“CATALYSIS ” MAY SAVE MOTOR FUEL.

Hokitika Guardian, 22 September 1923, Page 4

“CATALYSIS ” MAY SAVE MOTOR FUEL.

Catalysis, that strange principle of chemistry which works in ways more mysterious and inexplk-ikle than almost any other of the many curious phenomena of science, seems to have come to the rescue in the threatened shortage of motor fuels.

A member oi the American Chemical Society, I)r Edward Sakai. of New York, has made a discovery which extensive experiments now in progress may prove to he a great aid in the general effort to get greater economy out. of gasoline as used in internal combustion engines. The words “catalysis” and “catalyst ” or “ catalyzer,” will soon become a general addition to tho vocabulary of Americans, in the same manner that “wave-length” and other technical terms suddenly came into use through the wide popular familiarity with the principles of radio, predicts the editor of “ Industrial and Engineering Chemist tv.”

In some of the most important applications of chemistry, industrially, of the present day. the principle of catalysis is proving of the utmost importance. In the fixation of nitrogen Don the air, particularly, this is true, and it seems likely that some of the greatest scientific advances of the futirv will depend principally upon this odd faculty which some substance'* possess—the faculty of speeding up the -ate of chemical reactions and of acting a- a " mixer.”

In the particular install -<• at hand. Dr Sokul found that certain chemical compounds and elements. by their presence, increase the rate at which a mixture of gas and air under pressure will burn. This means, simply that the explosion, which is the basis of power in an automobile engine is made more rapid ,-.nd complete, by means of tho catalyse. The catalyst itseli -Joes net participate m the explosion, and remains the same after the Dtel ha - horned as before. The mere fact ‘.h it it j? present in the combustion chamber docs the work of accelerating the e.vplcsum. In the case of fixing free nitrogen from tho air, the principle works in the same way. Nitrogen is an inert gas and combines very reluctantly with other grasses. In making this gas available for fertiliser and other purposes, it must be combined with other elements, and the most successful present dav method is to cause a combination of’nitrogen and hydorgen to form ammonia." This cannot be done at a satis-

factory rate of speed without the use of a catalyst. A special compound of iron and some others metals, in partides about the size of a pea, is one of the most successful catalysts. The passage of the two gases through a tube containing such iron pebbles ' causes them to unite and nitrogen to be fixed so that it. (ran be converted into fertiliser.

Dr Sokal’s catalyst, acting in the same way, is applied to the interior of the cylinder head or firing chamber of an internal combustion engine, in the form of a refractory paint. Tests made on various types of automobiles show that an increase in power is obtainable with the use of the catalyst, and examination of the exhaust gases of automobiles on which tests are being made indicate that the combustion is more complete. Such cars were able to operate satisfactorily on a much “ leaner ” mixture—that is, a greater proportion of air and less of gasoline vapour—and thus achieved a considerable economy. The complete results oi these tests are not yet available. Dr Sokal lias not revealed the nature of the compound ol the catalyst lie uses, pending the issuance of patents, but be says that it can be applied to practically all types ot internal com - bustion engines now in general use and that the cast of applying the catalyst will be low.