Dictionary Definition
gasoline n : a volatile flammable mixture of
hydrocarbons (hexane and heptane and octane etc.) derived from
petroleum; used mainly as a fuel in internal-combustion engines
[syn: gasolene,
gas, petrol]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- a UK /ˈgæs.ə.lɪin/ /"g
Extensive Definition
Gasoline (gas) or petroleum
spirit (petrol) is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly
of aliphatic hydrocarbons, enhanced with
iso-octane or
the aromatic
hydrocarbons toluene and
benzene to increase its
octane
rating, and is primarily used as fuel in internal
combustion engines.
Most Commonwealth
countries or former Commonwealth countries (with the exception
of Canada)
use the term "petrol" (abbreviated from petroleum spirit). The term
"gasoline" is commonly used in North
America where it is often shortened in colloquial usage to "gas."
This should be distinguished in usage from genuinely gaseous fuels used in internal
combustion engines such as liquefied
petroleum gas (which is stored pressurised as a liquid but is
allowed to return naturally to a gaseous state before
combustion).
The term mogas, short for
motor gasoline, distinguishes automobile fuel from aviation
gasoline, or avgas. The
word "gasoline" can also be used in British
English to refer to a different petroleum derivative
historically used in lamps, but this use is now
uncommon.
History
Gasoline is a mixture of
hydrocarbons, although some may contain significant quantities of
ethanol and some may contain small quantities of additives such as
methyl
tert-butyl ether as anti-knock agents to increase the octane
rating. The hydrocarbons consist of a mixture of n-paraffins,
naphthenes, olefins and aromatics. Naphthenes, olefins and
aromatics increase the octane rating of the gasoline whereas the
n-paraffins have the opposite effect.
Early uses
Before gasoline was used as fuel for engines, it was sold in small bottles as a treatment against lice and their eggs. At that time, the word Petrol was a trade name. This treatment method is no longer common, because of the inherent fire hazard and the risk of dermatitis.In the U.S., gasoline was also
sold as a cleaning fluid to remove grease stains from clothing.
Before dedicated filling
stations were established, early motorists would buy gasoline
in cans to fill their tanks.
The name gasoline is similar
to that of other petroleum products of the day, most notably
petroleum
jelly, a highly purified heavy distillate, which was branded
Vaseline.
The trademark Gasoline, however, was never registered, and thus
became generic. Gasoline was also used in kitchen ranges and for
lighting, and is still available in a highly purified form, known
as camping fuel or white gas, for
use in lanterns and portable stoves.
During the Franco-Prussian
War (1870–1871), pétrole was stockpiled in Paris for use against
a possible German-Prussian
attack on the city. Later in 1871, during the revolutionary
Paris
Commune, rumours spread around the city of pétroleuses,
women using bottles of petrol to commit arson against city
buildings.
Etymology
The word "gasolene" was coined in 1865 from the word gas and the chemical suffix -ine/-ene. The modern spelling was first used in 1871. The shortened form "gas" was first recorded in American English in 1905. Gasoline originally referred to any liquid used as the fuel for a gasoline-powered engine, other than diesel fuel or liquefied gas; methanol racing fuel would have been classed as a type of gasoline.The word "petrol" was first
used in reference to the refined substance as early as 1892 (it was
previously used to refer to unrefined petroleum), and was
registered as a trade name by British wholesaler Carless, Capel
& Leonard at the suggestion of Frederick
Richard Simms. Although it was never officially registered as a
trademark, Carless's competitors used the term "Motor Spirit" until
the 1930s. It has also been suggested that the word was coined by
Edward
Butler in 1887.
In Germany and some
other European countries, gasoline is called Benzin (German
and Danish),
Bensin (Swedish
and Norwegian),
Benzyna (Polish),
Benzină (Romanian), Бензин
(Russian),
and other variants of this word. The usage does not derive from
Bertha
Benz, who used chemist shops to purchase the gasoline for her
famous drive from Mannheim to
Pforzheim
in 1888, but from the chemical benzene.
Chemical analysis and production
Gasoline is produced in oil refineries. Material that is separated from crude oil via distillation, called virgin or straight-run gasoline, does not meet the required specifications for modern engines (in particular octane rating; see below), but will form part of the blend.The bulk of a typical gasoline
consists of hydrocarbons with between 5
and 12 carbon atoms per molecule.
Many of these hydrocarbons are
considered hazardous substances and are regulated in the United
States by
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The
Material Safety Data Sheet for unleaded gasoline shows at least
fifteen hazardous chemicals occurring in various amounts. These
include benzene (up to
5% by volume), toluene
(up to 35% by volume), naphthalene (up to 1% by
volume), trimethylbenzene
(up to 7% by volume), MTBE (up to 18% by
volume) and about 10 others.
The various refinery
streams blended together to make gasoline all have different
characteristics. Some important streams are:
- Reformate, produced in a catalytic reformer with a high octane rating and high aromatic content, and very low olefins (alkenes).
- Cat Cracked Gasoline or Cat Cracked Naphtha, produced from a catalytic cracker, with a moderate octane rating, high olefins (alkene) content, and moderate aromatics level. Here, "cat" is short for "catalytic".
- Hydrocrackate (Heavy, Mid, and Light), produced from a hydrocracker, with medium to low octane rating and moderate aromatic levels.
- Virgin or Straight-run Naphtha (has many names), directly from crude oil with low octane rating, low aromatics (depending on the crude oil), some naphthenes (cycloalkanes) and no olefins (alkenes).
- Alkylate, produced in an alkylation unit, with a high octane rating and which is pure paraffin (alkane), mainly branched chains.
- Isomerate (various names) which is obtained by isomerising the pentane and hexane in light virgin naphthas to yield their higher octane isomers.
(The terms used here are not
always the correct chemical terms. They are the jargon normally used in the oil
industry. The exact terminology for these streams varies by
refinery and by country.)
Overall a typical gasoline is
predominantly a mixture of paraffins (alkanes), naphthenes
(cycloalkanes), and olefins (alkenes). The exact ratios can depend
on
- the oil refinery that makes the gasoline, as not all refineries have the same set of processing units.
- the crude oil feed used by the refinery.
- the grade of gasoline, in particular the octane rating.
Currently many countries set
tight limits on gasoline aromatics in general, benzene in particular, and
olefin (alkene) content. This is increasing the demand for high
octane pure paraffin (alkane) components, such as alkylate, and is
forcing refineries to add processing units to reduce the benzene
content.
Gasoline can also contain some
other organic
compounds: such as organic
ethers (deliberately added), plus small levels of contaminants,
in particular sulfur
compounds such as disulfides and thiophenes. Some contaminants,
in particular thiols and
hydrogen
sulfide, must be removed because they cause corrosion in
engines. Sulfur compounds are usually removed by hydrotreating,
yielding hydrogen
sulfide which can then be transformed into elemental sulfur via
the Claus
process.
Volatility
Gasoline is more volatile than diesel oil, Jet-A or kerosene, not only because of the base constituents, but because of the additives that are put into it. The final control of volatility is often achieved by blending with butane. The Reid Vapor Pressure test is used to measure the volatility of gasoline. The desired volatility depends on the ambient temperature: in hotter climates, gasoline components of higher molecular weight and thus lower volatility are used. In cold climates, too little volatility results in cars failing to start. In hot climates, excessive volatility results in what is known as "vapour lock" where combustion fails to occur, because the liquid fuel has changed to a gaseous fuel in the fuel lines.In the United States,
volatility is regulated in large urban centers to reduce the
emission of unburned hydrocarbons. In large cities, so-called
reformulated gasoline that is less prone to evaporation, among
other properties, is required. In Australia summer petrol
volatility limits are set by State Governments and vary between
capital cities. Most countries simply have a summer, winter and
perhaps intermediate limit.
Volatility standards may be
relaxed (allowing more gasoline components into the atmosphere)
during emergency anticipated gasoline shortages. For example, on
31
August 2005 in response to
Hurricane
Katrina, the United States permitted the sale of
non-reformulated gasoline in some urban areas, which effectively
permitted an early switch from summer to winter-grade gasoline. As
mandated by
EPA administrator Stephen
L. Johnson, this "fuel waiver" was made effective through
15
September 2005. Though relaxed
volatility standards may increase the atmospheric concentration of
volatile organic compounds in warm weather, higher volatility
gasoline effectively increases a nation's gasoline supply because
the amount of butane in the gasoline pool is allowed to
increase.
Octane rating
see details octane rating An important characteristic of gasoline is its octane rating, which is a measure of how resistant gasoline is to the abnormal combustion phenomenon known as detonation (also known as knocking, pinging, spark knock, and other names). Deflagration is the normal type of combustion. Octane rating is measured relative to a mixture of 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (an isomer of octane) and n-heptane. There are a number of different conventions for expressing the octane rating; therefore, the same fuel may be labeled with a different number, depending upon the system used.World War II and octane ratings
During World War II, Germany received much of its oil from Romania. From in 1938, Romania’s exports to Germany increased to by 1941, a level that was essentially maintained through 1942 and 1943, before dropping by half, due to Allied bombing and mining of the Danube. Although these exports were almost half of Romania’s total production, they were considerably less than what the Germans expected. Even with the addition of the Romanian deliveries, overland oil imports after 1939 could not make up for the loss of overseas shipments. In order to become less dependent on outside sources, the Germans undertook a sizable expansion program of their own meager domestic oil pumping. After 1938, the Austrian oil fields were made available, and the expansion of Nazi crude oil output was chiefly concentrated there. Primarily as a result of this expansion, the Reich's domestic output of crude oil increased from approximately in 1938 to almost in 1944. Even this was not enough.Instead, Germany had developed
a synthetic fuel capacity that was intended to replace imported or
captured oil. Fuels were generated from coal, using either the Bergius
process or the Fischer-Tropsch
process. Between 1938 and 1943, synthetic fuel output underwent
a respectable growth from to 36 million. The percentage of
synthetic fuels compared with the yield from all sources grew from
22 percent to more than 50 percent by 1943. The total oil supplies
available from all sources for the same period rose from in 1938 to
in 1943.
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 the US the oil
was not "as good," and the oil industry had to invest heavily in
various expensive boosting systems. This turned out to have
benefits: the US industry started delivering fuels of increasing
octane ratings by adding more of the boosting agents, and the
infrastructure was in place for a post-war octane-agents additive
industry. Good crude oil was no longer a factor during wartime, and
by war's end, American aviation fuel was commonly 130 octane, and
150 octane was available in limited quantities for fighters from
the summer of 1944. This high octane could easily be used in
existing engines to deliver much more power by increasing the
pressure delivered by the superchargers.
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.
After the war the US Navy sent
a Technical Mission to Germany to interview German petrochemists
and examine German fuel quality. Their report entitled “Technical
Report 145-45 Manufacture of Aviation Gasoline in Germany”
chemically analyzed the different fuels, and concluded that “Toward
the end of the war the quality of fuel being used by the German
fighter planes was quite similar to that being used by the
Allies.”
Energy content
Gasoline contains about 34.6 megajoules per liter(MJ/L) or 131 MJ/US gallon. In kWh terms, this is 9.6 kWh per liter or 43.6 kWh per UK gallon. This is an average; gasoline blends differ, therefore actual energy content varies from season to season and from batch to batch, by as much as 4% more or less than the average, according to the US EPA. On average, about 19.5 gallons of gasoline are available from a 42 gallon barrel of crude oil, varying due to quality of crude and grade of gasoline. The remaining residue comes off as products ranging from tar to naptha http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html.Volumetric energy
density of some fuels compared with gasoline:
(*) Diesel is not used in a
gasoline engine, so its low octane rating is not an issue; the
relevant metric for diesel engines is the cetane
number
A high octane fuel such as
Liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) has a lower energy content than lower
octane gasoline, resulting in an overall lower power output at the
regular compression ratio an engine ran at on gasoline. However,
with an engine tuned to
the use of
LPG (ie. via higher compression ratios such as 12:1 instead of
8:1), this lower power output can be overcome. This is because
higher-octane fuels allow for a higher compression
ratio - this means less space in a cylinder on its combustion
stroke, hence a higher cylinder temperature which improves
efficiency according to Carnot's
theorem, along with fewer wasted hydrocarbons (therefore less
pollution and wasted energy), bringing higher power levels coupled
with less pollution overall because of the greater
efficiency.
The main reason for the lower
energy content (per litre) of LPG in comparison to gasoline is that
it has a lower density.
Energy content per kilogram is higher than for gasoline (higher
hydrogen to carbon ratio). The weight-density
of gasoline is about 737.22 kg/m³.
Different countries have some
variation in what RON (Research Octane Number) is standard for
gasoline, or petrol. In the UK, ordinary regular unleaded petrol is
91 RON (not commonly available), premium unleaded petrol is always
95 RON, and super unleaded is usually 97-98 RON. However both Shell
and BP produce fuel at 102 RON for cars with hi-performance
engines, and the supermarket chain Tesco began in 2006
to sell super unleaded petrol rated at 99 RON. In the US, octane
ratings in fuels can vary between 86-87 AKI (91-92 RON) for
regular, through 89-90 (94-95) for mid-grade (European Premium), up
to 90-94 (RON 95-99) for premium unleaded or E10 (Super in
Europe)
Additives
Lead
The mixture known as gasoline, when used in high compression internal combustion engines, has a tendency to autoignite(detonation) causing a damaging "engine knocking" (also called "pinging" or "pinking") noise. Early research into this effect was led by A.H. Gibson and Harry Ricardo in England and Thomas Midgley and Thomas Boyd in the United States. The discovery that lead additives modified this behavior led to the widespread adoption of the practice in the 1920s and therefore more powerful higher compression engines. The most popular additive was tetra-ethyl lead. However, with the discovery of the environmental and health damage caused by the lead, and the incompatibility of lead with catalytic converters found on virtually all newly sold US automobiles since 1975, this practice began to wane (encouraged by many governments introducing differential tax rates) in the 1980s. Most countries are phasing out leaded fuel; different additives have replaced the lead compounds. The most popular additives include aromatic hydrocarbons, ethers and alcohol (usually ethanol or methanol).In the U.S., where lead was
blended with gasoline (primarily to boost octane levels) since the
early 1920s, standards to phase out leaded gasoline were first
implemented in 1973. In 1995, leaded fuel accounted for only 0.6 %
of total gasoline sales and less than 2,000 short tons of
lead per year. From January 1,
1996, the
Clean
Air Act banned the sale of leaded fuel for use in on-road
vehicles. Possession and use of leaded gasoline in a regular
on-road vehicle now carries a maximum $10,000 fine in the United
States. However, fuel containing lead may continue to be sold for
off-road uses, including aircraft, racing cars, farm equipment, and
marine engines. The ban on leaded gasoline led to thousands of tons
of lead not being released in the air by automobiles. Similar bans
in other countries have resulted in lowering levels of lead in
people's bloodstreams.
A side effect of the lead
additives was protection of the valve seats
from erosion. Many classic cars'
engines have needed modification to use lead-free fuels since
leaded fuels became unavailable. However, "Lead substitute"
products are also produced and can sometimes be found at auto parts
stores.
Gasoline, as delivered at the
pump, also contains additives to reduce internal engine carbon
buildups, improve combustion, and to allow
easier starting in cold climates.
In some parts of South
America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the
Middle
East, leaded gasoline is still in use. Leaded gasoline was
phased out in sub-Saharan
Africa effective 1 January,
2006. A
growing number of countries have drawn up plans to ban leaded
gasoline in the near future.
MMT
Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) has been used for many years in Canada and recently in Australia to boost octane. It also helps old cars designed for leaded fuel run on unleaded fuel without need for additives to prevent valve problems.US Federal sources state that
MMT is suspected to be a powerful neurotoxin and respiratory toxin,
and a large Canadian study concluded that MMT impairs the
effectiveness of automobile emission controls and increases
pollution from motor vehicles.
In 1977, use of MMT was banned
in the US by the Clean Air Act until the Ethyl Corporation could
prove that the additive would not lead to failure of new car
emissions-control systems. As a result of this ruling, the Ethyl
Corporation began a legal battle with the EPA, presenting evidence
that MMT was harmless to automobile emissions-control systems. In
1995, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the EPA had exceeded its
authority and, as a result, MMT became a legal fuel additive in the
US. MMT is nowadays manufactured by the Afton Chemical Corporation
division of Newmarket Corporation.
Ethanol
In the United States, ethanol is sometimes added to gasoline but sold without an indication that it is a component. Chevron, 76, Shell, and several other brands market ethanol-gasoline blends.In several states, ethanol is
added by law to a minimum level which is currently 5.9%. Most fuel
pumps display a sticker stating that the fuel may contain up to 10%
ethanol, an intentional disparity which allows the minimum level to
be raised over time without requiring modification of the
literature/labeling. The bill which was being debated at the time
the disclosure of the presence of ethanol in the fuel was mandated
has recently passed. This law (Energy
Bill 2005) will require all auto fuel to contain at least 10%
ethanol. Many call this fuel mix gasohol.
In the EU, 5% ethanol can be
added within the common gasoline spec (EN 228). Discussions are
ongoing to allow 10% blending of ethanol. Most countries (fuel
distributors) today do not add so much ethanol. Most gasoline
(petrol) sold in Sweden has 5% ethanol added.
In Brazil, the
Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and
Biofuels (ANP) requires that gasoline for automobile use has
23% of ethanol added to its composition.
Dye
In the United States the most commonly used aircraft gasoline, avgas, or aviation gas, is known as 100LL (100 octane, low lead) and is dyed blue. Red dye has been used for identifying untaxed (non-highway use) agricultural diesel. The UK uses red dye to differentiate between regular diesel fuel, (often referred to as DERV), which is undyed, and diesel intended for agricultural and construction vehicles like excavators and bulldozers. Red diesel is still occasionally used on HGVs which use a separate engine to power a loader crane. This is a declining practice however, as many loader cranes are powered directly by the tractor unit.Oxygenate blending
Oxygenate blending adds oxygen to the fuel in oxygen-bearing compounds such as MTBE, ETBE and ethanol, and so reduces the amount of carbon monoxide and unburned fuel in the exhaust gas, thus reducing smog. In many areas throughout the US oxygenate blending is mandated by EPA regulations to reduce smog and other airborne polutants. For example, in Southern California, fuel must contain 2% oxygen by weight, resulting in a mixture of 5.6% ethanol in gasoline. The resulting fuel is often known as reformulated gasoline (RFG) or oxygenated gasoline. The federal requirement that RFG contain oxygen was dropped May 6, 2006 because the industry had developed VOC-controlled RFG that did not need additional oxygen.MTBE use is being phased out
in some states due to issues with contamination of ground water. In
some places it is already banned. Ethanol and to a lesser extent
the ethanol derived ETBE are a common replacements. Especially
since ethanol derived from biomatter such as corn, sugar cane or
grain is frequent, this will often be referred to as bio-ethanol. A
common ethanol-gasoline mix of 10% ethanol mixed with gasoline is
called gasohol or
E10, and an ethanol-gasoline mix of 85% ethanol mixed with gasoline
is called E85.
The most extensive use of ethanol takes place in Brazil, where the
ethanol is derived from sugarcane. In 2004, over 3,400
million US gallons (13,000,000 m³) of ethanol was produced in the
United States for fuel use, mostly from corn, and E85 is slowly becoming
available in much of the United States. Unfortunately many of the
relatively few stations vending E85 are not open to the general
public. The use of bioethanol, either directly
or indirectly by conversion of such ethanol to bio-ETBE, is
encouraged by the European Union
Directive on the Promotion of the use of biofuels and other
renewable fuels for transport. However since producing
bio-ethanol from fermented sugars and starches involves distillation, ordinary
people in much of Europe cannot ferment and distill their own
bio-ethanol at present (unlike in the US where getting a BATF distillation
permit has been easy since the 1973 oil crisis.)
Health concerns
Many of the non-aliphatic hydrocarbons naturally present in gasoline (especially aromatic ones like benzene), as well as many anti-knocking additives, are carcinogenic. Because of this, any large-scale or ongoing leaks of gasoline pose a threat to the public's health and the environment, should the gasoline reach a public supply of drinking water. The chief risks of such leaks come not from vehicles, but from gasoline delivery truck accidents and leaks from storage tanks. Because of this risk, most (underground) storage tanks now have extensive measures in place to detect and prevent any such leaks, such as sacrificial anodes. Gasoline is rather volatile (meaning it readily evaporates), requiring that storage tanks on land and in vehicles be properly sealed. The high volatility also means that it will easily ignite in cold weather conditions, unlike diesel for example. Appropriate venting is needed to ensure the level of pressure is similar on the inside and outside. Gasoline also reacts dangerously with certain common chemicals.Gasoline is also one of the
sources of pollutant gases. Even gasoline which does not contain
lead or sulfur compounds
produces carbon
dioxide, nitrogen
oxides, and carbon
monoxide in the exhaust of the engine which is running on it.
Furthermore, unburnt gasoline and
evaporation from the tank, when in the atmosphere, react in
sunlight to produce photochemical
smog. Addition of ethanol increases the volatility of
gasoline.
Through misuse as an inhalant, gasoline also
contributes to damage to health. Petrol
sniffing is a common way of obtaining a high for many people
and has become epidemic in some poorer communities and indigenous
groups in America, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some Pacific
Islands. In response, Opal fuel has
been developed by the BP Kwinana
Refinery in Australia, and contains only 5% aromatics (unlike the usual
25%) which inhibits the effects of inhalation.
Like other alkanes, gasoline
burns in the vapor phase and, coupled with its volatility, this
makes leaks highly dangerous when sources of ignition are present.
Many accidents involve gasoline being used in an attempt to light
bonfires; rather than helping the material on the bonfire to burn,
some of the gasoline vaporises quickly after being poured and mixes
with the surrounding air, so when the fire is lit a moment later
the vapor surrounding the bonfire instantly ignites in a large
fireball, engulfing the unwary user. The vapor is also heavier than
air and tends to collect in garage inspection pits.
Usage and pricing
The United States accounts for about 44 percent of the world’s gasoline consumption. In 2003 The United States of America consumed 476,474,000,000 litres (476.474 gigalitres), which equates to 1.3 gigalitres of gasoline each day (about 360 million US liquid gallons). The U.S. used about 510 billion litres (138 billion gallons) of gasoline in 2006, of which 5.6% was mid-grade and 9.5% was premium grade.Western countries have among
the highest usage rates per person.
Based on externalities, some
countries, e.g. in Europe and Japan, impose heavy fuel taxes on
fuels such as gasoline. Because a greater proportion of the price
of gasoline in the United States is due to the cost of oil, rather
than taxes, the price of the retail product is subject to greater
fluctuations (vs. outside the U.S.) when calculated as a percentage
of cost-per-unit, but is actually less variable in absolute
terms.
Fuel prices have been rising
steadily since the start of 2008, especially in the UK , Europe and
the USA
Stability
When gasoline is left for a
certain period of time, gums and varnishes may build up and
precipitate in the gasoline, causing "stale fuel." This will cause
gums to build up in the fuel tank, lines, and carburetor or fuel
injection components making it harder to start the engine. Motor
gasoline may be stored up to 60 days in an approved container. If
it is to be stored for a longer period of time, a fuel stabilizer
may be used. This will extend the life of the fuel to about 1-2
years, and keep it fresh for the next uses. Fuel stabilizer is
commonly used for small engines such as lawnmower and tractor
engines to promote quicker and more reliable starting. Users have
been advised to keep gasoline containers and tanks more than half
full and properly capped to reduce air exposure, to avoid storage
at high temperatures, to run an engine for ten minutes to circulate
the stabilizer through all components prior to storage, and to run
the engine at intervals to purge stale fuel from the carburetor.
Gummy, sticky resin deposits
result from oxidative
degradation of gasoline. This degradation can be prevented through
the use of antioxidants such as
phenylenediamines,
alkylenediamines
(diethylenetriamine,
triethylenetetramine,
etc), and alkylamines
(diethylamine,
tributylamine,
ethylamine). Other
useful additives include gum inhibitors such as N-substituted
alkylaminophenols and
color stabilizers such as N-(2-aminoethyl)piperazine,
N,N-diethylhydroxylamine, and triethylenetetramine.
By 1975, improvements in
refinery techniques have generally reduced the reliance on the
catalytically or thermally cracked stocks most susceptible to
oxidation. Gasoline containing acidic contaminants such as naphthenic
acids can be addressed with additives including strongly basic
organo-amines such as N,N-diethylhydroxylamine,
preventing metal corrosion and breakdown of other antioxidant
additives due to acidity. Hydrocarbons with a bromine
number of 10 or above can be protected with the combination of
unhindered or partially hindered phenols and oil soluble strong
amine bases such as monoethanolamine,
N-(2-aminoethyl)piperazine, cyclohexylamine,
1,3-cyclohexane-bis(methylamine), 2,5-dimethylaniline,
2,6-dimethylaniline, diethylenetriamine
and triethylenetetramine.
Alternatives
Many of these alternatives are less damaging to the environment than gasoline, but the first generation biofuels are still not 100 percent clean.- Biodiesel, for diesel engines.
- Biobutanol, for gasoline engines.
- Bioethanol.
- CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)
- Hydrogen fuel
- Battery electric vehicles
- Petroleum Diesel fuel
Vegoil and biodiesel to gasoline
XcelPlus Global Holdings working in conjunction with Maverick BioFuels developed the technology in which a fuel compatible with internal combustion gasoline engines is derived from natural renewable oils like soybean, other vegetable oils and biodiesel. Initial marketing efforts will focus on an additive package for converting ordinary Biodiesel into gasoline, adding the Biolene additive package. The additive is expected to be on the market later this year. Home blenders can expect final pump-grade fuel to cost approximately $2.70 per gallon.See also
portal EnergyNotes
References
- Graph of inflation-corrected historic prices, 1970-2005. Highest in 2005
- FTC: The Low-Down on High Octane Gasoline
- MMT-US EPA
- An introduction to the modern petroleum science, and to the Russian-Ukrainian theory of deep, abiotic petroleum origins.
- What's the difference between premium and regular gas? (from The Straight Dope)
- "Here Comes Winter Gasoline" R-Squared Energy Blog September 14, 2006
- International Fuel Prices 2005 with diesel and gasoline prices of 172 countries
- EIA - Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update
- World Internet News: "Big Oil Looking for Another Government Handout," April 2006.
- Durability of various plastics: Alcohols vs. Gasoline
- Dismissal of the Claims of a Biological Connection for Natural Petroleum.
- Fuel Economy Impact Analysis of RFG i.e. reformulated gasoline. Has lower heating value data, actual energy content is higher see higher heating value
External links
- Gasoline FAQ
- Gasoline MSDS (material safety data sheet) includes composition, flash point, handling precautions, etc.
- CNN/Money: Global gas prices
- Transportation Energy Data Book
- Energy Supply Logistics Searchable Directory of US Terminals
- Commentary and history on High Gas Prices
- Definition of basic terms, Graphs of Gas prices. all in Slovak language
- "Down the Gasoline Trail" Handy Jam Organization, 1935 (Cartoon)
gasoline in Afrikaans:
Petrol
gasoline in Arabic: بنزين
(وقود)
gasoline in Bosnian:
Benzin
gasoline in Bulgarian:
Бензин
gasoline in Catalan:
Gasolina
gasoline in Czech:
Benzín
gasoline in Danish:
Benzin
gasoline in German:
Motorenbenzin
gasoline in Modern Greek
(1453-): Βενζίνη
gasoline in Spanish:
Gasolina
gasoline in Esperanto:
Benzino
gasoline in Basque:
Gasolina
gasoline in Persian:
بنزین
gasoline in French: Essence
(hydrocarbure)
gasoline in Scottish Gaelic:
Peatrail
gasoline in Galician:
Gasolina
gasoline in Korean:
휘발유
gasoline in Croatian:
Benzin
gasoline in Indonesian:
Petrol
gasoline in Italian:
Benzina
gasoline in Hebrew:
בנזין
gasoline in Lithuanian:
Benzinas
gasoline in Hungarian:
Benzin
gasoline in Malay
(macrolanguage): Petrol
gasoline in Dutch:
Benzine
gasoline in Japanese:
ガソリン
gasoline in Norwegian:
Bensin
gasoline in Norwegian
Nynorsk: Bensin
gasoline in Polish:
Benzyna
gasoline in Portuguese:
Gasolina
gasoline in Romanian:
Benzină
gasoline in Russian:
Бензин
gasoline in Simple English:
Gasoline
gasoline in Slovak:
Benzín
gasoline in Slovenian:
Bencin
gasoline in Serbo-Croatian:
Benzin
gasoline in Finnish:
Bensiini
gasoline in Swedish:
Bensin
gasoline in Vietnamese:
Xăng
gasoline in Tajik:
Бензин
gasoline in Turkish:
Benzin
gasoline in Ukrainian:
Бензин
gasoline in Yiddish:
גאזאלין
gasoline in Chinese:
汽油
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
alcohol, avgas, benzine, briquette, burnable, butane, carbon, charcoal, coal, coal oil, coke, combustible, crude, crude oil, dope, electricity, ethane, ethanol, ethyl, ethyl gas, fireball, firing, flammable, flammable material,
fossil oil, fuel, fuel
additive, fuel dope, gas,
gas carbon, heptane,
hexane, high-octane gas,
high-test, illuminant, illuminating gas,
inflammable,
inflammable material, isooctane, jet fuel, kerosene, lead-free gas, light
source, low-lead gas, luminant, methane, methanol, motor oil, natural
gas, octane, oil, paraffin, peat, pentane, petrol, petroleum, premium gas,
propane, propellant, regular, rock oil, rocket fuel,
turf