Fuel Types

Q: What are the make ups and differences of the fuel types

In my copy of Audels Engineers & Mechanics Guide Book No. 4 covering Gasoline Oil Engines 1936 edition Figure 2840 defines what the various products are in refinery terms:

The refined collection of oils together are known as Petroleum. Each unit of Petroleum when distilled produces:

Boiling Point (deg F)	Beaume'	Specific Gravity	Percentage of whole	Product Name
140 - 158	80 - 78	.66 - .67	1.5%	Gasoline / Petrol
158 - 248	78 - 68	.68 - .70	10%	Naptha C
248 - 347	68 - 64	.714 - .718	2.5%	Naptha B
248 - 347	64 - 60	.725 - .739	2%	Naptha A
338+	56 - 32	.753 - .864	50%	Kerosene
482+	32 - 15	.861 - .96	15%	Lubricating Oil
482+			19%	Residuum

It further defines that Kerosene above 40 Beaume is used in engines because it is not safe in lamps. This was possibly sold as Power Kerosene.
The Naptha products are noted as being sold as "cheap" gasoline.
The book includes a foot note to show why Gasoline / Petrol is so much more expensive than Kerosene given that Kerosene is more plentiful in the oil and the demand for gasoline forces its price up.

A much later volume Farm Gas Engines and Tractors by Jones describes within Table 11-2 Characteristics of Liquid Fuels

Boiling Point (deg F)	API Test (Beaume')	Specific Gravity	Product Name
85 - 105	65 - 56	.720 - .755	Gasoline
340 - 360	45 - 40	.802 - .825	Kerosene
200 - 350	47 - 36	.793 - .850	Distillate (Tractor Fuel)
325 - 460	40 - 30	.825 - .876	Diesel

It is interesting to note that from the Beaume' and Specific Gravity measurements it suggests that todays Gasoline (Petrol) is actually much closer to the product known as Power Kerosene than it was in the 1930's. and that the product known as Kerosene in the 1960's for lighting and heating was the low end of the range of the product known as Kerosene in the 1930's.

Today complex chemical cracking has replaced the traditional distillation process giving a much higher percentage of gasoline / petrol from the unrefined product - but of course the high fuel prices have not changed! The modern product we consider as Gasoline / Petrol varies widely from bowser to bowser. In Australia the Octane rating is regulated, but the content of the fuel makeup is not except that if alchohol is included it must be stated on the bowser. Fortunately our local Standards body (e.g. ISO, IEEE, Australian Standards) governs the most important aspects of the fuel we use meaning we can be reasonably certain that our car will perform similarly from fuel load to fuel load.
...

This article is part of the Stationary Internal Combustion Engine Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). This series is a combination of my views and knowledge and the views and knowledge of other people - most of them members of the Stationary Engine Mailing List (More info on ATIS). Those articles which were written by others are © Copyright to the author. Those articles written by myself are © Copyright to Paul Pavlinovich.

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Last modified Friday, 24-Jun-2005 12:34:30 BST

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