One might almost rightly point out that a truck is not really a weapon. Or rather, not a weapon at all. In our time, 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 primarily to the front. And in the rear, one could and should have driven what was at hand. And here the gas generator came in 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 NATI G-14 gas generator. The gas generator ZIS-21 was manufactured at the Moscow plant "Kometa". Its gross weight was 440 kg. Hopper height 1360 mm, diameter 502 mm. Fuel weight in the bunker - 80 kg.
The fuel could be wood blocks, briquettes of shavings and sawdust, sawing waste, coal and peat briquettes, and even cones.
The essence of the gas generator is simple at first glance. Incomplete combustion of the fuel produces a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO). All this is filtered, cooled and fed into the combustion chambers. The efficiency of the process reaches 75-80% and on engines specially modified or specially designed for operation on generator gas, by means of an increase in the compression ratio and a slight boost of the gas generator, powers are achieved almost equal to those of gasoline engines.
Plus, in countries where there are no problems with forests, there are gas stations in every meadow. The main thing is dry fuel and no rot.
The gas generator was mounted on the right side of the cab and attached to the right frame side member with brackets. The right door had to be made half as large 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 ZIS-21's right front spring was strengthened - sheets 8 mm thick were installed instead of the standard 6.5 mm.
Coolers-cleaners for coarse cleaning and gas cooling, consisting of three cylinders connected in series with each other, were located across the machine behind the cab under the cargo platform.
On the left side of the car, a cylindrical fine filter with a height of 1810 mm and a diameter of 384 mm was installed near the cab. 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 footboard, and on ZIS-21, produced since 1939, to the left footboard of the car.
For accelerated engine start and for short movements, a 7.5 liter gas tank was installed under the hood.
The gas generator ZIS-21 had the following characteristics:
Engine 6-cylinder, in-line, 5555 cm3, 73 hp. On gas, however, the power dropped to 50 hp, but this was reflected in the speed, not the carrying capacity.
The maximum speed on gasoline was 60 km / h, on gas - 48 km / h.
Loading capacity is 2,500 kg, minus the fuel supply.
One charging of the bunker was enough for 60-100 km of run, depending on the type of loaded wood.
Of course, "gazgens" were not used out of a good life. Nevertheless, during the war, they freed up a significant part of the gasoline for the needs of the front. From the Kolyma to the Urals, thousands of gazens transported hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo, puffing with their generators. And they were transported on time, judging by the results.
By the way, in Europe (England, France, Germany), gas generators were also used quite normally, even on passenger cars. But that's a completely different story.
