Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1917-01-02
ALCOHOL IS FUEL
OF THE FUTURE
Expert Declares 1t Will Prove
Satisfactory Substitute
for Gasolene.
CAN BE MADE CHEAPLY

vehicles doing duty in the United
States, from ! ,0OO,00O,000 to 100000
900 gallons of gasolene have to be
provided annually to keep them rum
ming. There are unmistakable signs
that the production OF this enormous
volumes of gasolene will become in
creasingly difficult and as con-
sequence there is in the minds Of
many automobile engine students the
vague thought that gasolene, while the
fuel of today, may have to give way
to some other product tomorrow. In
this connection it is comforting to
know that there is substance al
ready we'll known which can take the
place of gasolene and run these auto
mobiles Just as efficiently, and per-
haps more so, according to Bernard
N. Click, M. Sc, who is making a
study of motor car fuels for The
Automobile.
The substance that thus stands out
predominantly as the fuel of the
future is alcohol This product has
long since passed the stage where
its suitability was questionable, the
only thing retarding its adoption
being its high price, due to the raw
materials now used and the limited
use to which it is put at present.
With growing demand, such as. will
arise when the price of gasolene be-
comes abnormally high, we antici-
pate search for cheaper methods
of production and for raw materials
which will give it in sufficient
amounts to meet the enormous de-
mand that will exist for suitable
fuel for internal combustion engines:
The question Of the suitability of
alcohol as a source Of power in in
ternal combustion engines has been
sufficiently established by long series
of tests conducted by various groups
OF experiments. The United States
Bureau of Mines has done magni-
hcent work in this direction and
many of the following figures COM
pairing gasolene and denatured alco-
hol are taken from the results of their
painstaking efforts to help solve the
! fuel problem of the future. Although
the calorifc power Of alcohol is little
more than one-half that of gasolene
its greater eficiency-alcohol % per
cent; gasolene 10 per cent-compen-
safes for this. This higher efficiency
! of alcohol is due to various causes,
chief among which are the follow
ing:
! Less Air Required.
/ !. The volume of air required for
complete combustion of alcohol is
only about one-third that required by
gasolene, and thus much less energy
goes away in the exhaust. Moreover,
| this smaller dilution with air enables
a more Pc" : mixture to be formed
with consG .,At more perfect COM
bustion.
2. The alcohol-air mixture can be
safely subjected to pressures of 200
pounds a square inch without spon-
taneous ignition, whereas the safety
limit for gasolene is eighty.
3. All mixtures OF alcohol and air
containing from a to 1876 per cent of
alcohol are explosive, whereas the ex-
plosive range for gasolene is from
to per cent, necessitating much
more careful carbureter adjustment
4. The combustion products of al
cohol are smokeless, almost odorless
and do, not clog up the cylinders and
valves.
The only serious difficulty encoun-
tered would be the starting of the
engine in cold weather and this could
be provided for by carrying a small
auxiliary gasolene tank to be used in
starting.
Raw Materials Abundant.
The possible raw materials for al
cohol production are unlimited, for
anything containing starch, cellulose
or sugar can be utilized. In the case
OF starch we are limited at present
to established crops, and the cost of
the raw material from such substances
as potatoes, maize and rice includes
raising the crop, harvesting it, trans
portation to the distillery and the
final conversion there to alcohol. AS
a consequence the cost of the raw
material is too great. VARYING as it
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