According to an article in Invention & Technology on the guy who
developed tetraethyl (sp?) lead for a motor fuel additive, octane
improvement was the goal and the success. By improving octane with the
lead additive, refineries could produce more gallons of gasolene (its
spelling at the time) from a barrel of oil. At that time, there was worry
in the automotive world that we were running out of petroleum and that
the growth of the industry would be curtailed because of lack of fuel.
Ethyl was the brand name of the additive, and it was sold as a premium
product. Pumps had painted on them a triangle inside a circle, with Ethyl
written across the triangle. Once on the market, it was quickly learned
that reduced valve wear was another benefit of the lead.
By the way, the same guy invented Freon, coming up with a refrigerant
that replaced ammonia in most applications, and was much less dangerous
to work with.
The irony of the guy's life was that he came up with two developments
that solved the problems he addressed, yet years later he was reviled for
unforseen consequences of his life's work.
Bob
On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 17:05:35 -0400 Pointparty@aol.com writes:
> thanks to all who replied, the consensus seems to be the improvement
> is in my imagination. However, the containers also brag about
> octane boost, which makes sense, since the primary difference
> between leaded and unleaded gas is tetraethyl lead compound. TIsn't
> the he purpose of the lead in leaded gas was to increase octane
> number?
>
> thanks..........mel 1971mgbgt
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