Aviation fuel in WW1

[RobL]

Acquired this interesting postcard issued by Shell, presumably post-war, showing (hopefully without looking too much into an artist's impression) a Bristol F2b Fighter with French roundels, which says that up until 1917 Shell supplied aviation petrol for the British flying services - after that, who supplied it? Was it pooled from all sources, ie Pratts as well?

Also, presumably from the term 'motor spirit' then the same petrol as that used in motorcycles, lorries, cars, Tanks etc was used in aircraft - when did higher octane fuel start to be used for aircraft?

[David B]

There is not much on the internet on this subject but it appears that the fuel supplied by Shell came from Sumatra and Borneo with an octane

ratio of around 70. Post summer 1917 the fuel was supplied from sources in Pennsylvania and the Continent and supposedly had an octane

rating of 45-55 which played havoc with engines. How correct this is I cannot vouch for, but interestingly in ww2 pool petrol in Australia had

an octane rating of 72 IIRC.

[widavies]

There is not much on the internet on this subject but it appears that the fuel supplied by Shell came from Sumatra and Borneo with an octane

ratio of around 70. Post summer 1917 the fuel was supplied from sources in Pennsylvania and the Continent and supposedly had an octane

rating of 45-55 which played havoc with engines. How correct this is I cannot vouch for, but interestingly in ww2 pool petrol in Australia had

an octane rating of 72 IIRC.

This is true, but the British were not affected by the reduction in Octane Grade as they continued to import their supplies from the best Sumatra crude via Shell which they had secured by trade agreement pre war. Once refined this high grade crude had just the right natural composition which gave rise to best grade aviation fuel that when in use had smoother running engines with great compression power. It was the French that had the problems due to lack of forsight in tendering for supplies and refineries pre war. Their own sourced crude supply also from the far east was from Borneo which was lighter in paraffin composition with a slightly higher aromatic content and thus gave rise to reasonable aviation fuel that did provide smooth engine running conditions but with slightly less power.

So once increased mechanisation was in full swing in mid 1916 the French did not have the recources to transport and refine the Borneo crude oil in sufficient quantities to meet the demand. In desparation they turned to the Americans to make up for the shortfall and by mid 1917 they were receiving aviation fuel from across the Atlantic. However this was in the days before the use of additives (most notably Tetra Ethyl lead) was available to increase the octane rating and help prevent knocking or detonation. This US aviation fuel although sufficient for most purposes had an increased paraffin content and less aromatic content than the far east crudes and in the high compression aero engines this lead to a small drop in performance because it was more likely to detonate and cause backfiring.

Regards

Will

[centurion]

Partly correct Until 1915 all refining was through straight run distillation. Under this no more than 20% of crude could be turned into petroleum (gasoline) and often much less. The proportion of this that was high octane was limited by the nature of the crude feed stock. Before WW1 because the majority of oil product use was for lighting and heating (paraffin/kerosene) this was not a problem, indeed some refinery management regarded petrol/gasoline as an annoying by product for which there was little demand. Aviation quality fuel could be produced from Borneo crude but only in small amounts relative to the total production. Again before WW1 demand was relatively low so this was not a problem. By 1910 however it was becoming apparent that with electrification in many Western countries the demand for paraffin/kerosene would fall dramatically whilst with the increase in the use of cars. buses and lorries the demand for petrol/gasoline would rise. Henry Ford amongst others were demanding that the oil companies produce more petrol/gasoline and more cheaply. In 1913 William Burton was awarded the first patent for Thermal Cracking. This revolutionised the industry as it meant that up to 40% of a barrel could be turned into petrol/gasoline and a greater range of feed stocks (types of crude) could be used. The first refinery using thermal cracking went on stream in the USA in 1915. Britain quickly followed but France was slower to get thermal cracking into production. Refinery scheduling was (and still is) a complex task in which the processes used are balanced with the type and quality of feed stock available (and its cost) and demand. Once a refinery was set up to produce a slate of products it would run like that for quite a period (say up to a year) Changing this could require a shut-down and turn round period of between a month to six weeks with a consequent loss of output. It was France's misfortune that the new US refineries were not scheduled to produce the quality of fuel in the quantities desired so that when the demand came in 1917 it was a matter of accepting what could be produced at the time. By the end of the war US refineries were producing significant quantities of aviation spirit for both France and Britain.

With the introduction of Catalytic Cracking in the 1930s the range of feedstocks that could be used economically to produce petrol/gasoline increased dramatically so that Arabian light (relatively poor quality but very cheap to extract) became a worthwhile feedstock so that today what remains of Indonesia's output (high quality but expensive to extract) is sold to produce light lubricating oils whilst Indonesia's own refineries use a slate of feed stocks - mainly from Saudi Arabia.

[widavies]

Partly correct Until 1915 all refining was through straight run distillation. Under this no more than 20% of crude could be turned into petroleum (gasoline) and often much less. The proportion of this that was high octane was limited by the nature of the crude feed stock. Before WW1 because the majority of oil product use was for lighting and heating (paraffin/kerosene) this was not a problem, indeed some refinery management regarded petrol/gasoline as an annoying by product for which there was little demand. Aviation quality fuel could be produced from Borneo crude but only in small amounts relative to the total production. Again before WW1 demand was relatively low so this was not a problem. By 1910 however it was becoming apparent that with electrification in many Western countries the demand for paraffin/kerosene would fall dramatically whilst with the increase in the use of cars. buses and lorries the demand for petrol/gasoline would rise. Henry Ford amongst others were demanding that the oil companies produce more petrol/gasoline and more cheaply. In 1913 William Burton was awarded the first patent for Thermal Cracking. This revolutionised the industry as it meant that up to 40% of a barrel could be turned into petrol/gasoline and a greater range of feed stocks (types of crude) could be used. The first refinery using thermal cracking went on stream in the USA in 1915. Britain quickly followed but France was slower to get thermal cracking into production. Refinery scheduling was (and still is) a complex task in which the processes used are balanced with the type and quality of feed stock available (and its cost) and demand. Once a refinery was set up to produce a slate of products it would run like that for quite a period (say up to a year) Changing this could require a shut-down and turn round period of between a month to six weeks with a consequent loss of output. It was France's misfortune that the new US refineries were not scheduled to produce the quality of fuel in the quantities desired so that when the demand came in 1917 it was a matter of accepting what could be produced at the time. By the end of the war US refineries were producing significant quantities of aviation spirit for both France and Britain.

With the introduction of Catalytic Cracking in the 1930s the range of feedstocks that could be used economically to produce petrol/gasoline increased dramatically so that Arabian light (relatively poor quality but very cheap to extract) became a worthwhile feedstock so that today what remains of Indonesia's output (high quality but expensive to extract) is sold to produce light lubricating oils whilst Indonesia's own refineries use a slate of feed stocks - mainly from Saudi Arabia.

Quite right, but in the early days the temperature control of the required plates (product cracking temp levels) to get different petroleum product derivatives on an industrial scale was still very much in its infancy so the quality of source crude oil composition still had a great affect on the final product quality. Also the use of additives needed to produce the same affects for the smooth running of aero engines as per the natural derivitives of Sumatra crude was not available until the early 1920's I think from memory.

Regards

Will

[centurion]

Quite right, but in the early days the temperature control of the required plates (product cracking temp levels) to get different petroleum product derivatives on an industrial scale was still very much in its infancy so the quality of source crude oil composition still had a great affect on the final product quality. Also the use of additives needed to produce the same affects for the smooth running of aero engines as per the natural derivitives of Sumatra crude was not available until the early 1920's I think from memory.

Regards

Will

The biggest issue was the lack of adequate refinery instrumentation and associated controls. Nethertheless it did release some of the pressure on feedstock supplies

Tetraethyl lead was introduced in the early 20s however it was not suitable as an anti knocking agent for high performance aircraft engines (as the lead did nasty things to the valves). Non lead additives did not arrive until the mid 1930s. One advantage lead had was it meant easier management of refineries so a lack of output consistency could be adjusted by "bunging in a bit more lead" as one refinery engineer summarised it to me. Indeed when I lead a team doing a feasibility study on the conversion of Indonesia to unleaded petrol (for The World Bank) one of the major obstacles was ihe lack of the necessary controls instrumentation and skills necessary to produce high octane unleaded petrol to a consistent quality so used to controling output through "lead bunging" had the industry become.

The lack of modern controls etc was one reason why changing out put required a shut down and turn round so that the early US industry could not adjust easily to French requirements. Indeed I suspect that it has been the modern development of modern electronic based intrumentation and controls with associated computer systems that has enabled the worls swich over to unleaded.

[tipperary]

Centurion i seem to have a memory of reading sometime ago (30ish years) that tanks in transport were using a lower grade fuel changing over to aircraft grade fuel before going into action. Did this happen?john

[centurion]

Centurion i seem to have a memory of reading sometime ago (30ish years) that tanks in transport were using a lower grade fuel changing over to aircraft grade fuel before going into action. Did this happen?john

Possibly in WW2 when some of the later Allied tanks used aircraft engines (eg Pratt and Whitney). WW1 tanks did not (Daimler and later Ricardo engines in British tanks) and in any case were mainly transported by rail to as close to their jumping off points as possible. I would think that refuelling at the jumping off point would not be advisable

[centurion]

To add to the above the Daimler 105 hp engine put in the first British tanks was the same as was made for the Daimler Foster Tractor.

I have seen an instance of aviation spirit used in a Mk IV tank. During the chaos of the German March offensive one retreating British tank was nearly out of fuel and its crew about to bale out when they came across an abandoned British airstrip with cans of aviation fuel neatly stacked at the side of the runway and were able to refuel using these. Whether it had any effect. good or bad, on the Daimler engine is not revealed.

[widavies]

Possibly in WW2 when some of the later Allied tanks used aircraft engines (eg Pratt and Whitney). WW1 tanks did not (Daimler and later Ricardo engines in British tanks) and in any case were mainly transported by rail to as close to their jumping off points as possible. I would think that refuelling at the jumping off point would not be advisable

Hi

I found this link on the aerodrome forum which ties in everything we have discussed earlier in this topic and even mentions high octane in use for WW1 tank engines. The source of the original data is also given.

http://www.theaerodr...rol-octane.html

Regards

Will

[centurion]

And clearly states that Ricardo's requests for the use of aviation spirit in tanks were turned down. Ricardos engines were still engineered for the lower octane petrol. They were fitted to all MkV and MkV* and retro fitted to a few Mk IVs. It is therefore unlikely that, except in emergencies, aviation fuel was used in tanks in WW1

[MikeMeech]

Hi All

It is of interest to note that in a letter from HQ Tank Corps to GHQ dated 25.5.1918, signed by Elles, it mentions the use of aeroplanes: "To supply Advanced Units of Tanks with Petrol, ammunition, etc."

A letter from HQ RFC to GHQ follows this in the TNA file, this states: "Petrol, ammunition, etc.,could be dropped, but the former only in small quantities. Very careful pre-arrangement would be necessary."

I suspect that a lot of work would have to be done to protect the 'flimsy' petrol cans then in use, there were problems with dropping fuel in WW2. My father was an air dispatcher for 6 months flying with the USAAF, in C-47s, over Burma. They had to do an emergency fuel supply (1944-45 time) to ground forces, however, all the fuel containers burst on landing and these were fairly robust types unlike the WW1 containers.

I hope that is of interest.

Mike