§ Mr. Thorneasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of War Transport how producer gas is made and what material is used for making it?
§ Mr. Noel-BakerProducer gas is made by passing air through an incandescent bed of carbonaceous fuel. The nitrogen of the air passes through the fuel bed unchanged, but the oxygen is completely combined with the carbon. The fuel, with the exception of the mineral ash, is thus converted into gas, composed of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, a little methane, and nitrogen, the latter constituting some 60 per cent. of the volume of the gas. By adding a proportion of steam to the air, it is possible to increase the hydrogen content of producer gas, and correspondingly the heating volume. Producer gas can be made from a wide range of carbonaceous material varying from wood to anthracite and coke, but for mobile producers the range is at present restricted for technical reasons to fuels of low ash content, and those which, on combustion, produce little or no tar.