The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1906-08-18
Alcohol as a Fuel.

in q LARGE increase in the use of
alcohol AZ fuel, especially IN
internal combustion motors Whc,e
gasoline il now usually employed
The probabilities are discussed
editorialIy in the Electrical World
(New York, July y The IN 'rWal
| value of alcohol, if would appear
is nearly one third IS than that
of gasoline. but in spite OF this, its
advantages for the purposes named
above are marked ia some respects
Says the writer.
ut seems to he generally agreed
that in one engine Of given cylinder
dimensions and speed alcohol when
properly used will produce a
greater output than gasollns-In
the opinion of one Of our best
known engine builders, to the eX
te I of some 90 per cent. The
gain is mainly due to the greater
compression at which It IS possible
| to work the alcohol without pro
ducing autoIgnitlon; hence me
greater the explosive action Oh
tanned, the lower the temperature
Of the rejected gases, ana the
higher the thermal efficiency. II
| is understood that with proper
engine the thermal efficiency may
be raised to and above so per cent,
while with gasoline the efficiency
would be nearly 10 per cent lower.
I'm point Of safety, too, the asc0hO'
has a very considerable advantage
in that 1t has very much lower
flashing point than any petroleum
product that can be readily work
ed in an internal combustion en-
CINE. OF course, evencrude petro-
leum can be so used if necessary,
but far less easily than the hydro
carbons Of lower boiling point"
Other advantages are that alec
hol burns with Il pale blue flame
with little radiated heat and no
SCOT. It's heat ~ delivered man
ly by convection a. in case Of
Bunsen burner, so that the danger
of Overheating objects near the
flame is lessened; and an alcOho,
fire can put ont with water, be
cause it mixes with the water in
stead of floating on it, as gasoline
does. Again, the OdOr of alcoho,
is inoffensive, while that of gasO
line liz most disagreeable. To
quote further:
$50 much for a alcohol IN the
open air or in storage. In engines
lit works admirably, giving very
clean combustion, of which the
main product Is water vapOr.
Less easily vaporized than gasO-
line, it still is readily enough
managed, and, as we have seen,
gives excellent efficiency. AS to
actual costs in operating alcohol
engines, data differs somewhat.
A few engines have been sent
from this country to Cuba, where
they are worked ON alcohol cost
| ing 10 to II cents PEI gallon for
a spirit quite good enough for the
purpose. At Ibis price gasoline
would be at rather a disadvantage,
assuming equal dynamical value
per gallon. Prior to the passage
Of the recent bill such spirit would
have carried prohibitive tax,
spme "a per gallon. Even now 1t
will have to carry some extra
charge for denaturizlng. Wood
spirit, much used for this purpose,
is much more expensive than the
alcohol itself; any pyridine, tho
other substance considerably usued
for 'denaturizing,' is far from
cheap and has a most infamous
OdOr.
Evidently there il room for
improvement in the process Of
denaturlzation, and the time before
the bill goes INTO effect can be
utilized to good purpose in work
ing over the problem. Even using
wood spirit for the purpose still
leaves a fair margin of cost III favor
of alcohol when the manufacture
gets fairly under way.
nAll sorts Of vegetable waste,
such as refuse from the beet-sugar
process, can be utilized for alcohol
making, as well "a surplus gram
in times Of exceptions crops 20