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Liquid Fuel From Waste Coal Product

2nd December 1939
Page 41
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Page 41, 2nd December 1939 — Liquid Fuel From Waste Coal Product
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ASPECIAL fuel and a carburetter to use it with are products of Carbohydrol, Ltd., Star Works, Lymin, near Warrington. The former is not a liquid of the paraffin or vaporizing-oil type, derived from petroleum, although resembling these in certain respects, and the latter is not a vaporizer depending upon heat for its functioning.

Carbohydrol is the name' of the fuel as well as of the company. We understand that it is a coal product made from certain waste tar distillates and the inventor informs us that it can be produced—in satisfactory form for use in automobile engines—with flash points below 73 degrees F. or above 150 degrees F., and, therefore, is outside the scope of the Order made in October prohibiting the use of vaporizing oils as fuel for road veNcles. Nevertheless, the issuing of this Order would appear to have impeded the development and use of a home product that the Order, one wOuld imagine, was never intended to restrict.

The carburetter is called the Roton, and it renders this fuel suitable for vaporization and combustion in the cylinders when the engine is at normal working temperature.

This instrument has two' float and mixing chamber, with a common throttle valve .and induction-pipe connection. ' On the one side, petrol mixture is delivered and on the other the special liquid is atomized and mixed with air.

Each system is entirely separate from the other, the valve closing, off one before the other is opened. In this connection a point of great importance is that all idling is on petrol. As a result the risk of liquid fuel entering the cylinders, passing the pistons and diluting the lubricating oil is practically eliminated, because the heavier fluid, virtually, is supplied only when the gas speed is high enough to ensure complete atomization.

Control is by an accelerator pedal of orthodox design and functioning except for this major difference. In' addi

tion to the downward moveinent giving thrOttle opening upward motion from the ticking over position also opens the throttle—but to the other carburetter.

It can be arranged either way ; that is, downwards to accelerate on petrol and upwards on Carbohydrol, or vice versa but whichever be chosen, the heavier fuel is not supplied until the valve begins to open materially. When driving one starts up with the pedal in the neutral position where it is normally held by the spring, gets the vehicle into motion and probably up to a moderate speed by using the petrol system and then moves the foot, placing the toe under the pedal, if that be the arrangement, and works the accelerator the other way. Of course, before changing over, the engine requires to be well warmed up.

There is no difficulty about this way of manipulating (or rather pedipulating) the control, and the advantage is that it is a foolproof scheme, demanding no mental effort nor extra operation like working a separate change-over valve If the attempt to run on Carbohydrol be made too soon— before the engine is hot enough or has obtained sufficient r.p.m.—it simply fades away, so the driver is compelled to go back to petrol.

Vaporization is promoted mechanically rather than by heat. There are five air ducts that come into action at various phases of the compensating passage, and the emulsified fuel mixture impinges on to a small, round rod positioned vertically, as it is discharged into the choke tube. Consequently it is delivered into the induction manifold in a state well suited for complete vaporization at the temperatures prevailing in the combustion chamber.

There is no jacketed vaporizer, maintained nearly at red heat, which reduces the density of the mixture and, therefore, diminishes the heat value of the charge.

The inventor claims that there is a definite increase of power as compared with petrol, and that consumption improves by at least 30 per cent. He quotes the case of a Bedford van doing 15 m.p.g. on petrol and 25.4 m.p.g. on Carbohydrol, and gives 0.613 lb.. as the consumption per b.h.p.-hr.

Chemists will appreciate his statement as to the composition of

the fuel. Certain aromatic and hydro-aromatic products of the distillation of coal tar, he informed us, are made suitable for use as internal-combustion-engine fuels, by increasing the degree of unsaturated hydrocarbons and the oxygen content. This is effected by the addition of certain unsaturated aliphatic compounds, for example, derivatives of substituted butadienes of the general formula C„811„02, together with the nitrogenous and sulphur-containing compounds such as C71-117N, whereby the flash point is lowered.

Arrangements, we understand, are being made for the production and distribution of Carbohydrol which will be sold at a figure that will represent a substantial economy as compared with petrol.

Protracted tests have revealed that the fuel has no harmful effect upon the engine, a specific case being quoted in which a 14 h.p. car was dismantled after 10,000 miles on Carbohydrol and revealed less wear than might have been expected with petrol.

It is of interest that the development of this fuel and the Roton carburetter was commenced many years ago, and was not embarked upon as a war-time measure, but obviously the present petrol position has much increased the importance and value of these two inventions.

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