Gasoline

Background
Gasoline is a volatile, flammable liquid obtained from the refinement of petroleum, or
crude oil. It was originally discarded as a byproduct of kerosene production, but its
ability to vaporize at low temperatures made it a useful fuel for many machines. The
first oil well in the United States was struck by Edwin L. Drake near Titusville,
Pennsylvania, in 1859 at a depth of almost 70 feet (21 m). With the development of
the four-stroke internal combustion engine by Nikolaus Otto in 1876, gasoline
became essential to the automotive industry. Today, almost all gasoline is used to
fuel automobiles, with a very small percentage used to power agricultural equipment
and aircraft.
Petroleum, a fossil fuel, supplies more energy to the world today than any other
source. The United States is the world's leading consumer of petroleum; in 1994,
Americans used 7,587,000 barrels of oil per day. Petroleum is formed from the
remains of plants and animals that have been held under tremendous pressure for
millions of years. Ordinarily, this organic matter would decompose completely with
the help of scavengers and aerobic bacteria, but petroleum is created in an
anaerobic environment, without the presence of oxygen. Over half of the world's
known crude oil is concentrated in the Persian Gulf basin. Other major areas include
the coasts of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.
Petroleum products, including gasoline, are primarily a mixture of hydrocarbons
(molecules containing hydrogen and carbon molecules) with small amounts of other
substances. Crude oil is comprised of different lengths of hydrocarbon chains, with
some short chains and some very long chains. Depending on how much the oil is
broken down, or refined, it may become any number of products. In general, the
smaller the molecule, the lower the boiling point. Therefore, gas, with very small
chains of one to five carbons, boils at a very low temperature. Gasoline, with 6-10
carbons, boils at a slightly higher temperature. The heaviest oils may contain up to
25 carbon atoms and not reach their boiling point until 761F (405C).

Raw Materials
Gasoline is one of the products derived from distilling and refining petroleum.
Compounds of organic lead were added to gasoline in the past to reduce knocking in
engines, but due to environmental concerns this is no longer common. Other

chemicals are also added to gasoline to further stabilize it and improve its color and
smell in a process called "sweetening."

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The Manufacturing
Process
Exploration

1 The first step in the manufacture of gasoline is to find its parent ingredient,
petroleum. Crude oil is trapped in areas of porous rock, or reservoir rock, after
it has migrated there from the area of its origin. Possible areas of oil
concentration may be pinpointed by looking for rock types that are commonly
found in those areas. Explorers may examine the surface features of the land,
analyze how sound waves bounce off

Gasoline is a volatile, flammable liquid obtained from the refinement of petroleum, or crude oil.

the rock, or use a gravity meter to detect slight differences in rock formations.

2 After a possible oil reservoir is found, the area must be test drilled. Core
samples are taken from test wells to confirm rock formations, and the samples
are chemically analyzed in order to determine if more drilling is justified.
Although the methods used today are more advanced than any of the past,
there is still no certainty in oil exploration.

Drilling

3 Crude oil is recovered through wells that can reach over 1,000 feet (305 m)
into the rock. The holes are made by rotary drillers, which use a bit to bore a
hole in the ground as water is added. The water and soil create a thick mud
that helps hold back the oil and prevent it from "gushing" due to the internal
pressure contained in the reservoir rock. When the reservoir is reached, the
mud continues to hold back the oil while the drill is removed and a pipe is
inserted.

Recovery

4 To recover the oil, a complicated system of pipes and valving is installed

directly into the drilling well. The natural pressure of the reservoir rock brings
the oil out of the well and into the pipes. These are connected to a recovery
system, which consists of a series of larger pipes taking the crude oil to the
refinery via an oil (liquid) and gas (non-liquid) separator. This method allows
the oil to be recovered with a minimum of waste.

5 Eventually, the natural pressure of the well is expended, though great

quantities of oil may still remain in the rock. Secondary recovery methods are
now required to obtain a greater percentage of the oil. The pressure is
restored by either injecting gas into the pocket above the oil or by flooding
water into the well, which is far more common. In this process, four holes are
drilled around the perimeter of the well and water is added. The petroleum will
float on the water and come to the surface.

Fractional distillation

6 Crude oil is not a good fuel, since it is not fluid and requires a very high
temperature to burn. The long chains of molecules in crude oil must be

separated from the smaller chains of refined fuels, including gasoline, in a

petroleum refinery. This process is called fractional distillation.
A fractional distillation tower is a huge unit that may hold up to 200,000 barrels
of crude oil. The oil is first pumped into a furnace and heated to over 600F
(316C), causing all but the largest molecules to evaporate. The vapors rise
into the fractionating column, which may be as tall as 150 feet (46 m). The
vapors cool as they rise through the column. Since the boiling points of all the
compounds differ, the larger, heavier molecules will condense first lower in the
tower and the shorter, lighter molecules will condense higher in the tower.
Natural gases, gasoline, and kerosene are released near the top. Heavier
compounds used in the manufacture of plastics and lubricants are removed
lower in the tower.
Fractional distillation itself does not produce gasoline from crude oil, it just
removes the gasoline from other compounds in crude oil. Further refining
processes are now used to improve the quality of the fuel.

Refining petroleum

7 Catalytic cracking is one of the most important processes in oil refining. This
process uses a catalyst, high temperature, and increased pressure to affect
chemical changes in petroleum. Catalysts such as aluminum, platinum,
processed clay, and acids are added to petroleum to break down larger
molecules so that it will possess the desired compounds of gasoline.
Another refining process is polymerization. This is the opposite of cracking in
that it combines the smaller molecules of lighter gases into larger ones that
can be used as liquid fuels.

Additives

8 Once gasoline is refined, chemicals are added. Some are anti-knock

compounds, which react with the chemicals in gasoline that burn too quickly,
to prevent "engine knock." In leaded gasoline, tetraethyl lead is the anti-knock
additive. (Unleaded gasoline is refined further so the need for anti-knock
additives is minimal.) Other additives (antioxidants) are added to prevent the
formation of gum in the engine. Gum is a resin formed in gasoline that can
coat the internal parts of the engine and increase wear.

Rating gasoline

9 Gasoline is primarily a mixture of two volatile liquids, heptane and isooctane.

Pure heptane, a lighter fuel, burns so quickly that it produces a great amount
of knocking in an engine. Pure isooctane evaporates slowly and produces
virtually no knocking. The ratio of heptane to isooctane is measured by the
octane rating. The greater the percentage of isooctane, the less knocking and
the higher the octane rating. For example, an octane rating of 87 is
comparable to a mixture of 87% isooctane and 13% heptane.

Byproducts/Waste
On average, 44.4% of petroleum becomes gasoline. There really are no waste
products from petroleum. The lighter chemicals are natural gas, liquified petroleum
gas (LPG), jet fuel, and kerosene. The heavier products are used for the
manufacture of lubricants, plastics, and asphalt. In addition, many less valuable
products can be chemically converted into more saleable compounds.

The Future
Gasoline, though widely used in many applications today, is destined to become a
fuel of the past because petroleum is a nonrenewable resource. Current technology
centers on making the most of the remaining petroleum reservoirs and exploring
alternative energy sources. New methods to accurately determine the extent of oil
reservoirs, automated systems to control oil recovery, and ways of enabling workers
to recover more oil from known reservoirs are all being investigated to fully utilize the
oil stores available today.
The newest methods in oil field exploration measure the physical size of the reservoir
and its volume of oil. Frequently, the pressure inside the well is measured over a
period of time as the oil is recovered. Using this data, scientists can determine the
size of the reservoir and its permeability. An echo meter, which bounces sound
waves off the sides of the reservoir, can also be used to discover the well's
characteristics.
Modern oil recovery methods are most often controlled, at least in part, by
computerized systems. SCADA (Systems for Supervisory Control of Data
Acquisitions) use specialized software to monitor operations through one or more
master terminals and several remote terminals. These systems increase efficiency,
help prevent mishaps that could harm the environment, and reduce the number of
laborers with increased safety.
Enhanced oil recovery methods increase the percentage of oil that can be obtained
from a reservoir. In the past, workers were able to extract less than half of the oil
contained in a reservoir. New methods involve injecting gases or foams into the well
to force out the oil, drilling horizontally into the well, and using more geophysical
information to accurately predict the characteristics of the reservoir.
Because gasoline is produced from a limited supply of petroleum, scientists are
looking for clean, renewable sources of energy to power machines of the future.
Steam power, used in the steamboats of the past, is an energy source that is

receiving renewed attention. Electric vehicles have been developed, and solar and
wind energies are also powering cars and homes.

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