ALCOHOL AS FUEL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VII, Issue 2031, 18 August 1920, Page 3

ALCOHOL AS FUEL.

HOW IT CAN BE USED. ADVANTAGES OVER PETROL. Alcohol is a spirit which is inexhaustible for all time! The motorists of the Dominion owe a debt to Mr D. Jones, M.i\ for Kaiapoi, for bringing this fact into prominence in exerting his energies in the House of Representatives in the direction of securing an investigation of the possibilities of manufacturing alcohol from potatoes. In 1918, Dr .1. S. Maclaurin (Dominion Analyst) said that one gallon of petrol is equal to, approximately, one gallon of absolute alcojiql, when each is used in an engine designed for its own class of fuel. One ton of potatoes should produce approximately 27 gallons of alcohol, at a then cost of about 6d per gallon for manufacture. Working on that basis, Dr 0. .T. Reakas (DirectorGeneral of Agriculture) stated in a report recently furnished to the Hon. W. Nosworthy (Minister of Agriculture):— "A ton. of potatoes should therefore produce, at a cost of 20/;! for manufacture (allowing 50 per cent, increase in cost over 1918), alcohol worth the price of 27 gallons of petrol, or, say, £4 19/-, taking the retail price of petrol at 3/8 per gallon. That is to say, alcohol from a ton of potatoes should give a net return of £3 18/9, less the cost of potatoes delivered at the factory, aud less the cost of selling. This return would not, in my opinion, enable the grower to obtain a sufficient price for the potatoes on his farm to warrant his producing them for the purpose of being used as raw material for the manufacture of alcohol. The matter is, however, of great importance, and I therefore propose to go into it more fully, in the light of conditions now existing." The Minister of Customs (Hon. Sir William Herries) ■ has informed Mr Jones that his department will not place any obstacle in the way of manufacture of commercial alcohol from potatoes. Hard Facts. There are strong facts at the back of Mr Jones's idea .which is not new, but which deserves all the "boosting" that the motorists of the country can put behind it. Mr Jones, as a motorist, knows the future worth'of the project. Alcohol differs from other liquid fuels iu that it is not obtained from deposits in the earth, but is produced by fermentation of vegetable matter, such as starch, cellulose, or even peat aud sawdust. Some facts concerning commercial production prove that the manufacture of alcohol, on a basis which would make competition with petrol and benzol possible, is practicable. Tho Standard Alcohol Co. of America has produced the spirit at a cost of 10.8 cents per proof gallon. Iu another case, it is authoritatively said to have been produced, from peat, at a cost of 3d per proof gallou, while iu Switzerland an installation capable of dealing with 7500 to 10,000 tons per annum produced the spirit at a cost of ]/7£vper gallou of 95 per cent, alcohol, in spite of the fact that the necessary coal for the plant had to be imported at an exceedingly high rate. It is pos-

sible to use a compression pressure of only 701b to 901b per square inch in a petrol engine, without danger of spontaneous ignition. This, it should be explained, is the pressure at which /the : mixture in the cylinder-head would explode without being fired by an electric, spark. The compression ratio possible with the alcohol, however, is in the neighbourhood of 2001b per square inch, since the temperature at which it spontaneously ignites is 595deg. centigrade, as compared with 270deg. centigraife in the case of petrol. Alcohol is very suitable for internal combustion engines, in that it requires a less quantity of air for its combustion. This naturally decreases the proportiou of heat passing out to the exhaust, and increases the thermal efficiency of the engine. An engine of given capacity will generate more power on alcohol than from petrol. A trial was recently made in New South Wales of an alcohol motor fuel, as against petrol. The result, both in power developed and in consumption of fuel, was decidedly in favour of the alcohol fuel, Natalite motor spirit, which it is proposed to manufacture in Australia shortly. On the first run on petrol, 2.2 miles were'covered,, and on the second 2.0, averaging 2.1 miles per

quart. On Ihe first run of Natalite 2.ft miles were covered, on the second 2.55, averaging 2.725 miles per quart. TI\HS the equivalent mileages per gallon were: On Natalite 11.08, and on petrol 8.4. The difference In favour of the alcohol fuel was, therefore, 2.68 miles per gallon.