Gasoline production and blending

Abstract

Gasoline is a volatile, flammable mixture of liquid hydrocarbons primarily obtained from refining petroleum. Most gasoline is consumed as a fuel in spark-ignition engines, primarily those which power automobiles and certain airplanes. For engine performance, important gasoline properties include volatility (Reid vapor pressure), octane number and heat content. Reid vapor pressure (RVP) is one of the gasoline specifications for performance in engine. Reformulated gasoline laws now protect the environment by limiting smog precursors, banning tetraethyl lead (TEL) and regulating concentrations of sulfur, olefins, benzene and oxygenates in gasoline. Refineries produce gasoline from blendstocks derived from various processes – crude oil distillation, catalytic reforming, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), thermal cracking, hydrocracking, alkylation, isomerization and catalytic polymerization. Finished products sold in the market include additives, which inhibit oxidation, inhibit corrosion, passivate trace metals, reduce deposition of carbon on intake valves and combustion chambers, and minimize the formation of ice in cold weather. Relative gasoline demand is highest in North America, while automotive diesel is preferred in most of the rest of the world.