What is "gas engine"

Gas \Gas\ (g[a^]s), n.; pl. Gases (g[a^]s"[e^]z). [Invented by the chemist Van Helmont of Brussels, who died in 1644.]

1. An a["e]riform fluid; -- a term used at first by chemists as synonymous with air, but since restricted to fluids supposed to be permanently elastic, as oxygen, hydrogen, etc., in distinction from vapors, as steam, which become liquid on a reduction of temperature. In present usage, since all of the supposed permanent gases have been liquified by cold and pressure, the term has resumed nearly its original signification, and is applied to any substance in the elastic or a["e]riform state.

2. (Popular Usage)

   1. A complex mixture of gases, of which the most important constituents are marsh gas, olefiant gas, and hydrogen, artificially produced by the destructive distillation of gas coal, or sometimes of peat, wood, oil, resin, etc. It gives a brilliant light when burned, and is the common gas used for illuminating purposes.

   2. Laughing gas.

   3. Any irrespirable a["e]riform fluid.

3. same as gasoline; -- a shortened form. Also, the accelerator pedal of a motor vehicle; used in the term `` step on the gas''.

4. the accelerator pedal of a motor vehicle; used in the term `` step on the gas''.

5. Same as natural gas.

6. an exceptionally enjoyable event; a good time; as, The concert was a gas. [slang]

   Note: Gas is often used adjectively or in combination; as, gas fitter or gasfitter; gas meter or gas-meter, etc.

   Air gas (Chem.), a kind of gas made by forcing air through some volatile hydrocarbon, as the lighter petroleums. The air is so saturated with combustible vapor as to be a convenient illuminating and heating agent.

   Gas battery (Elec.), a form of voltaic battery, in which gases, especially hydrogen and oxygen, are the active agents.

   Gas carbon, Gas coke, etc. See under Carbon, Coke, etc.

   Gas coal, a bituminous or hydrogenous coal yielding a high percentage of volatile matters, and therefore available for the manufacture of illuminating gas.
   --R. W. Raymond.

   Gas engine, an engine in which the motion of the piston is produced by the combustion or sudden production or expansion of gas; -- especially, an engine in which an explosive mixture of gas and air is forced into the working cylinder and ignited there by a gas flame or an electric spark.

Gas engine \Gas engine\ (Mach.) A kind of internal-combustion engine (which see) using fixed gas; also, broadly, any internal-combustion engine.

n. an internal-combustion engine similar to a gasoline engine but using natural gas instead of gasoline vapor

A gas engine is an internal combustion engine which runs on a gas fuel, such as coal gas, producer gas, biogas, landfill gas or natural gas. In the UK, the term is unambiguous. In the US, due to the widespread use of "gas" as an abbreviation for gasoline, such an engine might also be called a gaseous-fueled engine or natural gas engine or spark ignited.

Generally the term gas engine refers to a heavy-duty industrial engine capable of running continuously at full load for periods approaching a high fraction of 8,760 hours per year. Unlike a gasoline automobile engine, which is lightweight, high-revving and typically runs for no more than 4,000 hours in its entire life. Typical power ranges from to .