Page 4
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, May 9, 1973
THE BATTALlOf
I
Possible Gasoline Substitute Found In Methyl Alcohol
AUSl
)uth T
A motorist pulls , into his local
service station and tells the at
tendant to “fill 'er up.” The atten
dant takes the hose from the pump
and proceeds to fill the tank with
methyl alcohol.
Alcohol, you say? Alcohol ob
tained from low-grade bitumin
ous coal, produced at a cost of
roughly 11 cents per gallon.
It’s all possible, according to
two Aggie chemical engineers.
Dr. W. D. Harris and Dr. Rich
ard R. Davison found the idea of
using methyl alcohol as an auto
mobile fuel intriguing. They con
ducted a non-funded study of the
possibilities and came up with
some surprising conclusions.
The researchers feel that con
version of coal to methanol will
be economically feasible, since the
raw material at the starting point
Prairie View,
TAMU To Use
Both Libraries
A new and important develop
ment is currently underway
which will enable students and
faculty members from Prairie
View A. and M. College and Texas
A&M University to share library
facilities and materials from the
Texas A&M University Library
and from the W. R. Banks Li
brary at Prairie View A. and M.
College.
Mr. Frank Francis, Jr., Libra
rian, W. R. Banks Library, and
Mr. John Smith, Director of Li
braries at Texas A&M University,
are currently working on a plan
of developing library cards for
use throughout the Texas A&M
University System. Both libra
rians have hailed this new devel
opment as a step forward in maxi
mizing the strengths of both uni
versities.
Faculty members and students
who are interested in securing
library cards or in learning more
about the new inter-university li
brary program should contact Mr.
Frank Francis, W. R. Banks Li
brary at Prairie View A. and M.
College.
They’re Here!!
ALL THE , ^ ^
UNIQUE
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809 E. 29th — Bryan
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there
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is considerably cheaper than with
natural gas or oil.
“Methanol,” Dr. Harris said,
“has a high octane rating, higher
than premium gasoline. It does
not pollute anywhere near as
much as petroleum products, and
it will produce a marked increase
in power in automobiles.”
Dr. Harris pointed out that mo
tor tests showed methanol pro
duced as much as 90 per cent less
carbon monoxide and hydrocar
bons than did gasoline. He added
that acceptable emission stan
dards might be met with alcohol
without any emission control
equipment.
“Compression ratios could be
raised again,” he said, “delivering
much more ‘punch’ to automobile
engines. Methanol can also be
mixed with water in certain
amounts without lowering its ef
ficiency or performance as a mo
tor fuel.”
As with any “good news” re
search, there are some draw
backs. One is the possibility of
starting difficulty in cold weath
er. The researchers feel that this
can be overcome with manifold
heating devices or perhaps addi
tives in the fuel itself.
A modification in the carbure
tor would be required for existing
automobiles in the form of
changes in port size, but this
again would not present an ex
pensive problem.
Mileage is, however, lower per
gallon with methanol, but not nec
essarily lower per dollar, the re
searchers contend.
Conversion facilities, they said,
could be located near large coal
beds. In this coal-rich country, an
almost unlimited supply of coal,
presently known to be in excess of
200 billion tons of coal and lig
nite, would supply automobiles
for many decades.
The researchers believe that
about 200 gallons of methanol can
be produced from one ton of coal
with proper technology. At $2
per ton, the cost-per-gallon for
raw materials is far less than
of gasoline. Economies of scale
in large production efforts could
possibly bring the “gate” price of
the fuel down to about 8.5 cents
per gallon.
Many of the numbers given in
their study are educated guesses,
the researchers admit. They f«|,
however, the economics of meli
kicl
to the
anol vs. gasoline are too close ani sek th
the issue too serious to be taka
lightly.
“The possibility of saving bik
lions on pollution controls ani
billions yearly in imports whik
selling the consumer a good prod
uct at low cost with a fair profit
may seem too good to be true,’
Dr. Davison said. “But it is also
too good to be ignored.”
'i
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j|g| ||
COLEMAN
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J
To Mofhei with Love.!
“MOTHERS DAY”
BOXED CHOCOLATES'
PANGBURNS-KINGS
WHITMAN'S
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8-CUPS 8 - SAUCERS 8-CEREAL
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1 - OVAL PLATTER 8 - BREAD & BUT
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$
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