Gasoline
Description of Gasoline:
Gasoline, petrol (British English) or gas (American English) is a colorless petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in spark-ignited internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives.
It is one of the biggest energy sources of today’s world. It is considered as a must for automotive industry and its importance increases as the amount of world’s oil reserve decreases. It is used as a fuel due to its hydrocarbon content and during the history, gasoline has been continuously processed and developed by many scientists. It can be obtained synthetically by processing coal as well as the reaction between carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Although gasoline can be obtained synthetically and by carbon monoxide compounds, both methods offers low quality product.
Gas Oils are defined as a middle distillate, predominantly of carbon number range C11 to C25 and range of distillation is 160°C to 420°C.
Gasoline are produced via the lowest fraction of crude oil atmospheric distillation, moreover heavy gas oils are produced by residual vacuum predistillation from atmospheric distillation. Gas Oil/Diesel distils between 180°C and 380°C.
Many grades are available due to the uses: Gas Oil for Diesel compression ignition (cars, trucks, marine, etc.), light heating oil for industrial and commercial uses and other gas oil including heavy gas oils which distil between 380°C and 540°C and are used as petrochemical feedstock.
Definition of Gas oil is: “heavy oil of which not more than 50% by volume distils at a temperature not exceeding 240 degrees Celsius and of which more than 50% by volume distils at a temperature not exceeding 340 degrees Celsius.”
Uses of Gasoline:
Gas Oils used in internal combustion engines can have significant effects on the local environment, and is also a contributor to global human carbon dioxide emissions. It can also enter the environment uncombusted, both as liquid and as vapor, from leakage and handling during production, transport and delivery (e.g., from storage tanks, from spills, etc.).
As an example of efforts to control such leakage, many underground storage tanks are required to have extensive measures in place to detect and prevent such leaks. Gasoline contains benzene and other known carcinogens.
