by Environmental Articles on February 24, 2010
The lifeblood of industry is oil. And it is most accurately represented by the high demand for that commodity which may become increasingly scarce in the future: petrol.
For the common layman, it may be surprising to note that not all petrol are refined/blended the same way as expected. Nor is it the same composition for countries with four seasons.
Gasoline is a petroleum-derived mixture made of hydrocarbons and enhanced with iso-octane or toluene and benzene to raise the octane rating. Yes, I know this may as well sound like Greek to you so I will go by them one by one. Hydrocarbons are organic compounds made of hydrogen and carbon.
Composition Processed in refineries, gasoline is a distillation of crude. On its first pass, this grade of gasoline still has impurities and would not be suitable for internal combustion engines. The hydrocarbons found in gasoline is considered hazardous including: Toluene, Benzene, Naphthalene, Trimethylbenzene, Etc.
Currently the preferred composition of gasoline in developed countries have paraffins in substitution of benzene.
Overall, the composition of gasoline ratios depend on the following factors: – The refinery it was processed – The quality of crude used – The octane rating of the gasoline
Volatility Volatility is the attribute of gasoline to evaporate. The desired volatility of gasoline depends on the climate. In hotter climates, lower volatility is preferred to prevent it from igniting easily and also to prevent it from vapor lock, which means that the gasoline will turn to gas in the gas line.
In colder climates, higher volatility is recommended to enhance a vehicle's startup process.
Octane Rating An octane rating is the measure of the fuel to RESIST autoignition and detonation.
Octane numbers are rated by their anti-knocking properties compared to a control substance of iso-octane (combustible) and n-heptane (non-combustible). So an 87-octane petrol would mean its 87% iso-octane and 13% n-heptane. A 95-octane is 95% iso-octane and 5% n-heptane, and so on.
Hazards Gasoline is considered a hazardous substance and must be handled carefully. Even with all the substitutions it is still a major pollutant producer. Gasoline usage creates carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and unburnt evaporated gasoline reacts with sunlight to create smog.
Saving Gas
To save gas, please refer to the Article “How to Save Gas with Internal Combustion Engines” on http://www.squidoo.com/savepetrolfast
Erwin Chua MCP, MCDST is a HUMAN BEING posing as a WEB MARKETER. In his youth, he's read the entire World Book Encyclopedia and World Book Dictionaries from A-Z out of a passion to know things and share his knowledge with others. Things that fascinate him most include: the HUMAN CONDITION and its PASSION TO IMPROVE, TECHNOLOGY that make things easy, SYSTEMS that make things easy, and HELPING OTHERS escape the RAT RACE through online marketing. He has a still-pending MA in Philosophy from DLSU-Manila after he decided to leave the academe in pursuit of a career in web marketing. He is based in Penang, Malaysia spending his online and offline activities pursuing his passion in equipping others with tools and mindset to be spiritually and financially free.
For more detailed information about fuel efficiency, enhancing engine performance, and products visit: How To Get The Best MPG Cars With Save Petrol Fast!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erwin_Chua
http://EzineArticles.com/?Best-MPG—Crude-Oil-to-Petrol-and-Saving-Gas&id=1255005
by Environmental Articles on November 22, 2009
The quest for relief from oppressive gas prices have led drivers on searches far and wide for ways to minimize the effect of the high prices on their wallets. However, many drivers are literally at armÃs length from ways to help themselves, and do not even know it! In fact, many features that come standard with new vehicles are not only convenient, but can help you to save on gas usage as well!
Since every gallon counts at todayÃs gas prices, even the simplest improvements to gas mileage can lead to more money in your pockets. Although many products make gaudy claims to improve gas mileage drastically, most (if not all) of these claims are unproven. As usual, the best remedies are usually the simple and somewhat obvious ones. For instance, use your carÃs already existing features to ease up on your gas usage when you are driving around from place to place.
Cruise control is a great feature for many reasons. It can keep you from having to glance down at your speed all the time, for one thing. This means that you can avoid getting a speeding ticket by merely setting a consistent speed that will not get you pulled over. Using the cruise control feature effectively takes away any chance of you accidentally getting a heavy foot and an unintended speeding ticket as a result.
However, cruise control is also a great way to conserve gas! When you are on the highway, the cruise control can help your car to stay at a consistent speed. This means that you will not be accidentally increasing your speed and making the car periodically work harder. So, you see? Some of the best ways to conserve gasoline are also convenient methods of driving, anyway!
If you have an ìoverdriveî option for your car, you should use the overdrive gears whenever possible. Overdrive allows your engine to work much less than it would otherwise. Of course, the less your engine works, the less gasoline you use. In other words, overdrive alone will increase your vehicleÃs fuel efficiency!
While you are at it, keep your eye on your RPM gauge, especially if you drive a manual transmission automobile. After all, any time your car is running in the high end of the RPM range, you are using more engine power than you need to, and thusly, more gas. Make sure that you are not staying in the low gears for too long before shifting, and spend as much time in the comfortable RPM range of higher gears as you can, since you will save yourself some gas in the process. The RPM gauge is another example of an under-utilized feature that, if used correctly, can help you to conserve gas.
While we are talking about features to use, letÃs also mention a feature that you should stay away from if you are trying to conserve gas: the air conditioning feature. If you turn on your carÃs air conditioning, your car will end up working much harder than usual, which means your car will consume more gas to fuel that work. The easy translation here is to avoid the air conditioning whenever you can. After all, it may be hot out, but you definitely do not want to have to sweat it out while pumping gas into your empty tank, right?
As you can see, there are many fairly basic features that can help you to keep your car going and away from the gas station. Even though some of these features may only have a small effect on your carÃs gas usage, if you follow all of the tips, it will add up. Again, with gas prices as high as they are now, even if you can save a gallon or two here and there, that can be a pretty substantial savings for you!
