Is Petrol And Petroleum The Same?

Is Petrol And Petroleum The Same? – Tomorrow (May 18) is the birthday of Thomas Midgley, who made a huge contribution to something most of us use regularly: petrol. Midgley was a research assistant to Charles Kettering, both of whom were responsible for adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline, an innovation that would have a lasting legacy, although not in the way they thought.

Perhaps a little background on fuel (petrol to our American readers) is in order before we discuss the highlights of Kettering and Midgley’s offerings. Gasoline is derived from crude oil, such as diesel. Although both are different in their structure and their properties. They are obtained from crude oil by producing small fractions, where the oil is heated until it smells and evaporates, then the fractions are turned into different boiling points. Gasoline is made from particles that boil between 35 and 200°C, while the particles that make up diesel fuel have a point between 250 and 300°C.

Is Petrol And Petroleum The Same?

Both gasoline and diesel are mixtures of hydrocarbons, strange compounds that contain only carbon and hydrogen. While gasoline contains hydrocarbons with chains between five and twelve carbon atoms, diesel chains are slightly longer, between ten and fifteen atoms. Diesel has more power per liter than petrol, so it is more efficient, although it is more expensive.

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Gasoline and diesel engines also work in slightly different ways. In a petrol engine, the engine takes in both fuel and air, which then engages the piston, before the engine’s spark plugs ignite the fuel. The combustion reaction that produces energy in the engine expels the waste gases produced by this reaction. In diesel engines, only air enters at the beginning of the system, fuel is injected only when the air stops. Diesel engines do not use heat to fuel the combustion reaction; instead, the fuel ignites automatically due to the high compression temperature used in diesel fuel.

In gasoline engines, misfiring can be a problem. Because the fuel is injected at the beginning of the process, a fire can sometimes occur during the compression process, before the fuel is ignited at the right time. This is known as ignition and can cause another condition called knocking. Knocking occurs when the peak of the combustion reaction does not coincide with the stroke of the engine piston. This results in a really bad hum or ping that damages the motor, so it’s something we want to avoid.

To prevent engine knocking, scientists have added various compounds to gasoline over the years. You’ve probably seen gasoline octane rating before: it’s basically how fuel avoids knocking problems. It refers to two compounds, isooctane and n-heptane. Isooctane is given a standard octane rating of 100, while n-heptane is given a rating of 0. The higher the rating, the better it prevents cheating on oil tests. A number between 0 and 100 compares to a mixture of isooctane and n-heptane; For example, a fuel with an octane rating of 95 will have the same “knock power” as a mixture with 95% isooctane and 5% n-heptane.

Note that this is not the same as fuel that contains only iso-octane and n-heptane, as the figure is the only comparison between fuel and this mixture. Octane ratings above 100 are also possible, since there are other compounds that are better at anti-knock than isooctane. An example is benzene, which has an octane rating of 101.

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Knocking is a problem that car manufacturers have been trying to solve for decades. As automobile engines became more powerful in the 1920s, it became more important to find fuel additives that could reduce knocking. Kettering and Midgley seem to have found the perfect solution; A compound called tetraethyl lead appears to be effective in reducing knocks and has the added benefit of being more durable. It can be added to gasoline and 1,2-dibromoethane, which will react with lead and prevent it from forming in the engine.

Surprisingly, Kettering, Midgley and their colleagues did not do anything to investigate the health consequences of tetraethyl lead before its deployment began. Today, this would be unimaginable, but it is remarkable because at that time the effects of toxic poisons were well known, even if it was not well understood that small exposures had can cause anxiety. Some countries had banned the color white because of concerns about toxicity in the early 1900s, although the United States did not do so until 1978.

Kettering and Midgley must have been unaware of the possible negative association, because their additive was sold as “Ethyl” by General Motors, apparently omitting any name of the content. his life. Midgley himself had to suspend his career due to mild poisoning, but he still had full confidence in the park’s safety.

It is safe to say that there is an initial reaction to the addition of tetraethyl to gasoline. Workers in the plants that produce the park began to have severe symptoms: falls, seizures, speech problems and requiring hospitalization. Many workers died as a result, and tetraethyl lead was soon identified as the culprit. Several states later banned the sale of tetraethyl gasoline and suspended production pending a federal investigation.

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You’d think it would be, but General Motors had a hard time finding an effective anti-knock compound and didn’t want to throw it away after the money they spent developing it. They said there was no suitable alternative, although letters discovered later showed that Kettering, at the very least, was aware that other competing companies were investigating some additions.

A federal investigation found that the addition of tetraethyl lead to gasoline would not harm public health and that its production and sale could be resumed, based on the erroneous conclusions of mass and rapid testing. However, they said in their brief that their findings are subject to criticism and that increasing the number of motors in the future may still cause health problems. They concluded that continuing to investigate the impact is important and specifically said, “The committee believes that this investigation must be allowed to end.”

Unfortunately, the break was almost exactly what he did. It was in the mid-1980s that, in recognition of the health problems that even low levels can cause, countries began to ban lead fuel. Its use was gradually reduced, with many countries completing its phase-out by 2000; However, in selected countries, lead fuel is still being sold and used. It is clear that the effects of lead running in gasoline engines may be worse than Midgley and Kettering suspected: blood lead levels have been linked to increased violent crime rates, though and this is a connection that does not exist. connected. agreed without hesitation.

Today, unleaded gasoline still has anti-knock properties, but various unleaded compounds are used. Ethanol is one such substance, along with methyl tertiary-butyl ether (another compound that has caused some controversy), benzene and toluene, among others. However, the legacy of tetraethyl lead remains: lead levels in soil near highways are still higher than in off-highway areas.

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He returned to Midgley, and his story did not end with the Tetrathyl trail. He was involved in the discovery of Freon, a commonly used refrigerant gas which was later found to contribute to the destruction of the ozone layer. But he did not live to fully understand the enormous negative environmental impact of these two discoveries; At the age of 51, he developed polio, which took a toll on him, and he died four years later in 1944 when he stepped on the railings that had been used to lift him out of bed.

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Have you ever walked into a gas station and asked the difference between diesel and gasoline or how they are made? Although both types of fuel come from the same source—crude oil—there are many key differences in their production and use.

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