The Washington herald., 1921-03-06
PALM OIL TESTS
ASMOTORFUEL
PROVESUCCESS
Displace Mineral Oils in
Belgian Kongo
Engines.

- SoFtco VI c4PoNlhhOhNo hSoSA -
1914, but Interrupted BY the war,
has recently been resumed In Brus-
sells on the use Of palm oil in In
ternal-cembustion motors. says =
report from United States Trade
Commissioner Samuel II. Cross, at
Brussels. The question of motor
fuel in the Belgian kongo Is seri-
Gus one, since a ton of crude oil de-
livered at Kinshasa in metal casks
has an estimated price of 1000
francs, as against 1850 francs in
Brussels. Palm oil, on the other
hand, costs on the native market an
average Of Is centimes per kilo, but
varies In price between 5 and 20
centimes. The calorific power OF
palm oil II. from 2oNto as per cent
less than that of crude oil. SO that
q relatively larger consumption Of
palm oil must be reckoned with,
while the comparatively high tenn
perature at which palm oil fuses cat
degrees CD indicates the possibility
OF rapidly clogging the motor.
According to engineers closely
connected with the experiments,
without constructing q special palm
OIL IuOLoIt WhB hGCGoo1Ay " Ahu
a machine in which complete COM
bustion IL assured by a complete
vaporization of the fuel. which
should be introduced in a quantity
strictly proportionate to the load. It
was further essential that the gas
eous mixture should be constant and
capable of regulation by a supply
Of water. varying according to the
load and the amount OF oil being fed
in. Thorough clearing of the ex-
haust gases was also q requisite.
Swedish Motor Satisfactory.
The Belgian colonial company.
Omnium African, has been success
full in finding q two-cycle semi
Diesel motor of Swedish manufac-
ture developing 10 horsepower at
500 revolutions per minute which
satisfies these conditions, and. mo-
tors of larger and smaller sizes or
the same character have been run
on palm oil with good results with
out special changes for the use OF
the new fuel. The palm oil, which
at normal winter temperatures In
Belgium has about the consistency
of soft butter or lard. is placed in
a tank divided into three compart-
ments by wire screening. As this
tank is heated either through the
circulation of hot water from the
cooling system or other mechanical
means, the palm oil liquefies and
passes through the screening to the
feed pipe leading to the injection
pump.
For experimental purposes this
motor Is started on crude oil. Once
1t has warmed up. and as soon as
the palm oil begins to liquefy. the
crude oil Is turned of. so that the
engine then runs on palm oil ex-
clusively with no slackening of the
number of revolutions or of the
power produced. At the tempera-
lures prevailing in the Kongo, en-
gineers claim that this motor could
be Immediately started on palm oil,
and 1t is proposed to install motors
OF this type on launching and other
small river craft, as well as to con-
duct further experiments for their
use in industry and traction. Analy-
sis shows that there are no incom-
bustible components in palm oil.
and. contrary to general expecta-
ton, the oil neither clogs the motor
nor leaves any percepuble solid
In case further development of
this fuel proves practicable, 1t will
simplify the fuel problems not only
of the Belgian Kongo, but also Of
other colonial domains remote from
mineral fuel, and where the use OF
wood only entails much extra labor
and other difficulties connected with
the various heating capacities OF
the woods used. to say nothing Of
the risk OF indiscriminate defor-
estation. The French ministry OF
colonies has conducted experiments
with peanut oil. and in July, 1920.
the Belgian ministry of colonies an
nounced a competition of tractors
run on vegetable oils produced in
the Kongo. but only one contestant
put in an appearance.
Source In Africa.
The Elseis palm, from the pulp
of the fruits Of which this oil Is ex-
tracted, grows in Africa from Sene-
gal to Angola in a north and south
direction, and as far east as the
great lakes. The oil of this tree
has been heretofore exported from
the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Nige-
ria, Guinea. the Ivory Coast. Daho-
mey, Togoland, CAMERON, Angola.
and the Belgian Kongo.
According to analyses by Belgian
chemists. palm oil is a mixture OF
paImitate and oleate of glycerine,
with some variable quantities OF
palmitic and oleic acid. 1t contains
about 95 per cent of fatty acids and
appears as pasty substance Of yell
lowish or salmon color. Its calorifc
t. - gnV
(Berthelot- -Mahler), and 1t is in
fiammable at 21o degrees c. 1t
thus possesses the advantage of be-
ing widely grown and easily. obtain
able, of large caloriflc power in
small volume, of safety in handling.
and of having no damaging effects
nm rnachinaru In which IL Is used.