Producer Gas is a generic term referring to:
- Wood gas: produced in a gasifier to power cars with ordinary internal combustion engines.
- Town gas: manufactured gas, originally produced from coal, for sale to consumers and municipalities.
- Syngas: used as a fuel source or as an intermediate for the production of other chemicals.
In the UK, producer gas, also called suction gas, specifically means a fuel gas made from coke, anthracite or other carbonaceous material. Air is passed over the red-hot carbonaceous fuel and carbon monoxide is produced.
The nitrogen in the air remains unchanged and dilutes the gas, giving it a very low calorific value. The concentration of carbon monoxide in the “ideal” producer gas was considered to be 34.7% carbon monoxide (carbonic oxide) and 65.3% nitrogen. After “scrubbing”, to remove tar, the gas may be used to power gas turbines (which are well-suited to fuels of low calorific value), spark ignited engines (where 100% petrol fuel replacement is possible) or diesel internal combustion engines (where 40% – 15% of the original diesel fuel is still used to ignite the gas). During the World War II in Britain, plants were built in the form of trailers for towing behind commercial vehicles, especially buses, to supply gas as a replacement for petrol (gasoline) fuel. A range of about 80 miles for every charge of anthracite was achieved.
