Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-27
S1O0,O(O,O)D SAVED
| IN FUEL RESEARCH
Dr.. H. c. Dickinson Tells of
/ Results OF Experiments
of Four Years.

Motorists are saving 500. e0a. e0o
yearly on their gasoline bills as a
result of the cooperative fuel re
search that has been carried on for
the past four years. according to DIR,
H. C. Dickinson of the United states
Bureau of Standards, who reviewed
the experiments before the annual
meeting of the Society of Automotive
Engineers.
A billion more gallons Of fuel that
Is disable in automotive engines now
is available from the same quantity
of crude oil, DR.. Dickinson said. He
ascribed this as due to determining
by tests the properties and grades of
gasoline suitable for internal combus-
ton engines and to notifications In
motor designs to make them operate
better on the kinds of fuel available
in the larger quantity.
Oil Contamination Saving.
The extra gasoline thus disable is
worth $150,000. 200 a year, and has
kept the price of motor fuel from in
crea sing materially. notwithstanding
consumption has increas ed tremen-
dously as the number of motor We
hicles in use has multiplied during the
last four years.
Another huge saving to motorists,
said DR.. Dickinson. has been effected
through research into the causes and
avoidance of contamination of lubri-
eating oil in engine crankca ses, Sew
erAl hundred million gallons of oil are
used annually in automotive engines,
and half of this consumption can be
avpided by the use of air-cleaners. oil
filters and crankcase ventilators.
S-h On
automobiles. These keep out large
percentage of dirt and dilution and
remove from the oil in the crankcase
rness Of the dirt. carbon. water and
urhurned gasoline that find their way
into il from the cylinders past the
plstons
The co-operative fuel research was
begun in 1929. when the National
Antonsobiie Chamber of Commerce
and the American Petroleum Institute
provided a Joint fund 10 be admins
ssfed hv the Society of Automotive
Engineers for research to be con-
sycsAs hv the United States Bureau
Of Standards The first undertaking
wsS 10 determine what grade of
gasoline gives the greatest number Of
es---sslss Ter barrel Of crude petro-
iszra used IN ies production.
Study Of Dilution.
From zhs results obtained 1t was
rc-c1p5a5 that the number of car
xnsses per gallon IS not dependent
Ean- sAa volatility Of the fuel. and
-AA- -.ss heaviest fuel that can be
used IS the mast economical: that
EEsolara consumption is somewhat
greater re- carEnste IN Winter than
In Su-- as~- that dilution of oil in the
g "a SkA hncETAr . nj
less volatile the fuel is. and that it
Il much greater in cold weather than
N warm weather: and that small
differences in initial volatility of the
fuel have a large effect on engine
starting.
Consequently, it was decided that.
while economy dictates the use of as
heavy fuel as possible, a practical
limit in this respect is set by the
dilution of the crankcase oil and the
difficulty Of starting. Therefore.
careful study of dilution was con-
Quoted for nearly two years.
Tests of engine starting as affected
by different fuel properties have been
under way for more than a year.
with a view to determining what
changes IN fuel will be needed to give
the same starting ability In cold
weather as in warm weather.
Modification of Design.
The results show how an engine
design can be modified to improve
starting, and what fuel characteristics
are required for easy starting at any
engine temperature. Fuels that differ
only little from others that give
only 90 starts per gallon at 80 degrees
Fahrenheit will give five times as
many starts at the same temperature.
The public already is getting con-
siderable benefit from this work,
through avoidance of higher gasoline
prices, lower oil consumption, longer
engine life, and increased engine
power resulting from higher engine
compression. These benefits will grow
as the knowledge gained is applied to
the designing of engines and the pro-
duction of fuel and lubricants. An
even more important result of the
research, however. has been the bring
ing together of the automotive and
oil industries in a common study to
adapt the engines and the fuels and
oils to each other to give the most
economical and generally satisfactory
operation of motor vehicles, DR..
Dickinson concluded.