The Washington herald., 1921-09-04
CLAIMS AUTO FUEL
PROBLEMS SOLVED
FOR TWENTY YEARS
No Fundamental Change
To Come in Present
q Engines.
Can USE COAL GAS
Preheating Devices Will Inn
- prove Motors
- Power.
CAN USE COAL GAS


the automotive industry during the
1axt twenty years Is a burning
duestfon." we have the brains, and
out making any fundamental change
IN the present type Of internal COM
bdstion engine.
orAtory workers there is being de-
eSloped a means of converting the
waste products of the farm into
cheap liquid. and brjquette fuel.
Straw Is the material most widely
experimented with at the present
time At the University of Kansas
professor. has derived a clean dis
tfllate from straw. which operated
an automobile. 1t Is estimated that
this source of fuel when properly
developed into an industry. will de-
liver a good motor fuel at a cost
below the present price of gasoline.
In spite of the fact that motor
fuel is comparatively cheap and
pientiful at the present time, never
theless the fuel problem still ex-
fsts and will hold up its head again.
In these circumstances the car
owner will be glad to know that
there is no likelihood that motor
fuel will ever run out. Even IL our
supply Of petroleum ran suddenly
dry there would still be hope, AND
here is the story.
Our so-called gasoline of today
contains much of what formerly
went into kerosene. Undoubtedly
further improvement along this line
will be perfected. so that our an
nual supply of gasoline will be in
creased, even though the production
sf crude oil should fall off. In the
second place by employing more ex-
tensively devices for heating the
motors fuel on its way to the COM
bustion chamber we can get more
power from the gas: in other words
make a given quantity do more
work.
Alternative Fuels.
But even supposing that in spite
OF all efforts our gasoline supply
should prove inadequate to our
saeeds. still there remain certain
alternative fuels, which will serve
to keep the motors of America turn
ing. To begin with. we have kero-
sene and distillate derivatives of
crude oil, which are in some use now
as motor fuel From coal We get
the great advantage Of being de-
rived from a base independent OF
crude oil. This applies also to al
cohol, which We get from a number
of sources. Finally we may utilize
steam as the direct active power.
employing kerosene or another
heavier fuel to generate IL.
To utilize kerosene as an engine
fuel no essential change in design
of our present motors would have
to be made. Certain minor details
would have to be altered, a different
carburetor would have to be in
stalled and some efficient method of
pre-heating the fuel would have to
be universally used. Kerosene car
buretors are already a practical de-
velopment, and 1t only needs a suf-
ficient demand to produce scores CT
these instruments efficient enough
to meet the demands. Distillate is
much used on the Pacific Coast, par
ticularly by motor trucks. Crude
oil is the ordinary fuel of engines
of the Diesel type, and possibly the
future may hold some development
along these lines for the automo-
bfle field
Fuel From Coal
The great advantage of the fuels
Deriving from coal is the prodigious
supply Of that base which is now in
sight. Whereas the present known
supply of crude oil at the present
rate of consumption will be ex-
hausted in less than twenty years,
the coal supply is almost unlimited.
Benzol at the present time in this
country Is prohibitively high in cost.
This 10 . by-produce of coal, result
ing In the manufacture of anilines,
coke, etc. When we have developed
our dye-making industry to the
point that Germany's was before the
war we shall have benzol in plenty
but TO use up coal to make benzol
alone makes the cost of the latter
prohibitive.
In England, where every drop of
gasoline that can be imported is
Hssded to drive the machines of war
and commerce. they are using with
much success coal gas as motor fuel
This II carried in ungainly canvas
and rubber containers, which are
NOT ornamental. to put IL mildly
Hecently there has appeared a new
. type OF container taking the form
- sauRage-shaped cylinders, car
rcd on the running-board. They
hold an amount Of gas equal to
about two gallons of liquid gasoline.
This II q totally new development,
and there IL no question that with
experience the containers will be
rade more slightly; In fact methods
OF COMPRISING the gas may be
found 30 that 1t will make 1t just
as easy to use as liquid fuels.
No Carburetor Needed.
no carburetor Is used in feeding
the coal gas to the center. The in
net manifold Is generally tapped for
the gas supply, and the air Is taken
In through the regular passages. A
!. control 10 provided that must be
manipulated according to the needs
pf the engine and when the latter
b stopped the gas must be shut OF.
Provision Is made to prevent back
arfng and ignition of the gas in
. the container. Among the ad-
fantages accruing from the use of
coal gas is the fact that there is
% danger Of this fuel mixing with
the lubricating oil. as sometimes
happens with gasoline. Also. the
eoni gas leaves no watery deposit,
and carbon deposits are much less:
IN fact, this trouble is practically
Eliminated.
The ordinary engine Of today will
burn coal gas without q whimper,
ana II only remains to develop satis-
factory means of carrying tito have
an alternate fuel. beyond reach of
tluetuations Of the crude oil sup
= 49,