Info about Gasoline
All about petrol
The name of petroleum comes from Latin where Petra rock and oleum oil. As its name says, petroleum is a natural liquid which is flammable and toxic and it is extracted from different geologic formations that are found beneath the surface of Earth. After being recovered by oil drilling, petroleum is refined and other products are obtained such as: kerosene, gasoline, asphalt and ingredients used to produce pharmaceuticals and plastics.
Theoretically, petroleum contains only crude oils, but it usually comes together with natural gas. Petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbons found in different proportions depending on the place where the petrol is extracted from. Hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane and butane are present as gases, while the heavier ones come as liquids and solids. The hydrocarbons from petroleum are alkenes, cicloalkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons, but there also are some other organic compounds that besides carbon and hydrogen also contain oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur. Moreover, in petroleum can be found small amounts of iron, copper, nickel and vanadium. The exact composition varies from field to field.
Petroleum is the resource that stays at the base for the gasoline or petrol production. Petrol is a fuel that is used in internal combustion engines as a fuel. Gasoline is obtained from the distillation of petroleum and is it mainly consists of aliphatic hydrocarbons and iso-octane or aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene and toluene are added in order to increase its octane rating. Other ingredients are added so that the fuel gets some special qualities such as protecting the engine or making exhaust emissions less pollutant.
Gasoline is produced in oil refineries. The first form of the petrol obtained from petroleum is called straight-run or virgin gasoline and it is not good for the modern car engines which usually require a higher octane rating. More additives are introduced and its quality is improved.
The substances from petrol are considered dangerous and at least 15 chemicals from petrol are hazardous for human health and environment. Among these, we can count toluene which represents up to 15 percent by volume, benzene 5 percent, trimethylbenzene 7%, naphtalene 1% and MTBE 18% by volume.
The final composition of petrol depends on the oil refinery where the gasoline is made, the petroleum used by the refinery and the grade of the gasoline, especially octane rating.
The octane rating is the most important characteristic of gasoline. These measures how resistant to pre-detonation, an abnormal combustion phenomenon the gasoline is. A gasoline containing only 2,2,4-trimethylpentane is considered to have a 100 octane rating while gasoline made only of normal octane is considered to have an octane rating equal to 0.
Gasoline is the most used fuel in the world for cars. However, the US is responsible for 44% of the gasoline consumption in the world. Western countries are the greatest users of petrol.
Although, petrol is an effective fuel, the petroleum resources are limited. As they are becoming more and rarer, the price of the petrol rises. Petrol also has destructive effects on the environment, so this may encourage the research for new, alternative fuels.