100-octane

The story behind the fuel

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Transportation, Aviation
Cover of the book 100-octane by Peter Varey, Peter Varey Associates
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Peter Varey ISBN: 9780953844043
Publisher: Peter Varey Associates Publication: May 24, 2017
Imprint: Peter Varey Associates Language: English
Author: Peter Varey
ISBN: 9780953844043
Publisher: Peter Varey Associates
Publication: May 24, 2017
Imprint: Peter Varey Associates
Language: English

A Pole, a Russian and an Frenchman were the key contributors to 100-octane gasoline. This is the fuel which powered the new high-compression engines of US fighter aircraft from 1937 and later the Merlin engines which helped the RAF's Spitfires and Hurricanes survive the Battle of Britain in 1940. All three men worked in the United States in the 1930s and their ideas came together to produce 100-octane gasoline.

Herman Pines, newly arrived from Poland via Lyon, France, found work hard to come by until he joined Universal Oil Products in Chicago in 1930 as a temporary laboratory assistant, He made a key observation soon afterwards. Experienced Russian chemist Vladimir Ipatieff joined him, and the two worked on previously unknown transformations of petroleum to create very high octane (and very expensive) "alkylates". They faced personal as well as technical challenges. Ipatieff was chased by Stalin's agents to return to the Soviet Union; Pines could only watch, helpless, as his family in Poland became trapped in ghettos and were exterminated by the Nazis.

Houdry's challenges were technical and financial. In France he had discovered a new process which produced, using a catatyst, a gasoline of 80-octane in a single step from petroleum. This was ideal for topping up to 100-octane with Ipatieff and Pines's alkylates. Looking for a backer to provide his development costs, Houdry found one in the United States. With preparations for war, the money for both Houdry's gasoline and Ipatieff and Pines' alkylates became more available and economies of scale saw prices drop. By 1940 the British government had persuaded the Americans to supply the RAF with 100-octane fuel and as a result Hurricanes and Spitfires were able to hold off a technically-superior foe. Today the work of these three men still forms the basis of high-octane gasoline at high-street pumps.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A Pole, a Russian and an Frenchman were the key contributors to 100-octane gasoline. This is the fuel which powered the new high-compression engines of US fighter aircraft from 1937 and later the Merlin engines which helped the RAF's Spitfires and Hurricanes survive the Battle of Britain in 1940. All three men worked in the United States in the 1930s and their ideas came together to produce 100-octane gasoline.

Herman Pines, newly arrived from Poland via Lyon, France, found work hard to come by until he joined Universal Oil Products in Chicago in 1930 as a temporary laboratory assistant, He made a key observation soon afterwards. Experienced Russian chemist Vladimir Ipatieff joined him, and the two worked on previously unknown transformations of petroleum to create very high octane (and very expensive) "alkylates". They faced personal as well as technical challenges. Ipatieff was chased by Stalin's agents to return to the Soviet Union; Pines could only watch, helpless, as his family in Poland became trapped in ghettos and were exterminated by the Nazis.

Houdry's challenges were technical and financial. In France he had discovered a new process which produced, using a catatyst, a gasoline of 80-octane in a single step from petroleum. This was ideal for topping up to 100-octane with Ipatieff and Pines's alkylates. Looking for a backer to provide his development costs, Houdry found one in the United States. With preparations for war, the money for both Houdry's gasoline and Ipatieff and Pines' alkylates became more available and economies of scale saw prices drop. By 1940 the British government had persuaded the Americans to supply the RAF with 100-octane fuel and as a result Hurricanes and Spitfires were able to hold off a technically-superior foe. Today the work of these three men still forms the basis of high-octane gasoline at high-street pumps.

More books from Aviation

Cover of the book I Was Hitler's Pilot by Peter Varey
Cover of the book My Little Golden Book About Airplanes by Peter Varey
Cover of the book The Political Economy of Aerospace Industries by Peter Varey
Cover of the book Flying Too Close to the Sun by Peter Varey
Cover of the book Airline Transport Pilot Oral Exam Guide by Peter Varey
Cover of the book In Service to the Nation: Air Force Research Institute Strategic Concept for 2018-2023 - U.S. Air Force Strategy Past, Present, and Future, Base Closures, Natural Disaster Threats to Air Force Bases by Peter Varey
Cover of the book Pe-2 Guards Units of World War 2 by Peter Varey
Cover of the book Far East Air Operations 1942-1945 by Peter Varey
Cover of the book Tupolev Tu-128 ‘Fiddler’ by Peter Varey
Cover of the book The Fearless Flier's Handbook by Peter Varey
Cover of the book Russia and NATO Ballistic Missile Defense: The European Phased Adaptive Approach Experience, 2009-2017, Obama Plan and BMD History, Response of Poland, Czech Republic, and Russia by Peter Varey
Cover of the book Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Peter Varey
Cover of the book 21st Century U.S. Military Documents: Air Force C-130J Super Hercules Transport Aircraft - Operations Procedures, Aircrew Evaluation Criteria, Aircrew Training Flying Operations by Peter Varey
Cover of the book San Diego's North Island by Peter Varey
Cover of the book The Air University Pantheon of Air, Space, and Cyberspace Power Thinkers: Wright Brothers, Billy Mitchell, Robert Goddard, Hap Arnold, Claire Chennault, Theodore von Karman, and Others by Peter Varey
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy