WATER IN PETROL.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LVI, Issue 88, 19 November 1935, Page 2

WATER IN PETROL.

RECENT EXPERIMENTS

The use of water as a supplementary fuel to petrol is not a novel idea, and for many years research has proceeded in that direction. Recently demonstrations of a secret fuel were made at Brooklands, when

13 per cent, of tap water was added to other ingredients, and the performance of the car tested was notably better than that secured with ordinary petrol.

It has often been found that engines seem to run better at night, or during foggy or wet weather, a probable explanation being that the humidity of the atmosphere causes better volumetric efficiency, since the density of the mixture drawn into the cylinders is increased.

It might therefore be thought that if it were possible to introduce a proper proportion of water vapour by artificial means, greater power output would be secured, as well as a reduction of petrol consumption. That most likely is the case, and among

experiments which have been made was the use of water instead of oil in an upper-cylinder lubricator. But one of the possible, disadvantages is corrosion. It is now accepted that corrosion due to acids which are the products of combustion is one of the main causes of cylinder wear, and it is not unlikely that the presence of an excessive amount of water in the mixture would aggravate that trouble.