US2106662A - Motor fuel composition - Google Patents

Description

Patented Jan. 25, 1938 MOTOR FUEL COMPOSITION Will R. Savage, Omaha, Nebn, assignor of onehalf to Harry S. Haze, Chicago, Ill,

No Drawing. Original application July 31, 1934, Serial No. 737,857. Divided and this application-May 3, 1937, Serial No. 140,567

- 2 Claims.

The invention relates to a motor fuel and the present application is a division of an application filed by me on or about July 31, 1934, Serial No. 737,857.

An object of the present invention is to improve petroleum fuel both for use in internal combustion engines and also for open air burning and to enable the same when employed as a fuel for internal combustion engines to afford quicker starting, faster pick-up or acceleration, more power and increased mileage, smoother operation, greater flexibility of speed between extreme limits of low and high with cooler operation than is afforded by ordinary petroleum fuel products.

Another object of the invention is to eliminate hard carbon deposits and leave only a soft oily or moist carbon deposit in reduced quantity.

A further object of the invention is to effect a reduction or practically an elimination of carbon monoxide by more complete combustion than has heretofore been obtained under practical conditions of engine operation. Heretofore alcohol has been mixed with petroleum fuel products in large quantities as high as a fifty to fifty -(50 to 50%) mixtureof gasoline and alcohol for conserving the supply of gasoline and increasing the volume of fuel available for use as a motor fuel for internal combustion engines and for other economic reasons, and as commercial alcohol contains water and is not miscible in any proportions with gasoline, it has been necessary to employ a blending agent to render such commercial v i alcohol miscible with the gasoline.

The invention consists in the use of a cold chemical mixture of alcohol and acetone for mixture with various-grades of petroleum and petroleum fuel products for controlling and improving the combustion qualities thereof by chemical means. The essential novelty resides in an abnormal reduction of the proportion as a whole of the combined ingredients used in conjunction with the various petroleum fuel products and an equally abnormal change in the proportions of the ingredients as related to each other in their combination and use in petroleum fuel products as compared with all previous and present practice. These abnormal changes in the two directions mentioned .produce a very decisive improvement in the quality of the combustion of the petroleum fuel products treated and in motors and motor cars produce remarkable improvements in the performance thereof, heretofore not attained and not attainable with the greater proportions of the chemical ingredients heretofore used in combination with gasoline, naptha and other petroleum fuel products.

Improvements in petroleum fuel products have related heretofore mostly to processes for obtaining a larger percentage of automobile fuel of lighter specific gravity and lower initial distillation point to supply the vast quantities of gasoline and motor fuel used in automobiles. Chemical treatment for improved combustion of the refined petroleum fuel for use in motor cars from a practical standpoint in use has been restricted mostly to the addition of lead or equivalent metals in various forms to reduce or eliminate the fuel knock. One of these forms is a preparation containing tetra ethyl of lead added to the refined fuel commonly referred to as high test gasoline and giving an increased octane rating or antiknock quality to the gasoline when used as motor fuel.

Another form embraces a mechanical device installed as an accessory to the automobile or motor vehicle and having a small chamber coated or lined with lead or in combination with other metallic ingredients and by means of tubular connections the untreated gasoline or motor fuel is passed through and in contact with the metal or metals dissolving a minute portion suificient for treatment of the fuel to obtain the desired results in the automobile engine. The lead treatmentapparently slows down the explosive action of' the motor fuel giving better combustion, smoother operation, greater anti-knock value and burns up the carbon, but creates a hotter flame and heats up the engine in operation more than the result obtained when using the untreated gasoline or motor fuel.

It is the purpose of the presentinvention for automobile use to retain and add to the qualities in the higher test gasoline; namely, quicker or easier starting, smoother operation, faster pickup, more power, less carbon and also make a 'complete temperature reversal of the lead treatment of gasoline motor fuel, whatever the means of its application and use, by making the engine run cooler than the untreated gasoline .or motor fuel and through more perfect combustion add to the mileage of a given quantity of fuel used in an automobile.

By way of example, one method of carrying out my invention is to mix'approximately' one part of alcohol and one part of acetone. not over one per cent (1%) or less than onetwenty-fifth (1/25) of one "per cent (1%), by volume, of the mixture is added to the petroleum fuel product to be treated. This relatively small Generally ill.

than the fifty and fifty per cent (50 and 50%) combination and lesser large combinations heretofore employed in the mixing of alcohol and gasoline. The formula may be varied within the said limits of one per cent (1%) maximum and one-twenty-fifth (1/25) of one per cent (1%) minimum of the mixture according to higher and lower grades of the petroleum fuel products to be treated, the lower grades requiring more of the cold chemical mixture than the higher grades.

Ordinary gasoline does not contain naptha or naphthalene but synthetic gasoline consisting of a lower grade of petroleum fuel to which casing head gas has been added to bring it up to the ordinary gasoline standard, does contain naphtha and the mixture of the present invention consisting of approximately one part of alcohol and one part of acetone will be found especially advantageous in treating petroleum fuel products containing naphtha.

The formula of the present invention using substantially equal parts of alcohol and acetone may also be used to advantage with the several grades of petroleum fuel other than that containing naphtha providing it is kept within the limitations of generally less than one per cent (1%) maximum and a minimum of one-twenty fifth (1/25) per cent of the petroleum fuel treated.

The result of more perfect combustion resides in an adjustment of the spark control to prevent preignition, the advancement of the timing to the maximum limit for greater mileage and still retain coordination of the firing functions, the proper admixture of air and the right amount of fuel to form the best explosive mixture, coupled with a given compression and a gasoline fitted to the adjustments made.

An adjustment of the car'for a particular grade of gasoline will not work to the best advantage on a different grade of gasoline and a car adjusted for anti-knock features on one grade of gasoline may knock with a different grade of gasoline on the same adjustment and yet be readjusted so that the latter gasoline or motor fuel tested will not knock and yet have no change made in the gasoline or motor fuel quality.

Thus, when cars are'adjusted at the factory according to laboratory equipment to fit the present standard of high test gasoline or motor fuel, a readjustment on some points on the motor may be necessary to fit my treated gasoline or motor fuel and lower grades of gasoline for the best performance.

Another advantage which is very important is that the chemicals which I use are not poisonous in ordinary handling and are only so for internal use and made so by law 'to prevent such use. The use of lead is accompanied by the danger of poisoning to workmen handling it and to customers who may get the mixture in cuts, wounds amount of the cold chemical product is much less smoother operation, more power and speed was only attained by sacrificing mileage and that if you wanted mileage by going to a lower test gasoline or motor fuel then you sacrificed these other favorable qualities. In other words, it was considered impossible to obtain both objects of mileage and desirable performance simultaneously in one product, yet my formula gives this dual result.

The presence of carbon monoxide in exhaust gases proves that the carbon in gasoline and other motor fuel has been burned to some extent, to carbon monoxide, and in this form delivers less than one-third W of its heat energy with consequent loss of power and waste of fuel. Aside from the economic waste, carbon monoxide is a very dangerous toxic poison resulting in frequent deaths of persons inhaling these fumes in confined places, in closed cars, garages or any similar conditions. The addition of these deadly carbon monoxide fumes in congested districts of automotive vehicular traffic in the towns, cities and on highways, while not fatal in their immediate efiect on people compelled to breathe this vitiated air, certainly renders it inimical to v their health and any practical elimination of the hazard makes a decided social value improvement.

The proper adjustment of air and fuel ratio with the addition of my treatment for controlled combustion greatly reduces or practically eliminates this hazard to life of the car user.

Another factor of importance inherent with the present invention resides in its harmonicoperation when combined with the lead treated gasoline whether combined with the chemically lead treated gasoline or using the formula with the gasoline flowing through a lead coated or treated channel or receptacle as an accessory attached to the car.

The cold chemical; mixture applied to various grades of petroleum fuel controls and improves the combustion of the same in open flame and also in its use ininternal combustion engines in the form of explosive mixtures. Its comparatively non-poisonous factors in the preparation or use is an advantage aside from the functions of the elements of the combination.

The treated petroleum fuel possesses superior advantages in its cooler and smoother operation, increased mileage, more effective operation at lower speeds and at all speeds up to and including high speeds with practical freedom from vibration of the engine when running. Also substantial reduction or practical elimination of carbon monoxide in exhaust gases or fumes results from the more effective combustion due to the chemical treatment of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A motor fuel composition composed of gaso line and approximately less than one per cent of a mixture consisting of acetone and alcohol combined in substantially the proportions of one part of alcohol and one part of acetone.

2. A liquid motor fuel composition comprising a light volatile petroleum distillate and approximately less than one per cent of a mixture com-- posed of acetone and alcohol combined in substantially the proportions of one part of alcohol and one part of acetone.

WILL R. SAVAGE.