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July, 1910 THE PVARINE. REVIEW Marine Suction Gas Producer Engines On the River Rhine HE Otto Gas Works in Germany first tried a producer gas engine for boat propulsion in 1901, and a number Of canal boats with engines as large as 45 actual horsepower were sold by. the German factory. On ac- count of the considerable space occu- Engine pied by the producer plants as_ then built, the business grew very slowly. Gasoline and kerosene engines almost monopolized the field. The successful operation of the marine producer gas engines on canal boats, however, indi- cated possibilities in the use of such plants on larger tow boats or tugs. Many attempts were, however, wunsuc- cessful because they failed to realize the peculiar requirements of marine service. With the further development of pro- ducers, 'it became possible to utilize brown coal briquettes as well as anthra- cite in those of the double-firé type, and Otto Works found that the brown coal producer plant had a decided commer- cial superiority over steam, and _ the company decided to construct such a boat and the tug Deutz was equipped with a 500-i. h. p. gas engine plant in place of a 300-i. h. p. steam -plant, re- quiring a lengthening of about 10 ft. The present dimensions and draught with 30 tons of briquettes on board, are: Over all length, 112 ft.; greatest width, 20 ft.; draught forward, 5% ft.; draught ait? 6. Tt: The stack was retained to provide free outlet for the exhaust. The whole machinery layout, as shown in the plan herewith, occupies a space 20 x 42 ft. The producer room is sep- arated from the engine room by a bulk- head provided with a sliding door: The height of the producer room is 14% ft. This room contains producer, gas clean- ing apparatus, and the coal bunkers. oO + a Ae ool] it] © Producer ? tt a e U ARRANGEMENT OF GAS as these briquettes can be obtained cheaply anywhere on the Rhine, the €conomical operation of larger boats with producer equipment became possi- ble. After making a careful estimate of the cost and condition of operation, the PLANT IN TuG DEUTZ. The producer is of the .double-fire type, in which all the volatile matter in the fuel must pass through the upper fire zone before it reaches the gas outlet, making the gas practically tar free. The cleaning apparatus consists of two separate units, capable of independent 269 operation. After passing through ee small scrubber with a spray at the top, the gas enters the main scrubber, which is provided with eight spray heads, one above the other, and each removable while running. From the main scrub- ber washer, driven from the main shaft, and the gas passes to a_ centrifugal provided with suitable water sprays. The gas next passes through a water sep- arator. The two scrubber units have a single pipe leading to the gas receiver and thence to the engine. There are two four-cylinder, 250-h: p. engines, each driving a 5-ft. propeller through a reverse gear. The engine speed can be controlled between the hmits of 902%. pi: to 920622 pb. 2 nL from the engine platform. While man- euvering and picking up tows, one en- gineer and a helper operate the ma- chinery. The helper also relieves the engineer during part of the long 16 to 18-hour day. The gas engine and reverse gear are said to be so well adapted to maneuver- ing, that the operation is even quicker and more certain than with" a steam engine. - : set In the engine room are two pumps, one for delivering water to the jackets and scrubber, and another for pumping waste water from a well under the scrubber. oe Gt eles On the after port side of the engine room is placed a 7-h. p. auxiliary gaso- * line engine, which drives the compressor of the air starting equipment, and the exhauster for building up the fire in the producer. By a special belt it can be used for raising the anchor and also for pumping out- In regular operation this is done by the drainage pumps pro- vided for the purpose. After the reg- ular layover of six to eight hours, the plant can be started again in a quarter of an hour with absolute certainty. The following table gives the weight