BLENDED FUEL

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 111, 13 May 1933, Page 15

BLENDED FUEL

ALCOHOL FROM GRAIN

AMERICA AND THE FARMER

Whether the nation's 24,000,000 mo.toi vehicle's shall help to solve the farm problem by burning a fuel blended of gasoline and alcohol, remains a live issue in Washington (says a writer in the New York "Times")- The ques-

tion, he continues, has a nUmber of controversial aspects. The Bill which would require the cpnipounded. fuel to provide a use for surplus grains will be reintroduced in Congress. It was allowed to lapse in the Ways and Means Committee of tho House, to which it was referred in the closing days of last: Congress.' Its sponsor, Eepresentative W. E. Hull, of Illinois, however, intends to submit it again. ,■ • '■'.'■ [-• ; ' ... •■ . ' While representatives of the agricultural viewpoint, including Mr. Henry W. Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture, j favour the proposed enlistment of j motordpm's mighty army in this pro- I jeet of farm relief, objections to it are seen in other quarters in Washington. | These centre, primarily in whether such a blended fuel can be marketed as inexpensively as petrol and whether it is as well suited to 'motor-vehicle use as present fuels. " . \ : The point is not lost sight of that the - petroleum* -refiirers' can and' ha^e pro'duded from oil an alcohol by-product utilisable instead of a grain alcohol in blending with petrol. So that, far from being benefited, the farmer, a heavy consumer, of' petrol, may actually suffer by having to use a costlier mixture from which he gets no roturn. THE PROS AND CONS. At the United States Bureau of Standards, where the suitability of alcohol as a motor fuel has .been thoroughly investigated, it is pointed out that grain or ethyl alcohol can be used as a substitute for "petrol. However, there are certain qualifications to this general statement. Apart from tho matter of comparative cost, these include the following facts:— .Petrol has far superior starting volatility under all circumstances and under certain conditions of cold: weather it might be impossible to start an engine using an alcohol-petrol fuel. Petrol, containing more energy, will drive a motor-vehicle one-third again as far as the same quantity of alcohol. Blends of alcohol and petrol tend to separate and thus affect carburettor performance unfavourably. "Under, certain conditions, fuels containing alcohol may cause corrosion of petrol tanks, fecil lines, and other parts of the fuel induction systeih. These deficiencies are not insurmountable. Federal scientists point out that an alcohol blend fuel is not lacking in advantages. ; ■ When used in the same -engine, petrol and alcohol will deliver about the same maximum horsepower, according to Dr. H. C. Dickinson, chief of the heat and,power, division of the Bureau of Standards and president of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Alcohol, however, , contains less energy than 'gasoline. If, he says, carburettors are set to deliver a maximum of horsepower for each fuel, petrol or alcohol, two gallons of the former will propel the vehicle as far, as three of the latter substance. That ratio of performance, of course, relates not to blends of the two substances but to their use as separate and distinct fuels. There are conditions under which a mixture of the two can bo substituted for the petrol without readjustment of the carburettor and with no sacrifice of economy. For instance, a blend of 5 or 10 per cent, alcohol wouldrendcr the fuel more viscous as well as increase the quantity needed for a given degree of performance. This would have the effect of automatically leaving out the carburettor mixture. 'If the latter happened to be over-rich, as commonly is the case, fuel economy and horse-

power output might be no different for the blended fuel and the natural petrol. Since it" lacks the starting volatility of petrol, the alcohol which thus would be drawn first into the cold engine would cause difficulty in starting. Moreover, alcohol is' hygroscopic —tends to absorb water— and this characteristic might result in carburettor trouble. These effects, Federal research shows, can be minimised by the use of absolutely pure1 alcohol or by the use of such blending agents as ether, acetone, or aroinatics. CHANGE IN METALS. The compulsory use of a fuel composed of alcohol and gasoline would dictate a change in motor-car design to the extent of new materials for gasoline tanks and fuel lines. While presentday cars can use such a fuel without extreme difficulty caused by the effects of corrosion upon gasoline system metals, use of other metals not subject to this effect would be recommended by Federal investigators. One characteristic of alcohol makes it conform excellently to modern engine design. That is its anti-knock quality. An alcohol-petrol blend containing 15 per cent, of the former will improve the knock rating of a fuel by as much as the difference between the average premium and ■ non-premium gasoline. This price differential between the two fuels averages three cents a gallon. The economic no less than the engineering, feasibility of -using an alcohol-petrol fuel has attracted attention in Washington. It is pointed out that to the present cost of producing motor fuel there would be added tire items'of processing and transporting the alcohol and of blending it with the petrol. The prospect, then, is seen as the not unlikely one that motordom might be given a fuel less satisfactory in many aspects of performance and yet one that cost more. . Federal authorities on the subject point out that conditions in America differ from those in other countries in which alcohol-petrol fuels are used by motorists under legal compulsion. There are many such laws in effect in Europe and in South America.' Among countries having them are Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, and Brazil.