ABSTRACT
Much of the early development of the internal combustion engine was based on employing gaseous fuels. The widespread use at the time of coal gas, produced by the processing of coal for lighting, domestic, and industrial applications, also encouraged its use in engines, despite the gas being highly toxic and explosive. There were also some engine applications employing industrially derived fuel gases such as those in the steelmaking industry or in the processing of municipal sewage and biomass. After the rapid success of the four-stroke liquid-fueled internal combustion engine, gas-fueled engines tended to be confined primarily to special applications and the stationary engine fields.
