ALTERNATIVE TO PETROL.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19772, 9 November 1929, Page 5

ALTERNATIVE TO PETROL.

DISTILLED COAL PRODUCT. raoK oca own coaaxarorotxT LONDON, September 26. Kxperiawata are beiaf made by the A eeasible 9«*t DiatUlatioa, Ltd., with a ! mw reel which press!*** to he aa alter- | native to petrol ia its application to I traction and general propulsion pur- [ boms (says the "Morning Pott"). This alternative fuel ia a product obi taiaed from British bituminous coal by i a distillation treatment. It might be ' described aa a synthetic charcoal, and when need in gaa generator* ii said to produce a gaa which, ia a a internal I combustion eagiae provides the motive power eqaally as well as petrol, and ' Is safer. Teste over • considerable period with heavy road vehicles propelled by producer gas lastead of petrol ia this coaa- ; try, and more particularly ia Prance, it is claimed, have proved definitely and ' conclusively that gas made from synthetic charcoal is ia every way aa suitable as petrol. It Is an eeonomieal fuel. It can be made and sold at a profit at a price which, when compared with petrol for equal power production, works oat at f only one-eighth to one-eiath of the eost of "that commodity, taking petrol at Is 2d a gallon. | One of the objections in the early t rlays to internal combustion engines ! worked oa producer gas for road purposes was that the motor originally de- , *:gncd for petrol gave 10 to 15 per cent. (less power when operating on ga«. With properly-designed engines and snprehargera, a given-sized engine pro- ' doling 100-h.p. from petrol would, it iit h»'ld, produce the same amount of j power from gas at one-sixth to oaej eighth of the fuel eost. | In addition to being-safe and ©conomii ral, this new fuel can be handled and I stored as easily aa raw eoal or coke. ! Another important thing in its favour is that it is a home product.