Friday, January 12, 2007

WW2, and it's a gas (producer)


During World War II there was an acute shortage of petrol for domestic use. This was well before the days when Australia's Bass Strait oil fields were even thought of, and all fuel was imported.
The answer for private motorists, carriers, tradespeople and farmers was to install a gas producer on their vehicle.
These units burned wood, coal or briquettes to produce a gas which could be burned in place of petrol and thus power the engines.
Ford Australia worked with the University of Melbourne, the Vacuum Oil Co (later to become Mobil), Shell Oil Company, and the Powell Gas Producer Co to develop an efficient gas producer which would not gum up the engine with tar or cause excessive wear because of too many dust particles.
The result was a highly efficient version of the Powell Gas Producer, so Ford began mass production for fitting to new vehicles and for after market fitting to existing vehicles.

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