I N D U S T R I B L A X D ENGINEERIA7G CHEMISTRY
June, 1925
hol engines will increase the amount of work secured from this fuel and therefore extend its use. Regulations Regarding Manufacture of Industrial Alcohol. In almost every country where alcohol is manufactured, beverage and industrial alcohol are put on almost the same basis with regard to government regulation. A change in this system is essential to the establishment of the industrial alcohol industry. Patent Regulations. The following statements with regard to the motor fuel patent system in Great Britain are applicable to other countries as well, and explain the situation thoroughly:
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A number of mixtures patented in Great Britain, containing alcohol, ether, f a t t y acids, combustible gases, etc , with or without hydrocarbons, contain nothing essentially new a n d patents shoiild not have been granted.18 It is felt by t h e Empire Motor Fuel Committee t h a t great damage m a y be done t o the'prospect of early production of new motor fuels, if disregard is shown b y Patent Office for the known miscibility within various limits of .alcohol, benzol, petrol, and other hydrocarbons. T h e committee wish t o give warning t o t h e investing public t h a t any claim t o B master patent should in any conceivable circumstances be viewed with the maximum of doubt.19
Marketing. Means of establishing and maintaining a market for motor fuel should be studied; moreover, it should be sold a t a price in proportion to its fuel value. Alcohol motor fuel will never compete with gasoline unless the consumer is able to secure with it a greater mileage for a given sum. The motor car owner is reluctant t o change from a standard fuel to one that is not so well known, and the greatest inducement that can be offered is the ability to secure cheaper mileage without risk of damaging the motor car. Regulation of Quality of Product Marketed. A high-grade product must be manufactured if a market for alcohol fuel is t o be steadily maintained. It cannot hope to compete with gasoline 18 '0
Ormandy. 1nlei.n. S u g a r J . , 22, 402 (1919). Report of Ernpirc Xlotor Fuel Committee, 1920.
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if quality standards are not maintained. One or two manufacturers of a low-quality product will often destroy the entire market for a commodity, even though there are numerous other producers who maintain high-quality standards. Unscrupulous retailers often add water to the motor fuel, and means for detecting this adulteration should be established. Educational Work. The education of the consumer as to the best means of securing satisfactory results is one of the most important factors in the establishment of an alcohol motor fuel industry on a sound and permanent basis. Even though a highgrade fuel is marketed a t a reasonable price, the industry will never prosper so long as each individual motor car owner has to make an experimental laboratory out of his own car and find out for himself the proper way of using alcohol in place of gasoline. The distillers who are attempting to introduce alcohol fuel into a new locality should certainly exert every possible effort to see that the operators understand how to secure maximum mileage.
Conclusion
Although the alcohol motor file1 industry has not yet been firmly established, its present rate of growth indicates that it will expand greatly in the near future. In almost every country the question of future fuel supplies for internal combustion engines is receiving thorough consideration, and it seems very likely that the use of alcohol will increase rapidly, especially if there is any diminution of the petroleum supply. In the United States, where there are greater supplies of refined petroleum than in any other part of the world, the sale of fuel mixtures, containing alcohol, benzene, and other substances, has already been started and probably large quantities of these mixtures will be used if the price of gasoline goes very much higher than the present lel-el.
Apparatus for Accurate Analysis of Small Quantities of Gas' By D. S. Chamberlin and D. M . Newitt LEHICHU N I V E R S I T Y ,
B E T H L E H E M , P A . . A N D I X P E H I A L C O L L E G E OF S C I E N C E A S D TECHNOLOGY, L O S O O N . E S G L . l N i n
HE demand for a device by which small amounts of gas (1 to 5 cc.) can be accurately analyzed, and which will eliminate the disadvantage of leaky taps, has led to the development of the apparatus shown in the figure. The apparatus works on the constant-volume principle. Take the zero reading by lowering H. Raise H until the U-tube is full of mercury. Transfer the sample to B and allow it to rise to the absorption vessel, A , by lowering H . (Note the special design of A to give the maximum surface for reagents.) Lower H until the surface of mercury is a t the mark E. Close the tap F , lower H to get the reading of gas pressure. Suck the reagent through K and F into B, remove any air, then by opening F slowly transfer reagent to A . Shake until absorption is complete. Cautiously turn F so that reagent is nearly all sucked away. Shut off F , half fill B with 1 per cent sulfuric acid. Let it rise into A . Wash well and suck away the acid as completely as possible through F . Lower H with F open, until the mercury is a t E. Shut F. Take a reading. Repeat ad infinitum. To clear all the gas from the apparatus, transfer to A , open L and F , and it will be drawn by suction into the pot, D. When once the gas has been taken in to the apparatus it does not pass through any taps or rubber connections during the analysis. The U-tube is calibrated in millimeters, the read1 Received LMarch 12, 1928 Presented before t h e Section of Gas a n d Fuel Chemistry a t t h e 69th Meeting of t h e Amerwan Chemical Society, Baltimore, M d , April 6 t o 10 1925
ings can be made by a cathetometer to a fraction of a millimeter, an accuracy of 0.01 per cent. The samples of gas for analysis in this apparatus can be easily stored in test tubes over mercury.
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