21,1 Cole: Manufacture of Industrial Alcohol 25 
With either of these mixtures, ether being very volatile, the 
engine can be started even more easily than with gasoline. The 
pyridine or ammonia is added to neutralize any acids that might 
be formed in the fuel or in the combustion of the fuel, and it 
also serves as a denaturant. 
These mixtures compare very favorably with gasoline in effi- 
ciency. That these fuels can even now compete with gasoline 
for airplane engines in the United States, where gasoline costs 
less than one-half what it does in the Philippines, is demon- 
strated by the United States Post Office Department * in its 
airplane mail service. Its tests show “‘a great increase in num- 
ber of miles per gallon, an increase in power and a very marked 
saving in the quantity of lubricating oil used.” 
Table 7 shows the consumption of alcohol fuel at various 
speeds, the tests covering thirty-one nonstop flights between 
New York and Washington. 
TABLE 7.—Consumption of alcohol fuel in airplane engines at various 
speeds. 
Revolutions per Gallons per hour, 
minute. alcohol mixture. 
1,440-—1,460 : 15.9 
1,475-1,480 20.1 
1,500 21.5 
1,520-1,525 ! 22.4 
Tables 8 and 9 show the amounts of gasoline and alcohol fuel 
used by airplanes at varying speeds, and also the consumption 
of lubricating oil. 
TABLE 8.—Comparison of the consumption of gasoline and alcohol fuel 
in airplane engines at varying speeds. 
Gallons per hour. 
Revolutions per minute. 
Alcohol 
Gasoline. | jixture. 
sag SS Pes einem ipemeeg o peMrecag apapegupeeie ! etcneeet me ee rad ture a men a 15.9 
Ti sai an eat ene oe heen e nen 24 20.1 
Sa a a ha ek en ne he eiee enn Hes ee eee 24.17 21.5 
These tests also proved that there was much less carbon for- 
mation when using alcohol fuel than when using gasoline, and 
the number of forced landings due to fouled spark plugs was 
reduced to the minimum. 
*Tunison, B. R., Chem. & Met. Eng. 22 (1920) 297. 
