From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Letter from Cities Service Oil Company regarding the octane value and properties of alcohol fuel for aviation purposes.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 27a\4\ Scan232 | |
| Date | 22th September 1933 | |
| COPY OF LETTER RECEIVED FROM CITIES SERVICE OIL COMPANY LIMITED, LONDON, W.C.1. Your Ref..ROY{Sir Henry Royce}/GEA.14/EB. Our Ref..ARO/VCG. 22nd,September,1933. Messrs. Rolls-Royce Ltd., DERBY. Dear Sirs, We are in receipt of your letter of the 20th. instant regarding the Octane value of present supplies of our KOOLMOTOR ALCOHOL BLEND, and we beg to advise that this is 84.5 C.F.R. method. In connection with the Octane rating of Alcohol fuel, there is a point which we should like to bring to your attention, namely that the use of an alcohol fuel usually causes an engine to operate at a slightly lower temperature, thereby diminishing the tendency to detonate. In the C.F.R. Engine test, the temperature of the cooling liquid is fixed at 212°F, and therefore this cooler running property of alcohol fuel does not show to advantage. We therefore suggest that in actual practice the anti-knock value may prove slightly higher than would be suggested by the Octane rating as determined on the C.F.R. test engine. Whilst writing, we would suggest another possible advantage of alcohol fuel when used for Aviation purposes at high altitudes. We believe we are correct in stating that occasionally difficulty has been encountered through an accumulation of ice round the interior of the induction, but in view of the fact that small quantities of water are soluble in alcohol fuel, we are of the opinion that this tendency of ice formation would be considerably reduced. We await your further remarks with interest. Yours faithfully, CITIES SERVICE OIL COMPANY LIMITED, Sales Department (Technical). | ||