12
THE
CHINA MAIL.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1930.
T
AM THE MOTORISTS' PAGE
PRICES GREATLY REDUCED!
EXCELSIOR MOTOR CYCLES
In order to give way for 1930 models which are coming, our stock of motor cycles have to go at greatly reduced prices.
Take The Advantage Right Away!
THE SINCERE CO., LTD.
SOLE AGENTS.
To-day's TYRE for to-day's
TRAFFIC
FISK
All-Cords
Time to Retire
Get FISK
Wears well because it is tougher and heavier.
FISK ALL-CORD TYRES GIVE MORE MILEAGE.
OBTAINABLE AT ALL GARAGES UPON REQUEST.
Bole Distributors- GILMAN & CO.
Telephone C. 200.
4A, Des Voeux Road C.
IF YOU WISH TO SELL YOUR 1930 MOTOR CAR or BICYCLE MODELS
CHI
PAGEZ
ving:
RELIABILITY
Enormous Distance Covered
the
some
PETROL
Qualities And Attributes
Some years Bgo I had
Apart from our food the most pleasure of assisting in the over-vital necessity in the world to-day haul of a certain water-cooled flat-petrol," and yet how many of the Ia motor spirit, commonly called
twin car. It was neither very fast millions of people who are driving nar very slow, and it was being motor vehicles every day have any "decoked" after running
idea of what it is and whore It comes from? (anks W. H. Goddard 35,000 miles-the owner жая not
in the "Autocar"). quite sure to an odd thousand or
Petrol is a product of pure petro- two without having given any leum, which is found in many parts Indication of the omission. It was of the world, and it is produced attended to simply and solely be from this crude petroleum by a pro. cause of our great curiosity; and Cess called distillation. In the year 1969 the Arst petroleum, well was when we returned the various bits drilled in Pennsylvania, U.S.A., by to their respective niches the car Colonel Drake, and in 1860 the total ran just two miles an hour more world's production of crude petro- slowly.
leam was only 500,000-barrels. In-i cidentally, one barrel is equal to 35: imperial gallons. In the year 1928 the world's production amounted to no fewer than 1.822,896,000 barroja, equal to over 46 thousand millions of gallons!
i had looked on this as something of a record until a week or two ago I picked up an aeronautical paper on a bookstall. In it was the description of how a four-cylinder, aircooled aircraft engine bad run' 600 hours with all its parts sealed a De Havilland
This was up. "Gipsy" engine; it was taken from stock, and It was flown for 600 hours-not just run on a bench.
The following table shows the principal oll-producing countries and the quantities each produced in 1928:-
Percentage
Country U.S.A.
No. of barrels. 000,304,000 49.2 .100,000,000
of the world's total.
3.0
87,800,000 6.7
50,000,000 3.8 42,080,000 3.2 30,000,000 2.3
12,000,000
20,000,000 1.6 0.9
9,100,000 0.7
8,300,000
0.0.
7,750,000
0.5
$,530,000
0.4
20.300.000
2.3
In the course of that colossal Venezucia hourage the "Moth" covered some Russla 51,000 miles in the hands of various | Moxica pilots, mainly in short portions, Routanis
Persia This meant numerous full throtle Columbia take-offs and climbs, and the part Peru machine was consuming petrol at Argentina the rate of 19% m.p.g., at a cruis. British India
Trinidad ing speed of something in the
Poland vicinity of 90 m.p.h. And anyone Smaller quantities were produc whose hands have held the sticked also in Egypt, Japan, Germany, and throttle know what a "cruis-
Canada, France .and Czecho. ing" speed is: one climbs on full Slovakia, and even in Britain our throttle and, having reached two thousand, one eases back the throt-one well produced a few tons.
Crude petroleum is won from the tle the slightest bit so that the en depths of the earth, by drilling gine does not actually run all out.
The cost of petrol and oil for deep welle, the depth varying from 2,000 feet to 4,000 feet generally, that 51,000 miles was one penny per although a record depth has been mile; the cost of all replacements needed at the end was £7 29. 11d., reached in Texas,, where the oil and the difference in output on the was found at the enormous depth bench at the beginning and at the of 8,525 feet, or over 11⁄2 miles!! end of the test was merely 2% In some cases the oil flows to the b.h.p. At the commencement the surface, and in others it has to "Gipsy" developed 94.7 b.h.p., and bo pumped from the well.
at the end 923 bh.p-at 2,050 r.p.m.
bam's tour,
Origin of Petrol
OIL
A simple thing, lubricating oil.
Just a black or green or red fluid.
Yet represented in that simple oil are thousands of years of nature's work to produce the raw material of which it is made. Represented in lubricating oil are years of scientific research to determine the exact mixture of raw material required to make the finished product perform a certain function. Represented in it are hundreds of hours of laboratory experiment with methods of manufacture and tem- peratures. Represented in it is the actual labour of a thousand pair of hands assisted by machinery costing millions of dollars. Yes, a simple thing, lubricating oil. Yet men have poured their souls into making it. Just lubricating oil, it is true-but nevertheless a masterpiece, for it contains the hopes, the ideals of men. Such is the New Mobiloil.
VACUUM OIL COMPANY :
It is now generally accepted by It also appeared that a goared the scientific world that the ori and produces generally about 25 "Jaguar" radial aircooled engine gin of these enormous subter to 30 per cent, of petrol from the has covered, without overhaul, ranean deposits of this valuable crude petroleum, varying with the some 54,000 miles, with 4,000 full | mineral is organic, lo., the result quality and district of production. throttle take-offs, on Sir Alan Cob-jof the distillation by the heat Lower grade crudes, such as heavy and pressure of the earth of both Mexican ofl, only give about 8 to Well, well.. Against these animal and vegetable matter dur 4 per cent of petrol, but they performances must be set the facts ing a period of hundreds of thou are used for the production of that the engines were pulling sands of years. The location of heavy fuel oll for burning under stendy load, and were not subject these deposits is a very difficult boilers and for producing asphalt. ed to many violent accelerations; operation, but by studying surface Pennsylvania crude is the high- that they were each running a good indicatione and the geological est grada of oil, and Persian oil deal more slowly than most car en formation, and latterly by the aid is also of a high grade, giving gines would be turning over at
of delicate geophysical instru- as much as 32 per cent. similar throttle openings; and that, mants, geologists can form a very
Cracked Spirit finally, the "Jaguar" certainly, and good idea of the probability of
Many motorista must have possibly the "Gipsy," was made
finding oil. The only aure teat, heard the expression "cracked from
carefully selected of course, is the drill, but drilling spirit" used. Owing to the enor material than any car engine.
to these depths is very expen mous demand, some years ago oil Nevertheless, it gives one cause sive operation, and many hundreds chomists set to work to find some for odious comparisons with some of thousands of pounds have been method of increasing the produc care, doesn't it?-H.A.T. In the lost in drilling dry holes, tion of motor spirit from the Storage and Refining
crude oll. Several processes were The crude oil having been evolved, but the principle On found, it is then run into huge which they all work is very simi- steel tanks on
the oil field and lar, and is
follows: After the later is led into pipe lines and petrol has been extracted by the pumped away to the storage tanks "straight distillation" process tho into the at the refinery. These pipe lines residue is then passed are often many hundred miles in cracking plant, which consists of length, and at frequent intervals special stills working under
violent heat and In the absence ore "boosting" stations?
of air. The molecules are thus
Autocar.
more
USE THE CORRECT PLUGS
When the engine is not at fta best it is usually the sparking plugs that get the lion's share of the blame. The modern sparking plug is, howover, very reliable and effl- thoro
►
vaporised and mixed with air, in If this pinking is allowed to the proportion of about 150 lb. of persist it will cause the tempera- air to 1 lb. of petrol, it results ture of the cylinder to rise 'still In a very highly explosive mixture further, and the sparking plug of gas, which, when highly com- points will then get so hot that pressed in a cylinder of an engine, they will fire the gas in the cylin and then fired by an electricder before it is finally compress- spark, provides the necessary ed, and before the spark has been power to drive our cars.
produced. This is what is known as pre-ignition, and must not bo confused with knocking. The two are quite distinct.
This introduces a subject which is very important but very little understood; that is, the pheno menon known popularly as "pink- Pinking depends on the rate of ing" or "knocking." All motor- burning of the gas, and this la lets of any experience know the limited by the compression work- unpleasant metallic hammeringed. Most modern cara have a
compression ratio of about 4% to
1, which gives an actual compres- sion pressure of about 60 to 70 lb. per square inch. This is
which takes place when their en- gines are suddenly called on to do extra work at low rates of re- volution, The explanation of this Is as follows-When the explo† sometimes too high for the branda sive mixture, or gas, is highly of petrol generally available, and compressed and at a temperature is the reason why most cars approaching its self-ignition point, "pink" when made to do extra and is then fired by the spark, work at low rates of revolution. only a part of the gas is Ignit
This subject is really a very in- ed. The unburnt portion of the tricate one, and many factors ∙gaa is then further compressed must be taken into account to ex-
and its temperature rises con plain it thoroughly. siderably. This heat cannot be disalpated fast enough, and there- fore the rising temperature final. ly ignites the unburnt gases set- time," and causing the metallic hammering commonly known and
causes the engine to lose power;
cient, and if the engine is sluggish, where pumps work to force. the caused to split or "crack," hence ting up an explosive wave "out of does not idle smoothly, or misses oil along to the next section, and the expression "cracked spirit," momentarily at different speeds, it so on, until it finally reaches the and a very large yield is obtain will probably be found that wear refinery plant. and tear, leaking ignition cables, a In due course the oil le pass-point, similar in many ways to ed of a spirit of low bolling weak coil, worn diatributor points, ed into the stills and subjected to straight run petrol. This spirit or faulty carburetter. adjustment the process of heating.' This is are the real causes. If the plugs the process of distillation pre but when blended with straight has, however, many disadvantages; · are at fault at all, then most likely viously referred to. As the of run patrol It makes a very good an adjustment of the gap setting, gote hotter it begins to give off motor spirit with certain anti- or a good cleaning, is all that will a vapour, and this vapour is our knock properties.
be necessary to cure the trouble."vital necessity"! In gaseous form. Enormous quantities of this Again, there are "hot" and "cold" The vapour is passed to collecting cracked spirit are made in the engines and the sparking plugs chambers, where it is cooled, and U.S.A., and in Britain there are used should be suitable for the con-condensed into liquid form. This also a few cracking plants work ditions prevailing in the combus-is our petrol, but as yet unwashing. With this aid the crude tion chambers, In the engine of and not perfect enough for or petroleum can be made to produce which has a tendency to foul its dinary use. It is then washed as much as 65 to 76 per cent. of sparking plugs a "hotter" type of and purified, and finally results motor spirit. During the last eparking plug should be used in pre-as the water white liquid which few months another process, call- ference to the one which is normal. we use in cars and lorries every ed. "hydrogenation," has been ly recommended. f f day, 8 has
evolved which promises to go stili further in this direction.
If the engine becomes overheat-
What Is Petrol?
ed and spile through the carburet. The temperature at which this ter, it may be that the mixture is spirit is produced is about 150 too weak, that the cooling system der. C. By further raising the Next comes the question: What needs attention, or that the valves temperature of the stills, up to Is petrol, and how can it be made. are slicking slightly, but an im about 800 deg. C., the realdus of to supply, the power for driving provement may be made by fitting the crude off gives off another our cara? Petrol is a liquid; "cooler type of plug than is well-known product, te, kerosene, hydro-carbon, and its composition usually recommended.
After that come lubricating oils, is approximately 84 per cent, car other products, but bon and 10 per cent. hydrogeni
When 10,000 miles has been re-, gas oil, corded, which is a good average we are distance for a year's driving, a new mu Ket of pingly should be installed: la kumwnian
our Ita temperature of spontaneous process ignition ja about 265 deg, conti
Ion grade, When this liquid la
HUMBER MOTOR CYCLES.
LANE, CRAWFORD, LTD. Automobille Dept. C.8193.
ACCESSORIES
THE REPUBLIC MOTOR CO. OF CHINA.
Spare Par
30-32, Des Voeux Road C