Technological process[ | ]
Firewood, coal briquettes, peat, etc. can be used as fuel. The operating principle of the gas generator is based on incomplete combustion of carbon. During combustion, carbon can add one oxygen atom or two, forming monoxide (carbon monoxide) and dioxide (carbon dioxide), respectively. Incomplete combustion of carbon releases almost a third of the energy of complete combustion. Thus, the resulting gas has a much lower calorific value than the original solid fuel. In addition, in a gas generator, during the gasification of wood, as well as during the gasification of coal with the addition of water (usually in the form of steam), an endothermic reaction occurs between the resulting carbon monoxide and water with the formation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. This reaction reduces the temperature of the resulting gas and increases the efficiency of the process to 75-80%. If there is no need to cool the gas before use, then the efficiency of gasification will be 100% [ source not specified 1101 days
]. That is, in fact, two-stage complete combustion of solid fuel will be carried out.
The caloric content of the resulting gas is quite low due to its dilution with nitrogen. But since its combustion requires significantly less air than the combustion of hydrocarbons, the calorie content of the working mixture (gas + air) is only slightly lower than that of traditional air-fuel mixtures. The main reason for reducing the power of transport engines used to operate on gas without modification is the reduction in the charge of the working mixture, since it is difficult to achieve satisfactory gas cooling on mobile equipment. But this problem is not significant for stationary engines, where the mass and dimensions of the cooler are little limited. On engines specially modified or specially designed to run on generator gas, by increasing the compression ratio and slightly supercharging the gas generator, liter power equal to that of gasoline engines is achieved.
A gas generator is usually used when there are already existing internal combustion engines (both gasoline and diesel) and there is no main liquid fuel (gasoline, diesel fuel) for them.
From Moscow to Minsk - on wood
In the post-war years, the shortage of liquid fuel became an acute problem in the Soviet Union. And then it was decided to develop an alternative direction - gas generator. It was decided to obtain gas from wood.
After the war
Back on November 30, 1941, the State Defense Committee ordered the creation of a new engine plant on the basis of aircraft bomb plant No. 316. This is how the Miass enterprise appeared, which began producing automobile power units, as well as transmissions for tanks.
The speed with which the workers worked is impressive - already on March 16, 1942, a piston ring for the ZiS-5 engine was created. A month later the gearbox appeared. Two weeks later the Zisov engine itself was born. In total, in 1942 the plant produced more than 9 thousand power units and over 15 thousand boxes.
But this was not the only thing the plant was busy with. Since February 1942, the design and experimental department, headed by engineer A.S. Eisenberg.
At first, the KEO was solely responsible for documentation, but the situation changed dramatically after the end of the war. The country felt a gasoline famine. There was a serious shortage of liquid fuel that had to be eliminated somehow. Therefore, many Soviet automobile enterprises took up the development of gas generator technology.
The main burden fell on the Ural Automobile Plant, which, at the command of the People's Commissariat, became the leading plant for the production of gas-generating vehicles based on the ZiS-5. This decision was made in November 1946.
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First ZiS
The pioneer was the ZiS-21A with a wooden cabin and curved wings. This truck ran on wood, since the gas necessary for movement was obtained from logs. To avoid fuel shortages, the vehicles were sent to areas where the logging system was well developed.
Wood has become the “life-giving force” for all gas-generating machines. Moreover, only forest industry waste was used as fuel. There was only one requirement for them - the absence of rot. Any type of wood was used to produce gas. But best of all, as practice has shown, the trucks “digested” birch, beech, oak and ash.
The logs that were sent to the gas generator boiler were mostly rectangular, and the side width did not exceed 6 centimeters.
Agricultural waste was not lost either. For example, bark, husks, cones, sawdust and even straw - everything went into use. Only before use were they pressed into special briquettes, and only then thrown into the boiler.
Even during testing, special dryers were built at the plant - vertical shaft furnaces. Thanks to them, cars received about 20 cubic meters of the required fuel per day.
And everything would be fine if not for one “but”. Wood hit the technical specifications of trucks hard. Firstly, the car began to have a carrying capacity not exceeding 2.5 tons, because it was carrying an entire woodpile. Secondly, the engine power became equal to 45 “horses”. Accordingly, the car’s speed dropped significantly - to 48 km/h.
Gas generator vehicle "ZiS-21A" (Photo: Alexey Panov/TASS)
Modernization
Designers and engineers worked persistently to improve gas generator trucks. First, the basic “trolley” of the ZiS-5 was improved. Then innovations affected the car itself.
And in 1949, the Central Research Institute of Mechanization and Energy of the Forestry Industry of the USSR (TsNIIME) began developing and then testing new charcoal plants, which were named TsNIIME-16. Soon this gas generator “system” was installed on the ZiSe-21A. And the car successfully passed all the necessary tests with it. To complete the picture, the truck was even forced to make an impromptu forced march from Moscow to Minsk and back. The ZiS coped, and its average speed was about 40 km/h.
This success allowed the designers to move on. Soon, on the basis of TsNIIME-16, a new gas generator truck was created - UralZIS-NAMI G-78A. And in the fall of 1951, the ZiS-21A replaced the UralZiS-352 at the “combat post”.
The innovative G-78A installation was distinguished by the fact that it could easily “digest” even raw wood. In addition, it was more reliable, easier to maintain and repair. And the new gas generator unit reduced the curb weight of the truck by almost 100 kilograms.
As for UralZIS-352, it differed from ZIS-21A in that preliminary gas purification was carried out using a cyclone. And in its predecessor, the gas was purified from particles by passing it through a special cooler. In addition, the 352 could boast of “advanced” pre-heating of the engine, which ran on the same generator gas.
The UralZIS-352 truck weighed about 3.7 tons, and its carrying capacity was limited to 2.5 tons. The engine produced about 48 “horses”, and the maximum speed was 53 km/h. True, to achieve it, an excessive amount of wood fuel was required. Usually the car moved at a speed not exceeding 45-47 km/h.
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As for fuel consumption, it was influenced by many factors. This includes the quality of the road, the weather, and the condition of the wood. On average, 150 kilograms of logs or briquettes were required per 100 kilometers.
The Last of the Mohicans
UralZiS-352 and its special timber modification UralZiS-352L became the last mass-produced Soviet cars to run on wood. Although in the summer of 1955, the management of MAP approved a new generation of gas generator trucks - UralZiS-356. But everything remained on paper; the car never went into production.
And on January 1, 1956, the Ural Machine-Building Plant stopped the production of gas generator trucks and curtailed all developments on them. The fact is that this direction, in the end, was recognized as a dead end. And all forces were transferred to the modernization of gasoline and diesel cars.
Stories about weapons. Gas generator vehicle ZIS-21 (12 photos)
Some might almost rightly point out that a truck is not really a weapon. Or rather, not a weapon at all. Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine an army without thousands of vehicles both on the front line and in the rear. During the Great Patriotic War everything was exactly the same.
Today's story is about a car that could often be found in the rear. Gasoline and diesel fuel, the blood of war, went first to the front. And in the rear it was possible and necessary to drive what was at hand. And here the gas generator came in very handy.
So, the gas generator vehicle ZIS-21. Produced from 1938 to 1941, a total of 15,445 units were produced. The ZIS-21 was a standard ZIS-5 truck with a gas generator of the NATI G-14 type. The ZIS-21 gas generator unit was manufactured in Moscow. Its total weight was 440 kg. The height of the hopper is 1360 mm, diameter - 502 mm. The weight of fuel in the bunker is 80 kg. The fuel could be wooden lumps, briquettes made from shavings and sawdust, sawing waste, coal and peat briquettes, and even pine cones. The essence of the gas generator is simple at first glance. Incomplete combustion of fuel produces a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO). All this is filtered, cooled and enters the combustion chambers. The efficiency of the process reaches 75-80% and on engines specially modified or specially designed to run on generator gas, by increasing the compression ratio and slightly supercharging the gas generator, power almost equal to that of gasoline engines is achieved. Plus, in countries where there are no problems with forests, there are gas stations in every clearing. The main thing is dry fuel and no rot. The gas generator was mounted on the right side of the cabin and attached to the right side member of the frame using brackets. The right door had to be made half the size so as not to shorten the body. But the passengers are not the main thing here, the main thing is the cargo. Since the gas generator, mounted on the right side of the car, had a mass of more than 400 kg, the right front spring of the ZIS-21 was strengthened - 8 mm thick sheets were installed instead of the standard 6.5 mm. Coolers-purifiers for rough cleaning and gas cooling, consisting of three cylinders connected in series, were located across the vehicle behind the cabin under the cargo platform. A cylindrical fine filter with a height of 1810 mm and a diameter of 384 mm was installed on the left side of the car near the cabin. To ignite the gas generator, a centrifugal fan driven by an electric motor was installed. On cars produced in 1938, the fan was attached to the bracket of the right footrest, and on ZIS-21, produced since 1939, to the left footboard of the car. For faster engine starting and for short movements, a gas tank with a capacity of 7.5 liters was installed under the hood. The gas generator ZIS-21 had the following characteristics: 6-cylinder, in-line engine, volume 5555 cm3, power 73 hp. On gas, however, the power dropped to 50 hp, but this was reflected in speed, not load capacity. The maximum speed on gasoline was 60 km/h, on gas - 48 km/h. Load capacity 2,500 kg, minus fuel reserve. One charge of the bunker was enough for 60-100 km of run, depending on the type of wood being charged. Of course, “gasgens” were not used because of a good life. However, during the war they freed up a significant part of the gasoline for the needs of the front. From Kolyma to the Urals, thousands of “gazens” transported hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo, puffing with their generators. And they transported it on time, judging by the results. By the way, in Europe (England, France, Germany) it was also quite normal to use gas generators even in passenger cars. But that's a completely different story.
Wood-burning car
What do an armful of birch firewood and 1 liter of gasoline have in common? You can travel the same distance with both fuels. But only using wood is 100 times cheaper. Technologies of the last century again help domestic Kulibins save money, who no longer need to think about the price of gasoline, because their cars no longer need this expensive fuel. Now they have a trailer with a gas generator instead of a gas tank.
The design of a wood-burning car looks extremely unusual, causing passersby to associate it with Emelina’s self-propelled stove. Firewood, wood chips, fir cones, coal, straw and even dry manure are the main fuel this miracle of technology runs on. Burning with a lack of oxygen, organic matter releases flammable gas. The process is called pyrolysis.
Invented in the 19th century, the gas generator became widespread in the middle of the last century, when gasoline was needed at the front. In the rear, Soviet “Lorry” and “Trekhtonki” worked on available firewood.
The gas goes through a full cleaning cycle through a cyclone filter (coarse filter), radiator (heat exchanger) and fine filter. It then enters the combustion chambers of the engine through the mixer.
To start a car engine using wood, you need to spend 15 minutes lighting the stove, but then a bag of wooden lumps is enough for 3 hours of work or 150 kilometers. Has the engine started to run rough? It's time to add some wood! It is believed that an engine with a gas generator loses about a third of its useful power. But the Siberian “Kulibins” claim that their wood-burning car pulls no worse than a gasoline one. The main thing is to drive correctly!
Here are three basic rules that must be followed for a good car ride on wood:
1. You need to drive fast so that the gas in the heat exchanger cools down. 2. You need to drive over bumps to shake up the coals. 3. You need to keep the engine running so that the coals swell.
A fuel supply for the whole year for a wood-burning car will cost 10,000 rubles. If you translate this into gasoline, you will get 3 tons of gasoline costing 100,000 rubles. The benefits are obvious! It is known that the inventors sold one such machine to a local sawmill owner. Now he definitely won’t have problems with fuel.
By the way, plants that burn household waste also receive a secondary product in the form of heat. In general, the problem of garbage disposal is still relevant, especially in small towns. But thanks to specialized companies, for example in Kostroma, the problem is solved quite simply. It is enough to familiarize yourself with the tariffs for garbage removal in Kostroma and choose the most convenient company, and the professionals will do their job, as they say, “with quality and on time.” All you have to do is rejoice at the cleanliness and order, marveling at the efficiency of the service.
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