104 



National Resources Planning Board 



General Motors Corporation 



Improvement oj antiknock quality oj Juels. — ^"This 

 research program was started in an effort to eliminate 

 detonation in gasoline engines. Detonation, or 'knock- 

 ing,' results in low economy and prevents the use of 

 high compression ratios with consequent performance 

 increases. The General Motors Research Laboratories 

 found that the addition of tetracthyl lead to gasoline 

 raised its antiknock value so that engineers could use 

 the advantages of high compression in engine design. 

 To use letracth^d lead without causing lead deposits 

 inside the engine, it must be mixed with a bromine 

 derivative, ethylene-dibromide." 



Improvement in quality oj gasoline. — "The General 

 Motors Research Laboratories engineers, cooperating 

 with the oil companies, have about doubled the yield 

 of gasoline from crude oU. The inherent antiknock 



value of gasoline has been greatly increased and, in 

 addition, the chemists have found many ways to use 

 petroleum as a raw material." 



Fuel economies. — "In 1939 about 75 percent of the 

 gasoline sold in this country contained ethyl fluid. The 

 annual gasoline bill of the United States is about 4 

 billion dollars. Engine improvements made possible by 

 better antiknock fuels have about doubled the power 

 and economy without increasing the size of the engine. 

 Refiners now soil better gasoline at a lower cost to the 

 public and in addition have found ways to make 

 alcohols, solvents, acetylene, plastics, resins, artificial 

 rubber, and a host of other things, using petroleum as 

 the base material. No quantitive measurement can be 

 applied to the over-all benefits of fuel research, but they 

 may be largely credited to the forward research policy 

 of General Motors." 



FiGCRE 20. — Fundamental Research in Reaction Kinetics, Emeryville Laboratories, Shell Development Company, Emeryville, 



California 



I 



