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Royal Show Preparations.

22nd June 1916, Page 1
22nd June 1916
Page 1
Page 2
Page 1, 22nd June 1916 — Royal Show Preparations.
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This year's " Royal " will be in the nature of a skeleton display, so far as the majority of the stands in the Implement Section are concerned. Not a few manufacturers of old-standing and sustained repute will be unable to put any exhibit whatsoever in position. Some will he unable even to attend personally, whilst others will be represented in the flesh, though not in the metal. The Show, in other sections, will possess the usnal attractions for visitors, so far as any function of the kind can, in these times of war stress and loss, be regarded normally, or can approach the normal.

The agrirnotor stands, eight in number, with which we deal in the course of a brief forecast, and to which we shall return more fully in our issue of next week, are outstanding exceptions, and that iS because the manufactures here installed have escaped the ban of the Ministry of Munitions. A few well-known names in the internal-combustion-engine world, such as Petters of Yeovil, are missing because they were not able to certify the completion of their intended exhibits by the critical 6th of April last, which date was the final one to receive the sonction of the Ministry of Munitions in respect of participation at the "Royal."

The case for the wider use of mechanical aids in agriculture is becoming stivonger as the war progresses. The transport needs of the country, for distribution on common roads, are certainly not deserving of more serious attention at the hands of the motor industry than are the power needs of the farmer. When horses fail—as they must fail for years to come—to meet the demand for them, there can be recourse to but one alternatiw, and that is mechanical power. These three important subjects —(1) " Lancashire's Transport Needs," (2) "Mechanical aids to agriculture," and (3) "When horses fail "—will be treated at appropriate length in our issue of next week, as part of our considerable programme to inform the agricultural, commercial, manufacturing and shipping communities in Lancashire and Yorkshire of the mannerAin which their present and prospective difficulties can be largely relieved by motor transport and power.

We have pleasure in announcing that our issue of next week will also contain a special article hy Mr. Geo. W. Watson, M.Inst.Mech.E., M.Inst.A.E. (Consulting Engineer, Munitions Mechanical Transport, Ministry of Munitions), entitled "Feed Water and Cooling Water—The Importance of Cleanliness in Relation to Efficiency." Readers who have not yet placed regular instructions with newsagents will do well, to book copies in • advance, as, notwithstanding our provision for increased sales in connection with the Royal Show, they may otherwise be disappointed.

'two-fuel Carburetters and FiA:tings.

Article No. VI of our series dealing with "Twofuel carburetters and fittings " appears in this issue. We are hopeful of including at early dates additional examples of types which are manufactured. either fok general sale or by "particular chassis-Makers for supply to their own customers. Everybody in the industry must be roused to the fact that the two-fuel proposition has to be encouraged. There is no time for any more sleep or slumber in regard to it. Petrol supplies have already practically ceased for particular branches of motoring, and they may at any moment similarly be cut off from others. A two-fuel carburetter or fitting is the solution, and we should be betraying the trust which is reposed in us by so many users of commercial motors if we did not emphasize our conviction, and repeat it. We certainly intend to do both, and to continue advocating the two-fuel carburetter as a type, until those who might otherwise ignore it err spared the consequences of their own apathy.

We have pleasure in recording. one indication ol the direction in which matters are developing. We refer to additional private intimations, which have reached us during the past week, concerning the definite intentions of well-known makers of cora• reercial motors so to equip the whole of their future output, when in due time it becomes available for delivery, to commercial buyers. Not, a few chassismakers, of course, have not at the moment made up their minds as to which two-fuel carburetter or fitting' they will standardize, but they have accepted and adopted the principles of using one. The claims of the Binks " anti-pinker," which cylinder-dominating fitting was illustrated and described in our issue of last week, are at present giving rise to much discussion in motoring circles generally. We have so far only examined its bearing upon the "Control of compression," and we-now have to point out that it in practice allows, yet chains, detonative eXplosion of the paraffin vapour. We cannot, perhaps, do better than quote the words of Mr. J. H. Lester, M.Sc., from last week's issue of our sister journal "The Motor." He writes on this point :—" The simplicity. and effectiveness of Mr. Binks's ' anti-pinker ' appeal to me even more strongly than the vaporizer. I mention the 'antipinker' to show the means whereby it affects its purpose in the light of Dr. Watson's theory as to the cause of 'pinking.' Unlike benzole, the paraffin or petrol fuels exhibit a low critical point of temperature or pressure, above which point the character of the explosion becomes what may be better called a detonation. This detonative explosion produces, of course, much higher pressure than the ordinary explosion, but the pressure lasts so short a time that it is more like hitting the piston with a hammer than pressing it down all the way to the bottom of the stroke. Now we can quite see that if a pocket of inert exhaust gas is provided, it will act as a cushion or spring, absorbing the ' peak ' of the pressure and returning this pressure to the piston gradually. . My own very different experiences with petrol, benzole, and petrol-paraffin mixtures in respect of 'pinking,' possibly make me more appreciative of the ' anti-pinker ' than I should have been if I had confined myself to. paraffin."

One condition . Preeedent to the satisfactory employment of paraffin in any internal-cOmbustion engine is complete vaporization. When this is not achieved, lubrication troubles arise in the engine, due to the dilution of the lubricating oil with nonlubricating paraffin, as has been found in past years by motorbus companies and other proprietors of eomnaer&al vehicles. The risk of impairing the efficiency of any lubrication system must be removed, for this consideration is one of real moment to the user. A vaporizing coil, preferably in conjunction with a hot mixture-box, is not to be disregarded lightly as part of any two-fuel system. The virtual " squirting " of paraffin into the cylinder can only lead to trouble, by reason of the inevitable thinning of the lubricating medium, first of all between the . piston-rings and the cylinder-wall, and later on throughout the entire circulation. The inlet gases must be kept hot, or the admissible percentage of paraffin in the lubricating oil will become too high, owing to incomplete vaporization or early condensation. We may add that Mr. Lester places the limit of admixture of paraffin with thick lubricating oil at one in ten before detrimental effects begin to assert themselves.

We are interested to gather that the Binks " antipinker " can be used, under licence from the inventor, apart from his carburetter and vaporizer. The addition of a " pocket " to cylinder design is, at first sight, contrary to the known rules of elementary design. Internal-combustion-engine designers and makers abhor the " pocket " as nature does a vacuum, but for different reasons. They fear irregularity of behaviour, due for example to flame-lag. A "pocket" of slowly-burning gas, it is conceivable, might ignite the incoming charge on the suction stroke, and so "completely upset the cycle. This cannot occur, it is obvious, when the firing points are in the. " pocket " itself. This external means of controlling compression and neutralizing detonation is free of the known objections to a "pocket." The device which Mr. Binks has slowly perfected is also accessible and quickly removable for inspection and cleaning if necessary. The fact that it can confer its own peculiar Merits on anybody's engine, subject to observance of certain laws and data in respect of accurate proportioning, is one that promises to enable Mr. Binks to do his share—and no small one— in helping the industry as a whole.

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Organisations: Ministry of Munitions

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