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E t h y x Ga s o l i n e Co r po r a t i o n Re s e a r c h La b o r a t o r ie s 723 E a s t Mi l w a u k e e a v e n u e De t r o it . Mic h ig a n O ctober 14, 1941 F ile D 30.2020 40 D r. R. A. Kehoe C ollege of M edicine U niversity of C incinnati C in c in n a ti, Ohio Dear Bob: I have y o u r l e t t e r o f O cto b er 11 i n r e f e r e n c e t o th e p r e s e n t s t a t u s o f th e research on iro n carbonyl. Our p re s e n t program on ir o n carb o n y l a t D e tro it and San B ernardino i s a f a i r l y la rg e one and i s d esig n ed to thrqw more l i g h t on i t s e f f e c t iv e n e s s a s an a n tik n o c k i n d i f f e r e n t b ase f u e l s , th e e x te n t to -which i t in creases engine wear and i t s p o s s ib ility as an in h ib ito r of p re ig n i tio n in h ig h com pression en g in es when u sed in sm all c o n c e n tra tio n s w ith le a d te tr a e th y l in g a s o lin e . Because o f th e wide range o f e n g in es and o p e ra tin g c o n d itio n s en co u n te re d in s e r v ic e , th e e v a lu a tio n o f any one o f th ese th re e phases of th e g en era l problem n e c e s s ita te s a la rg e r e search program . There i s no doubt about th e h ig h e ffe c tiv e n e s s of iro n carbonyl w ith . re s p e c t to le a d a t th e slow er engine speeds where knocking i s lik e ly to be m o st p ro n o u n c e d . The s i t u a t i o n w i t h r e s p e c t t o e n g in e w ear i s n o t so w ell d e fin e d . Under c e r ta in c o n d itio n s o f o p e ra tio n o f sin g le c y l in d er engines, th e presence of iro n in the fu el leads to q u ite d e fin ite in crease in ra te of wear whereas in cars on th e road th e sm aller con c e n tr a tio n s o f ir o n in w hich th e p re s e n t i n t e r e s t c e n te rs seem to have l i t t l e e f f e c t on w e a r. The s i t u a t i o n w ith r e s p e c t t o s p a r k p lu g s i s i n a b o u t th e same c a te g o ry . The B a t t e l l e M em orial I n s t i t u t e found t h a t zin c soaps ten d to reduce th e unusual w ear a ttrib u ta b le to iro n when they are added to th e g aso lin e b u t to date n e ith e r our chem ical la b o ra to r y n o r Dr. Gilman a t Iowa S ta te h as been a b le t o produce a s ta b le o r g an ic zin c compound. I t ap p ears th e re fo re th a t th e in h ib itin g e f f e c t of zin c can n ot be bro u g h t about on a com m ercial b a s is . In adm ixture w ith te tr a e th y l le a d in th e p ro p o rtio n of approxim ately th re e volumes o f iro n carbonyl to one o f t e t r a e t h y l le a d , ir o n carb o n y l has com pletely elim in a te d p re ig n itio n in a C hrysler car o f abnorm ally high com pression r a ti o w hereas a c o n c e n tra tio n o f te tr a e th y l le a d w hich g iv e s th e same a n tik n o c k e f f e o t a s th e m ix tu re in v a r ia b ly c a u se s p r e ig n i ti o n a t low m ile a g e . A t th e p r e s e n t tim e c a r t e s t s a re i n p ro g re s s i n Page 2O otober 14, 1941 D r. jR. A . Kehoe which th e volum e o f i r o n c a rb o n y l i s o n ly o n e - s i x t h o f t h a t o f th e t e t r a e t h y l l e a d . I f i n th e s e p r o p o r t i o n s th e m ix tu r e s h o u ld g iv e th e seme perform ance w ith re sp e c t to the absence of p re ig n itio n , the wear and spark plug problem s undoubtedly w ill d isa p p e a r. In c id e n ta lly , such an e f f e c t w ith re s p e c t to p r e ig n i ti o n w ould make ir o n more v a lu a b le th a n as a mere rep lacem en t f o r te tr a e t iiy l le a d as an a n tik n o c k . I t i s my own o p in io n t h a t th e h e a l t h h a z a r d p ro b lem i n r e f e r e n c e t o iro n carbonyl is n o t an u rg en t one b u t th a t any fundam ental d a ta th a t can be o b ta in e d w ith o u t to o much e f f o r t would be v ery much w o rth w h ile . I t w ould be u n f o r tu n a t e i f we s h o u ld c o n tin u e t o sp e n d tim e and money on a la rg e sc a le in th e developm ent o f iro n carbonyl only to f in d th a t th e h e a lth h a z a rd would p re c lu d e i t s u s e . I t would be e q u a lly u n fo rtu n a te to have a la rg e sc a le m edical program prove the p r a c t ic a b i lit y from a h e alth hazard standpoint w ith la te r engine research proving th e in su rm o u n ta b ility of c e rta in problem s o f u ti l i z a t i o n . S incerely yours EB.p CC: D r, George C a l i n g a e r t K F 0003329