New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-03-05
ALCOHOL A GOOD FUEL.
SHOWS POWER INCREASE.
Gasoline Days Are Numbered, Ac-
cOrding to DIR. Lucke.

The day Of the smell in automobiling is past.
According to the report of DR.. Charles F. Lucke.
assistant professor of mechanical engineering
at Columbia University, who has been conduct
ing for the United States government a series
Of tests on alcohol a fuel for gas engines.
20 per cent increase of power may be attained
by the of alcohol. DR.. Lucke believes that
| alcohol on account of its greater safety and it's
adaptabiIity the work. is likely 70 Supplant
gasolene as a fuel for boats Immediately while
in the case Of automobiles those who arc will
ing to pay little more may rid themselves for
ever OF the offensive Odor Of gasoIene. at the
same time having fuel that Is much easier to
handle, safer 10 store. and which will give an
equal speed
DR.. Lucke predicts that in time. as kerosene
and its diStiliateS become ScarCer and dearer by
reason of the exhaustion OF natural deposits.
aIcohoi may entirely suppIanJ the kerosene ana
gasOlene engines.
The results of Dr. Lucke's experiments are
made public in Bulletin No. 277 Just issued by
the Department Of Agriculture which gives also
the results Of experiments conducted by ) n.
Woodward, United States irrigation engineer.
whose results coincide with those reached by
the Columbia professor. The report first takes
! up the comparative cost of energy in different
Iuels. II is found that gasolene selling for
minimum price Of 10 cents a gallon will give
| 100000 British thermal units dollar eXpend-
| ed while estimating the cost of alcohol at 80
| cents gallon, it will give 10000 heat units
/ a dollar. DR.. LuCke has made known his
suits on the assumption that alcohol fuel has the
same thermal efficiency as gasOlene-thaI is, 10
! per cent for fair working conditions. DR.. Lucke
then finds that for each horsepower developed
the cost OF alcohol at 30 cents gallon Will be So
while the cost OF sasolene for each horsepower
ranges from 81 20 to SO 40. according as the
price OF the fuel varies from 10 cents 10 80
. cents gallon.
/ The report goes on to show that the degree
/ TO which alcohol will be used depends not 50
much on its cost as its efficiency. one difficulty
that has been met with in making the invesu-
cations is in determining just what the actual
constitution of the denatured alcohol that il is
I
/ free 1t must contain at least 10 per cent OF
methyl alcohol, and may contain more. When
/ IL comes 10 a consideration OF the amount OF
| heat that Will be liberated pound, it IS found
that alcohol would Iiberate IL 800 British
! thermal units, while gasoene hberates 10000
units pound or oil Dr. Locke finds that by
/ slightly changing the character Of the engine
now in use a higher degree Of efficiency may
| be attained. The report concludes as follows:
Any engine on the market to-day operating
with gasolene or kerosene can operate with al
COhOl fuel without any structural change what
ever with proper manIpula ton.
Alcohol contains approximately 06 Of the
heating value OF gascene by weight and In
the departments experiments is times as much
alcohol as gaSolene a horsepower hour. This
corresponds very closely with the relative heat
| ing value Of the fuels, indicating practically
| vapoTizatiOn IS complete.
! In some cases carburetors designed for gaso-
| lene do not vaportze all the alcohol supplied.
sUmed is greater than indicated above
The absolute excess Of alcohol consumed over
I BdbOlene OF kerosene VIII De reduced by such
! changes as Will increase the thermal efficiency
| Of the engine.
The thermal efficiency of these engines can be
! improved when they are TO be operated by al
| cOhol. just by altering the construction of the
| carburetor 10 accomplish complete vapOriza-
/ ton, and second by increasing the compression
/ very materially.
| An engine designed for gasolene or kerosene
/ can, without any material alterations to adapt
| u 10 alcohol. give slightly more power about
/ 10 per cent? than when operated with gaso-
ene or kerosene. but this increase is at the ex-
pense OF greater consumption OF fuel BY
| alterations designed to adapt the engine TO
| new fuel this excess Of power may be increased
| TO about 20 per cent
! Because OF the increased output without cor
/ responding increase in size, alcohol engines
| should sell for less~a horsepower than gasOIene
1 or kerosene engines of the same class.
! The different designs OF gasolene or kerosene
/ engines are equally well adapted To the
| burning OF alcohol though all may burn it with
fair degree Of success.
/ Storage Of alcohol and its use in engines is
much less dangerous than the use Of gasoIene as
we'll as being decidedly more pleasant
| The exhaust from an alcohol engine is less
/ likely TO be offensive than the exhaust from
/ a gasolene or kerosene engine, although there
will be sonic odor due 10 lubrcating oil and i'm
| perfect combustion If the engine is not skill
/ fully operated.
! II requires no more skill TO operate an alcohol
/ engine than one intended for gasOlene or kero-
/ sene.
! There is no reason to suppose that the cost
| OF repairs and fabrication will be any greater
! for an alcohol engine than for built for
| gasolene or kerosene.
no undue corrosiou OF the interior due 70 the use
/ Of alcohol.
| The fact that the exhaust from the alcohol
engine is not as hot as that from gasOlsne and
| kerosene engines seems 10 indicate that there
| Will be less danger from fire and less possibility
| Of burning the lubricating oil
In localities where there is supply OF cheap
| raw material for the manufacture OF denatured
| alcohol and which are at the same time remote
| from the source OF supply OF gasOlene. alcohol
/ may Immediately compete with gasolene as
( fuel for engines
| II as time goes on kerosene and its distiIates
/ become scarcer and dearer by reason OF
haustion Of natural deposits, the alcohol engine
/ will become a stronger and stronger competitor,
] with possibility that in time it may entirely
| supplant the gasOlene and kerosene engine.
| BY reason of it's greater safety and adaptable
| ity to the work. alcohol should Immediately
| supplant gasolene for in boats.
| BY reason OF cleanliness in handling the fuel.
! Increased safety in fuel storage and less often
siveness I'm the exhaust. alcohol engines will in
! part displace gasOlene engines for automobile
| work, but only when the cost OF fuel for opera
/ ton is a subordinate consideration
In most localities II IS unlikely that alcohol
/ power will be cheaper than cheap gaSO-
| iene power for some time to come