The Wizard of OCTANE

[syscom3]

The Wizard of OCTANE

EUGENE HOUDRY NEVER TRAINED AS A CHEMIST BUT HE MADE THE GREATEST ADVANCE IN THE HISTORY OF PETROLEUM CHEMISTRY
BY TIM PALUCKA


IF, AS THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE SAID, the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, then one can assert with equal justice that the Battle of Britain was won at the Stevens Hotel, in Chicago, on November 18, 1938. It was there, at the annual meeting of the American Petroleum Institute, that Arthur E. Pew, vice president and head of research of the Sun Oil Company, described his company's extraordinary new catalytic refining process. Using it, he said, Sun was turning what was normally considered a waste product into gasoline—and not just ordinary gasoline, but a highoctane product that could fuel the era's most advanced airplanes.

That process would make a crucial difference in mid-1940, when the Royal Air Force started filling its Spitfires and Hurricanes with 100-octane gasoline imported from the United States instead of the 87 octane it had formerly used. Luftwaffe pilots couldn't believe they were facing the same planes they had fought successfully over France a few months before. The planes were the same, but the fuel wasn't. In his 1943 book The Amazing Petroleum Industry, V. A. Kalichevsky of the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company explained what high-octane gasoline meant to Britain: "It is an established fact that a difference of only 13 points in octane number made possible the defeat of the Luftwaffe by the R.A.F. in the fall of 1940. This difference, slight as it seems, is sufficient to give a plane the vital 'edge' in altitude, rate of climb and maneuverability that spells the difference between defeat and victory." ...

Read the rest of the story:

AmericanHeritage.com / The Wizard of OCTANE

 

[kool kitty89]

Interesting read, but I found one major inaccuracy:

Houdry's apparatus produced 90 percent of all catalytically cracked Allied aviation fuel in the first two years of American involvement in World War II. From a start of 40,000 barrels per day in 1941, production climbed to 200,000 barrels per day in 1943 and peaked at 373,000 barrels per day in 1944. America's contribution was irreplaceable, because on the eve of the war, American companies had been extracting about 60 percent of the world's petroleum, with the U.S.S.R. accounting for 17 percent and Britain and the Netherlands most of the rest. The Axis powers extracted virtually no petroleum. The Germans had made great strides in producing liquid fuels from coal, and after their early territorial conquests, notably in Romania, they had ample oil supplies. But with almost no homegrown knowledge base in oil refining, they were not able to catch up with the latest American advances, including catalytic cracking. Not until after the war did Germany or Japan begin producing 100-octane gasoline.

For a quick refrence, Gasoline - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By the early 1930s, automobile gasoline had an octane reading of 40 and aviation gasoline of 75-80. Aviation gasoline with such high octane numbers could only be refined through a process of distillation of high-grade petroleum. Germany's domestic oil was not of this quality. Only the additive tetra-ethyl lead could raise the octane to a maximum of 87. The license for the production of this additive was acquired in 1935 from the American holder of the patents, but without high-grade Romanian oil even this additive was not very effective. 100 octane fuel, designated either 'C-2' (natural) or 'C-3' (synthethic) was introduced in late 1939 with the Daimler-Benz DB 601N engine, used in certain of the Luftwaffe`s Bf 109E and Bf 109F single-engined fighters, Bf 110C twin-engined fighters, and several bomber types. Some later combat types, most notably the BMW 801D-powered Fw 190A, F and G series, and later war Bf 109G and K models, used C-3 as well. The nominally 87 octane aviation fuel, designated 'B-4' was produced in parallel during the war.
...
In late 1942, the Germans increased to octane rating of their high-grade 'C-3' aviation fuel to 150 octane. The relative volumes of production of the two grades B-4 and C-3 cannot be accurately given, but in the last war years perhaps two-thirds of the total was C-3. Every effort was being made toward the end of the war to increase isoparaffin production; more isoparaffin meant more C-3 available for fighter plane use.

A common misapprehension exists concerning wartime fuel octane numbers. There are two octane numbers for each fuel, one for lean mix and one for rich mix, rich being greater. The misunderstanding that German fuels had a lower octane number (and thus a poorer quality) arose because the Germans quoted the lean mix octane number for their fuels while the Allies quoted the rich mix number. Standard German high-grade 'C-3' aviation fuel used in the later part of the war had lean/rich octane numbers of 100/130. The Germans would list this as a 100 octane fuel while the Allies would list it as 130 octane.

 

[Kurfürst]

That process would make a crucial difference in mid-1940, when the Royal Air Force started filling its Spitfires and Hurricanes with 100-octane gasoline imported from the United States instead of the 87 octane it had formerly used. Luftwaffe pilots couldn't believe they were facing the same planes they had fought successfully over France a few months before. The planes were the same, but the fuel wasn't. In his 1943 book The Amazing Petroleum Industry, V. A. Kalichevsky of the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company explained what high-octane gasoline meant to Britain: "It is an established fact that a difference of only 13 points in octane number made possible the defeat of the Luftwaffe by the R.A.F. in the fall of 1940. This difference, slight as it seems, is sufficient to give a plane the vital 'edge' in altitude, rate of climb and maneuverability that spells the difference between defeat and victory."

a, Look at the date of the book.. 1943
b, 100 octane fuel, when used, was an equalizer. When one looks on the specs finds the Spitfire being about similiar in performance to the 109E, the mainstay Hurricane still inferior.
c, Appx. 1/4 of the RAF fighter squadrons used 100 octane during the Battle.
d, The Germans were also using 100 octane fuel in the Battle, the difference being they produced it domestically, whereas the British imported it from overseas. The LW in 1940 used it primarly in 110s, and some 109E groups as well with similiar boost in performance.

 

[syscom3]

Youre missing the point gentleman.

His invention was the basis of modern high octane fuel production, for during the war and afterwards.

The inaccuracies about who used what fuel when is irrelevant.

What is relevant is the efficient process for which he invented, allowed the allies to make it in such quantities that it fueled a vast war machine, at levels the Germans could never hope to match with their synthetics.

 

[kool kitty89]

I know, that part was very interesting to read. As was the events and people involved and the technical bits.

But the couple statements I mentioned, and Kfurst pointed out ate at me a bit...



And I also don't think the 100 octane fuel was a deciding factor in the BoB, it helped, but the outcome would have been the same. (albeit with some heavier lossed for the Brits)


Of course the big picture being true that the vast quantity (in addition to qualaty) of fuel, among other resoureses was pretty much the main deciding factor of the eventual outcome of the war, in addition to the virtually untouchable position of the US. (and even England's water barrier helped a great deal)
Not to get into more specifics, or more off topic.


Still a good read, despite the couple annoying points.

And Kfurst, did you read the whole article?