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).
Article discussing the cost and viability of benzol and alcohol as substitutes for petrol.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 32\1\ Scan020 | |
| Date | 22th March 1913 | |
| R.R. 235A THE AUTO MARCH 22, 1913. R.1056. THE SOLUTION OF THE FUEL PROBLEM. III.—A QUESTION OF COST. BENZOL AND ALCOHOL AS PETROL SUBSTITUTES. IN the discussion that has raged around the fuel problem, the need for finding a substitute for petrol has been, so to speak, the last hope and retreat of those unable to see any prospect of the petroleum product being available in future at a lower price than it is at present. As we have remarked already, however, there is nothing like the stimulus of a high market price to bring out competitive enterprise, and those who really desire to see petrol dispossessed of its unrivalled supremacy should wish nothing better than a continuance of the present rates. There are, it seems, two "schools" in evidence at the moment. One would have the country awake to the virtues of alcohol. The other swears by benzol. In some respects the arguments of both sides fail to carry conviction in so far as the substitutes they advocate may be advanced as complete solutions of the difficulty of supplying the British motorist with a cheap fuel. This, we take it, is the sort of solution most motorists want, but, frankly, we doubt if they will ever again realise their dreams. It is difficult, of course, to say anything definite as to the question of the cost of production and delivery, for with the exception of the 3d. tax and the 2d. commission to the agents, there is no charge that cannot be doubled or eliminated by a little genius in book-keeping. Thus, freight to-day stands at a figure in the order of 3/4d., and distribution is charged at 4 1/2d., which gives the following cost to the consumer if he is given the petrol itself for nothing :— s. d.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} Overseas freight ... ... ... 0 3/4 per gallon Inland distribution ... ... ... 0 4 1/2 " " Government tax ... ... ... 0 3 " " Agent's profit ... ... ... 0 2 " " ------- 1 1 " " That is to say, we have a charge of 1s. 1d. a gallon and still no petrol. It is, of course, all very well to say that freight was once 1 3/4d. and that the 4 1/2d. distribution probably includes a halfpenny for advertising. But, the enterprising individual who tried to bring petrol from abroad in the same quantities, and to distribute it with the same thoroughness as is now needed to enable the motorist to replenish his tank in any remote district of England, Ireland or Scotland, might well find it difficult to effect much economy in the existing transaction. In any case, motorists have demanded the convenience of being able to replenish their tanks in odd places, and have called into existence a vast vested interest in 2-gallon cans, and the vast general machinery of distribution which is not lightly to be dismissed. It would doubtless be all the same to the distributors, however, if they supplied benzol or alcohol instead of petrol. The motorist would presumably pay as much for the convenience of being able to obtain it anywhere as he does now. Those who have studied the report of the R.A.C. Petrol Committee will have realised that the supply companies do not encourage delivery in bulk as a means of reducing distribution charges, and individuals who can now "run round the corner" for their private supply of benzol should realise that they are in a privileged position by which they do well to profit while they may. Opinions differ as to the magnitude of the supply of benzol that might be expected to be available in England were the inducement for its supply to motorists sufficient to bring it on to the market as a serious petrol substitute. From the second report of the R.A.C. Petrol Committee it would appear that 10 million gallons per annum might be so available from the recovery plants now in operation, and that about 30 million gallons might be recovered if all the coal now handled were treated in suitable apparatus. An increase beyond this point would not primarily be governed by the demand for benzol as a motor spirit, except at an exaggerated price, since even from the chief of its present sources the spirit is only a by-product in the manufacture of metallurgical coke. The market price of benzol has fluctuated enormously. In 1909 it touched 5 1/2d. per gallon, and it has been as high as 1s. 1d. in casks at the makers. At the moment of writing, motorists can obtain benzol at about 1s. 2d. per gallon from a few dealers, notably in London from the Gas Light and Coke Co., the Gas Lighting Improvement Co. (who supply "Carburine" petrol), the South Metropolitan Gas Co., and Messrs. A.{Mr Adams} W. Gamage. Used as a motor spirit, it is legally subject to the Government tax, which would, of course, be collected if the supply of benzol to motorists were organised on a scale sufficient to make the cost of tax collection worth while. Thus, with the tax and the agent's fee, and the expenses of distribution on the same basis as petrol—viz., 3d. + 2d. + 4 1/2d. = 9 1/2d. per gallon—the price is not likely to be much below the present price of petrol if the manufacturer is to receive any sum that is likely to stimulate the installation of recovery ovens on a large scale. In thus speaking of benzol we refer of course to the spirit that might ordinarily be produced under the conditions mentioned. The question of operating special plant for the primary production of benzol is a problem apart, and one that depends on a variety of factors. An important influence on the situation, for example, is that the application of the synthetic process to the treatment of the liquid obtained by the Delmonte system practically doubles, so we are given to understand, the output of suitable motor spirit. Regarded as a fuel, benzol has the advantage of a superior thermal value when compared with petrol. In a Memorandum to the Petrol Committee by Mr. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} A.{Mr Adams} Morfey and Mr. J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Mitchell occurs the following interesting summary of the relative values :— "With reference to the increase in mileage obtained by the use of benzol, it is only to be expected. The whole question is one of calorific power per pound of fuel. Assuming petrol to have a calorific value of 19,500 BTU per lb., and 90's Benzol to have a calorific value of 20,000 BTU per lb., and taking petrol at 7 1/4 lbs. per gallon and benzol at 8.8 lbs. per gallon, this gives benzol an advantage of 20 per cent. in calorific value over petrol per gall., hence the increased mileage. "Foul exhaust, valve sooting, carbon deposit in cylinders; all these can be attributed to incomplete combustion. This is usually attributed to lack of air, hence the general advice to use more air with benzol than with petrol. Theoretically, however, benzol should not take more air for combustion than petrol, and I attribute this call for extra air to benzol being delivered to the carburetter in nothing like so true a gaseous form as petrol. I am inclined to think, knowing how easily benzol vapour condenses, that serious condensation and assumption of the liquid state occurs in the induction-pipe in the case of benzol. It is, of course, at once apparent that if this is so the resulting explosion from such a charge can never ensure complete combustion, and in such case sooting, carbon deposit, foul exhaust, and actual waste of calorific value will ensue. The remedy for this, as we have found on stationary internal-combustion engines, is to have the carburetter as near the cylinders as possible. In the case of motor engines, I should suggest in addition to the shortest induction-pipe possible that this pipe be jacketed and warmed either by surrounding with warm water from the cylinder jackets or by by-passing a portion of the 342 | ||