The Home Production of Motor Spirit.
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Extensive Rectified Benzol Plants are Being Erected in Great Britain.
The price of petrol, at the present time, is, of course, already on the high side, and the business manipulations of the undertakings controlling the production of spirit of foreign origin are calculated to force it still higher in the near future. There seems but little hope of an improvement in this direction, excepting it be by virtue of the successful exploitation of alternative fuels, and of these benzol is the most promising competitor so far. Its use as a fuel for internal-combustion engines is of course, not new, but there have been drawbacks in regard to its employment in this way, and, in consequence, it has not been adopted to any very large extent as an alternative to the lighter spirits.
Our sister journal " The Motor has, on behalf of the pleasure-car owning public, been devoting an amount of time and spate in recent issues to the consideration of the .problm of an alternative fuel, and, in the course of its inquiries, it has investigated the steps which are now actually being taken to provide this country with an adequate supply of benzol which shall be suitable for use in the internal-combustion engines of self-propelled vehicles.
A Large Plant in the Potteries.
Already, a vast plant for this purpose has been erected by the Birchenwood Colliery Co., of Kidsgrove, and at the present time, the output of a spirit, which appears to have a great future before it in connection with the whole of the motor industry, is being proceeded with on a very large scale. The benzol produced by the Kidsgrove plant is practically pure, and shows no trace of the impurities which have been a detrimental feature of the ordinary commercial benzol, with which experiments have so far, as a rule, been conducted. In particular, the absence of sulphur impurities is, we are told, most noticeable.
More Miles per Gallon.
The specific gravity of the new fuel is .883, whilst its calorific value is 18,500 B.T.U. per lb. Taking into account the greater weight qua bulk, the thermal efficiency of the new fuel should be considerably in advance of that of ordinary petrol. Prolonged tests carried out in connection with the producer's orga.ni
zation, have indisputably proved that the new benzol yields a greater mileage per gallon, in certain cases this amounting to an increase of 25 per cent.
Less Complex Constituents.
Pure benzol, during fractional distillation, begins to come over at 80 degrees C., and 100 per cent. of the product is yielded at 81 degrees C. In the case of petrol, however, the distillation starts at 50 degrees C., and is not completed until at least 135 degrees C. This difference in regard to distillation points to the fact that the new spirit is of more simple composition than is the ordinary commercial petrol. It is, in fact, pure benzine, we are told. Petrol consists of a mixture of numerous hydrocarbons of varying composition, and also different boiling points.
An Opening for a Distributor.
As to the immediate development in regard to possible distribution and sale of fuel similar to that which is now being produced at Kidsgrove, it has to be remembered that there are considerable important obstacles in the way of development. Primarily, the whole of the many hundreds of thousands of gallons output, of which the present plant illustrated herewith is capable, is disposed of for many purposes other than for use in internal-combustion engines. There is, however, no reason why any combination of users should not make a bid for the production of this plant, or for that of several others which are being erected in competition with the users of other classes, notably with aniline dye works. That some such enterprise is desirable, there is little doubt.
For Submarines and Battleships.
From Germany we hear that developments in connection with the production of this fuel are proceeding anace, and not the least of the uses in that country to which this new fuel is to be put is its employment in connection with internal-combustion engines by the German Admiralty. A large part of the Kidsgrove product at nresent goes to France. but the recent tax on benzol in that country may affect this channel.