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 to Alexander Duckham & Co Ltd. questioning the dissolving rate of their 'Adcoids' petrol additive.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 146\1\ scan0239 | |
| Date | 21th April 1938 | |
| Sr.4/ST.21.4.38 Levallois Levallois-Perret, 21st April, 1938. Messrs. Alexander DUCKHAM & Co Ltd., Holyport Road, Fulham, LONDON S.W. 6. Dear Sirs, Whilst not having yet sufficient information to give you concerning the mechanical state of the engine which we are running with the addition of Adcoids in the petrol, as we have not dismantled the unit, we should be interested to have your explanations on the following point: The undersigned recently decided to place one of your Adcoids in some petrol to see how it dissolved; 24 hours later the Adcoid was still floating about the petrol and only showed signs of beginning to dissolve: in other words, whitish looking flecks were beginning to detach themselves. We thought that perhaps the swishing of the petrol in the tank of a moving car might have some effect on the dissolving of the Adcoids and we therefore instructed one of our Salesmen to place an Adcoid in a thin piece of gauze and hang it with a string in the tank of his car; 24 hours later, with the car in continuous use all the time, the Adcoid had not yet dissolved. I went still further and decided to place an Adcoid in each of the various grades of petrol we use, and found that the same conditions prevailed. I am now wondering what happens when, after putting 100 litres of petrol into the tank with the addition of 10 Adcoids, we run for say 5 hours on a fast Continental road, then having to replenish the tank with the addition of another 10 Adcoids, and so on and so forth. Shall I get to the point where there will be more Adcoids than petrol in the tank?! This, however, is a secondary point; but as Adcoids seem to take such a long time to dissolve (if they ever do, which | ||