
of a volume of heated gas, the only difference being that gunpowder
contains within its grains the oxygen necessary for its combustion,
while coal gas or petroleum require admixture with the oxygen of the
air before they can be made to explode.
Two years after the Abbé de Hautefeuille had made public his idea, in
a memoir entitled _A Method of Raising Water by means of Gunpowder_,
the Dutch savant Huyghens published a similar work, describing an
apparatus consisting of a cylinder with two leather exhaust pipes,
forming valves; to the bottom of the cylinder was screwed a small box
in which gunpowder was to be ignited. The effect of the explosion was
to drive out a large quantity of heated gas through the valves, which
closed again when it had passed. The gas remaining in the cylinder soon
cooled down, so that the pressure within it fell below that of the
surrounding atmosphere, and caused the piston to be forced down by the
excess of atmospheric pressure.
This operation was certainly very crude, and, as might have been
expected, scarcely came up to the expectations of its inventor. The
idea was, however, not allowed to rest here, and Papin set himself
to find out some better agent to replace the gunpowder, whose action
was uncertain and, to say the least of it, brutal. The result of his
experiments pointed clearly to the condensation of steam as being the
most suitable method of producing a space filled with a gas at a lower
pressure than that of the atmosphere, and many inventors, following in
his footsteps, adopted this process for working pumping engines. In
consequence of the great success of the steam engine, which was due to
the genius of Watt and his successors, the idea of using combustion to
act directly as a motive power was lost sight of for a great number
of years, and it was not till the year 1791 that any suggestion was
made which was an improvement on the engines of De Hautefeuille and
Huyghens. The inventor, this time an Englishman, by name John Barber,
specified in his patent, in somewhat laconic language, the use of a
mixture of a hydrocarbon gas and air, and its explosion in a vessel
which he termed an exploder. Several years later, in 1794, Robert
Street, also an Englishman, took out a patent for the production of
an explosive vapour by means of a liquid and air, ignited by a flame
in a suitable cylinder so as to drive machinery and pumping engines.
Petroleum or any other inflammable liquid was allowed to drip on to
the heated bottom of a cylinder so as to be vaporized and drive up the
piston.
Philip Lebon, of Brachay, the creator of the coal gas industry in
France, took out a patent in 1799, setting forth very clearly the
principle and construction of an engine using the explosion of coal
gas as its motive power. Lebon, in fact, devised his gas-producing
plant with the intention of only using the coal gas in his gas engine,
lighting by its means being quite an afterthought. In a second patent
two years afterwards he describes a more perfect apparatus, in which
a pump is provided for compressing the mixture of coal gas air, and
also an electric machine worked by the engine itself for igniting the
compressed mixture. Unfortunately, the career of this fertile inventor
came to an abrupt end by his assassination in 1804. It is highly
probable, that if he had lived gas engines would have come into general
use at the beginning of the century instead of nearly sixty years later.
From 1799 up till the year 1860, in which the first really practical
gas engine made its appearance, several schemes were put forward,
some of them not lacking in ingenuity, of which the most interesting
were due to Welman, Wright, Johnston, and Barnett. Wright’s machine
was particularly well thought out and constructed. The double-acting
cylinder was placed in a vertical position and the gases were ignited
by a gas-jet. A centrifugal governor regulated the pumps which
compressed the explosive mixture in the cylinder, and at the same
time varied the composition of the explosive mixture so as to always
be proportional to the work which was required to be done. When we
come to consider that this engine was brought out in the year 1833,
it is wonderful that it did not meet with greater success, but this
was probably due to the fact that the steam engine was at that period
coming greatly into favour, and for the time being completely eclipsed
all other forms of motive power.
About this time a double-acting gas engine was devised by Johnston,
using pure hydrogen and oxygen as the explosive mixture, in the
proportion of two volumes of hydrogen to one of oxygen. After the
explosion and driving forward of the piston, the combined gases being
cooled were precipitated as water, and a partial vacuum obtained which
was used during the return stroke. This idea was a highly ingenious
one, but failed owing to the high price of hydrogen and oxygen, but
perhaps some day, when these obstacles have been removed, this idea may
once more be taken up.
In 1838 William Barnett took out a patent for an engine based on the
same principle as that of Lebon. Two pumps compressed separately the
combustible gas and the air and forced the mixture under pressure
into the cylinder. The explosion was caused by a small gas-jet,
communication between it and the cylinder being set up at the right
moment by a revolving valve. The gas-jet was situated in the valve
itself, and was so arranged that during half a revolution it was turned
towards the outside, and was then lighted by a second jet, and during
the remainder of the revolution it communicated with the interior of
the cylinder and ignited the explosive mixture. This was the first gas
motor in which the ignition was from the outside, and in which the
explosive gases were at the same time under pressure. In most modern
gases the same result is obtained, but the original and rather crude
method of obtaining it has of course been much modified and improved.
During the next few years several patents were taken out relating to
the same subject. In 1844 John Reynolds suggested using a battery which
should white-heat a platinum wire in order to ignite the gases, the
ignition taking place at the required moment by means of an automatic
switch closing the battery circuit.
In 1850 Stéphard recommended a magneto-electric machine driven by the
engine itself instead of the primary battery.
Barsanti and Matteucci described in 1857 an atmospheric motor, their
arrangement of the parts being afterwards adopted by Otto and Langen.
A Bunsen cell supplied current to a De la Rive multiplier, causing a
stream of sparks to pass between two fine points situated within the
combustible mixture. In 1858 and 1859 Degrand explained in two patents
a gas engine in which the gases were compressed in the cylinder itself.
Owing to mechanical difficulties his machine was impracticable, but
the idea forms an important step in the history of gas engines.
In 1860, when the Lenoir motor appeared, no other existed which was
capable of regular and comparatively efficient work.
This machine, devised by Lenoir and constructed by Marinoni, had the
appearance of a double-acting horizontal steam engine. The explosive
mixture was ignited by an electric spark produced by a Ruhmkorff coil
and a primary battery. The machine ran smoothly and regularly and its
cost was moderate: among the advantages which it possessed at that time
over other forms of motive power, were the absence of a cumbrous boiler
and costly foundations, and the little care and attention necessary to
keep it in working order. So great was its success at the time, that
many people prophesied that the steam engine would soon become extinct.
In spite of this the Lenoir motor possessed many defects which
engineers were not slow to recognize. The enthusiasm which it had
aroused soon cooled down when it became known that for steam and gas
engines of equivalent power, the steam engine was considerably cheaper.
It required in fact 3000 litres of gas to produce one horse-power
hour, and to cool the cylinder of such a motor a volume of water was
necessary four times as great as that required to produce the steam of
a steam engine of equal power. Besides this, the machine had to be kept
flooded with lubricating oil. In consequence of these various defects
the Lenoir motor disappeared almost as rapidly as it had arisen. In
spite, however, of this apparent failure, it did some good, for it
once more directed the attention of inventors to the problem of a
practical gas engine.
Among the numerous patents taken out in consequence of this reaction,
the most important, filed in 1860 by M. Hugon, related to a gas
motor with a flame ignition, and in which the cylinder was cooled by
injecting into it a very fine spray of cold water. Experiments were
made upon it in 1876 by M. Tresca, and it was found that the motor
consumed 2445 litres of gas per horse-power hour. The temperature of
the exhaust gases was 180° C., while in the Lenoir motor they were
about 280° C. The diminution in temperature was probably due to the
better method of cooling the cylinder, and was found to be a great
improvement, the cylinder requiring much less lubrication. In 1861
Kinder and Kinsey somewhat modified the existing arrangements of the
parts, but otherwise their motor embodied no new ideas. Another motor
was devised about this time by Millon, once more bringing forward
Lebon’s idea of compressing the gases in the cylinder itself.
We have now reached the year 1862, which may be considered a memorable
one in the history of the gas engine, for it was in this year that
a patent was taken out by M. Beau de Rochas, setting forth from a
theoretical point of view the best working conditions for a gas engine.
During the forward stroke of the piston the explosive mixture was to
be drawn into the cylinder, during the return stroke this volume of
gas being compressed; at the dead point at the beginning of the second
forward stroke the explosion was to take place, driving the piston
forward, the gases being expelled during the second return stroke. The
whole principle will be seen to consist of four distinct operations,
forming what is known as the Otto cycle, for reasons which we will
presently explain.
The peculiar part of the patent was its purely theoretical explanation.
Whilst giving all the honour due to the inventor, and recognizing that
he fully understood what he was talking about, we must not forget that
there was nothing whatever in the patent indicating how the ideas
embodied therein might be carried into practice. No drawings were
appended to the text, explaining how the gases were to be ignited, or
how the exhausted gases were to escape; it contained nothing, in fact,
but the plain statement of the most efficient cycle of operations.
M. de Rochas did not construct a machine on this principle, and as he
omitted to pay his patent fee for the second year, the idea became
public property. For these reasons no attention was drawn to it
until ten years afterwards, when it came to light during some patent
litigation undertaken by Dr. Otto in 1878.
In 1867 at the International Exhibition at Paris a vertical atmospheric
motor was to be seen working, based on the primitive principle of
the gunpowder pump of De Hautefeuille. This machine was constructed
by two German engineers, Otto, and Langen of Deutz near Cologne, and
was a perfected form of the Barsanti and Matteucci motor invented ten
years previously. The explosion of the gases in the cylinder only
served to obtain a partial vacuum underneath the piston, which was
therefore forced down by the excess of atmospheric pressure above it.
This arrangement had one great advantage over the Lenoir and Hugon
motors, it only burnt 1350 litres of gas against their 2500 or 3000 per
horse-power hour, and consequently it rapidly came into favour, and the
lucky inventors were able to sell no less than 5000 motors in a few
years.
The motor itself was very rough and had many defects: the gear-wheels
rattled and made a furious noise, the igniting flame kept up a
continuous roar, and above the noise of clanking machinery the
explosion of the gases could be heard like a cannon going off; in fact,
no one could say that the ideal of domestic motors had been attained;
but as the motors constructed in 1872 only consumed 800 litres of gas
per horse-power hour, rendering power produced by this means cheaper
than steam, its success was assured in spite of the defects.
The success of these early attempts stimulated Dr. Otto to further
efforts, and in 1878 he brought out his famous gas engine, which
has earned a world-wide reputation by reason of its incontestable
merits. It was based on the principle explained in the De Rochas
patent which we have spoken of, but Otto undoubtedly knew nothing of
this patent, and his invention was perfectly independent and fresh
as far as the world was concerned. The enormous success to which the
new motor attained naturally led to many unscrupulous imitations,
and legal proceedings were instituted in England and France. In this
country the validity of Otto’s patents were upheld, but in France the
De Rochas patent was for the first time brought to light, and the
verdict went against him. This verdict has been attributed to malice
on the part of the French judges, for at that time the French nation
would have probably conceded as little as possible to a German; but
whether that be so or not, we are indebted to Dr. Otto for having made
the gas motor a really practical engine after many years of patient
experiment and study. At the same time as the Otto engine three other
motors appeared at the Exhibition of 1878: the Bisschop gas engine
constructed by Mignon and Rouart, and two others by Simon and Ravel.
The Simon motor, of which only a very small number were constructed,
was very interesting from the economy point of view. The explosion of
the mixed gas was not allowed to take place suddenly, but proceeded
gradually as the piston moved forward, and the heat which in the Otto
engine is carried off by the water jacket, was made use of, as in the
old Hugon motor, to vaporize a spray of cold water, and thus adding
to the total force behind the piston. This process was so effective,
that on shutting off the supply of gas the motor continued to revolve
for a considerable period by means of the vaporized water. About 800
litres of gas were consumed and four litres of water per horse-power
hour, a very good result. The Ravel motor used even less, about 500
or 600 litres only, but owing to the bad arrangement of the parts the
mechanical efficiency was very low.
Such was the position of the gas engine in 1878. A standard type had
been adopted and worked excellently. It merely required to be perfected
in detail and simplified in order to make it still more economic, and
capable of holding its own against its powerful rival the steam engine.
Many modifications of the Otto gas engine have appeared since that
date, among the most important being those by—Dugald-Clerk, in 1879, a
motor which compressed and exploded the gases once in every revolution;
Lenoir, in 1833, the cylinder being cooled by currents of air; and in
the same year appeared the Griffin gas engine, with a complete cycle of
operations every three revolutions.
At the Antwerp Exhibition of 1884 several new types appeared, among
them the Stockport engine by Andrews, and others by Koerting, Bénier,
and Benz. In the same year a very good motor appeared, called the
_Simplex_, constructed by Powell of Rouen (now Matter et Cie.),
according to the plans of MM. Delamare-Deboutteville and L. Malandin.
This engine was the subject of some litigation, the Otto people
considering it an infringement of their patents, but the improvements
in the design of the working part and the novelty of several details
being apparent, the _Simplex_ gas engine gained the day. In 1885,
after the appearance of the _Simplex_ and the new Lenoir motors, most
makers made use of the Otto cycle, and about this time appeared the
first carburetted gas motors, that is to say, using volatile spirits
and products of petroleum for their source of energy. Such motors have
been devised by Tenting, Koerting-Boulet, Diedrichs, Gotendorf, Noël,
Forest, Ragot, Rollason, Atkinson, etc.
At the International Exhibition in 1889 there were thirty-one
exhibitors and fifty-three machines, with a total power of 1000
horse-power. All except four used the Otto cycle, and for the first
time a motor was to be seen using a gas other than coal gas, namely a
poor gas produced at a very low cost in a special gas-producing plant.
The motor itself was of the single-cylinder _Simplex_ type of 100
horse-power, opening up a new horizon to inventors, and demonstrating
the possibility of using large gas engines supplied with poor gas.
This short history of the gas engine will be seen to consist of three
distinct periods—firstly, from 1700 up to 1860, during which time many
inventors tried and failed to produce anything practical; secondly,
from 1860 to 1889, during which the gas engine became something
really practical; thirdly, from 1889 up to the present date. In
this period gas engines have grown in size, and large units of 200
to 400 horse-power are now constructed, worked by poor gas produced
from special gas plants, and enabling the gas engine to successfully
hold its own against the steam engine, which it may one day entirely
supplant.