The Evolution of Gasoline

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Gasoline is a mixture of light hydrocarbons with relatively low boiling points that, at the time, had no significant commercial value and was even seen as dangerous, due to its high volatility. Because of this, It was initially considered a waste product and was often discarded and simply burned off.
COMPOSITION OF GASOLINE
Despite its public perception, gasoline is not a clearly defined compound but rather a homogenous blend of light to medium molecular weight hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbon types that commonly combine to form gasoline and contribute to its properties as a fuel, are paraffins, olefins, naphthene, and aromatics. Depending on the blend, gasoline can vary anywhere from 32 to 36 megajoules per liter.
EARLY GASOLINE
Early gasoline produced directly from distillation was known as straight-run gasoline. When gasoline containing sulfur is burned are a major contributor to smog, acid rain, and ground-level ozone. These early gasoline blends, by today’s standards would be unusable in the higher compression engines of today as even the most high-test blends would have an octane ratings below 70, with lesser quality blends going as low as 40.
CRACKING
By 1910, the rising demand for automobiles combined with the expansion of electrification, created a flip in the product demands of the petroleum industry, with the need for gasoline now beginning to supersede that of kerosene. Coined the Burton process, this technique thermally decomposes straight-run gasoline and heavier oils, cracking the heavier hydrocarbons and depleting their hydrogen to produce more lighter hydrogen rich hydrocarbons. The instability of fuel was also a concern, as the higher levels of unsaturated hydrocarbons produced by thermal cracking were reactive and prone to combining with impurities, resulting in gumming, further exacerbating the problem.
CATALYTIC CRACKING
In early 1920s, Almer McDuffie McAfee would develop a new refining process that could potentially triple the gasoline yielded from crude oil by existing distillation methods. Known as catalytic cracking, the process heats heavy hydrocarbon feedstock to a high temperature along with a catalyst in a reactor. The catalyst initiates a series of chemical reactions that break the hydrocarbon molecules apart into smaller fragments that are then further cracked and recombined to produce lighter, more desired hydrocarbons for gasoline.
Catalytic cracked gasoline had a significantly higher olefin content, and more branched-chain and aromatic hydrocarbons than thermally cracked gasoline, which raised its octane rating. The catalyzing action also produced a fuel with lower sulfur and nitrogen content, which results in lower emissions when burned in engines.
FLUID-CRACKING
In an attempt to circumvent Houndry patents, Standard Oil began researching an alternative method to catalytic cracking, resulting in the development and fielding of the fluid based catalytic cracking process in the early 1940s. As the catalyst becomes deactivated by build up of carbon deposits caused by the cracking process, the spent catalyst is separated from the cracked hydrocarbon products and sent to a regeneration unit.
HYDRO CRACKING
During this time period, a new type of catalytic cracking process based on decades of research on hydrogenation, a reaction where hydrogen was used to break down large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones while adding hydrogen atoms to the resulting molecules. Its efficiency at producing higher yields of gasoline from heavier oil products led to it being adopted on a commercial scale by refineries around the world during the 1960s.
POST LEAD
After the phase-out of lead additives in gasoline, the petroleum industry switched to MTBE. MTBE in particular. This phase out of MTBE led to ethanol becoming the primary oxygenate and octane booster in gasoline by the early 2000s.
ALKYLATION
Beyond additives the process of alkylation also grew in its use to boost octane-ratings. This technique is used to produce alkylates, a high-octane blending component for gasoline. Much like other catalytic process, The acid catalyst is separated and recycled, while the alkylates are separated and unreacted isobutane recycled. The high-octane alkylate is then blended with other gasoline components.
ISOMERIZATION
Another similarly catalytic technique that began to grow in popularity is gasoline isomerization. This process typically focuses on the conversion of low-octane straight-chain paraffins found in light naphtha into branched-chain hydrocarbons that have a higher octane rating.
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[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

Is benzin. Not gasoline or petrol

[@workspilot.]

Are you a professor at an University? You truly cover a wide variety of subjects!

[@737Garrus]

Make me, mortal.

[@Cwarner251]

S​@@workspilot.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

I own a chemistry book from the 1930's that spoke of the use of lead in gas. It straight up said the lead put into the air was statistically insignificant... To be fair, this was when uranium glass was also a thing

[@ericlotze7724]

I can grab the papers later (i have them saved on my computer since i wrote an essay on all this for my Industrial Hygiene class), but there were congressional hearings (iirc, some sort of government hearing) where experts were PLEADING for it to not be adopted due to the existing knowledge on the impacts of lead exposure, and via lobbyists they were just like “mmmmmmmm imma ignore that” was WILD.

[@allangibson8494]

TEL was used because it could be patented. The alternative, adding ethanol, couldn’t. Prohibition in the United States also fed into this.

[@janusprime5693]

​@@ericlotze7724 it's less wild when you realize the very same thing is happening to this day in court hearings regarding harmful but profitable things

[@ericlotze7724]

@@janusprime5693 i agree to an extent, but things like Climate Change / Carcinogens that only “kick in” after Long Term Exposure etc *are horrible* but are a bit more abstract. This was like “Lead is literally in the name, dust builds up in the engine and in the areas near roads, the people at the factory are hallucinating lead levels are so high, and even the fucking romans figured out lead messed you up” and they were like “mmmmmm yeah no”

[@negativenein3803]

Uranium glass is still a thing and planes still use leaded gasoline, they just changed the name to avgas.

[@andersjjensen]

Why do you only have 537K subscribers?!? You consistently out-perform the production quality of big-ass media corporations. No thundering sensationalisation. No shallow scripting that assumes the audience is denser than lead. No nauseating flashing animations to make the obvious even more obvious. Only clean well scripted narration at precisely the right pace to keep me interested but without spilling into "yapping". Only professional grade animation that focuses on what is important to what is being said. And absolutely no "I'm scared of scientific words"-dumbing down of the subject matter. THANK YOU!

[@punditgi]

​@@SoulDelSolTotally agree. 😊

[@ebutuoy8272]

538K now

[@janeblogs324]

Probably something to do with the way he pronounces Vary

[@miroslavmilan]

@@janeblogs324 O-vary?

[@MintyLime703]

Supply and demand

[@erictaylor5462]

12:00 My dad was an oil refinery technician in the 70's, 80's and a bit of the 90's. He was also a GA pilot and owned a 1/4 interest in a Cessna 177 Cardinal RG. He had a friend who's sone was in a high security juvenal prison in central California and every month would fly the friend and his wife down to visit their son. Like many planes the Cardinal leaked a bit of oil which would end up streaked along the belly of the plane. Once while waiting for his friend to finish his visit he took a rag put some of the high lead 100 octane aviation gasoline onto a rag and cleaned the oil off the belly of the plane. For work he was required to have his lead levels tested and one such test came up the day after this visit. His lead levels were dangerously high, just from handling that gasoline covered rag. Tetraethyl lead was some really nasty stuff, and the Ethel Corporation did everything it could to hide this fact.

[@MrShobar]

Ethyl Corporation.

[@m2heavyindustries378]

There is a statistically sig. link between high lead in humans and those same humans committing violent crimes, so that relationship between the leaded avgas and the son in prison might have been unexpectedly direct.

[@wilneal8015]

​@@m2heavyindustries378 😮😢✨A Racist Might Say! Shame on the Mess‼️🌞👍🌟😲😖

[@justwastingtimeonyt9952]

​@@wilneal8015this dude ain't very smart prolly a bot

[@user-ym4xy6us5e]

@@wilneal8015 Nonsense. You're just bigoteering.

[@xXRedTheDragonXx]

Something that's worth noting -- General Aviation aircraft in America STILL use leaded fuels to this day! It's actually legally mandated by the FAA, too, since unleaded fuels are still seen as experimental for GA aircraft! There are a few experimental GA aircraft that can use unleaded fuels, but they're incredibly uncommon. Absolutely amazing video!!!

[@lawrencewalraven5137]

Not quite so uncommon anymore thanks to Rotax. I have an 80 hp rotax 912 in my experimental and they are becoming very common

[@Taydrum]

It's not mandated, you just need a type certificate to run mogas

[@carlmarburger7513]

100LL for most single engine internal combustion engines. 100 octane Low Lead.

[@KreemieNewgatt]

NASCAR switched to unleaded fuel in 2007, but Pro Stock drag race cars still use highly-leaded 118 octane gasoline.

[@ildarmingazov2304]

100LL

[@lawrencewalraven5137]

I must say that I have extensive knowledge in the petroleum refining process and you absolutely knocked it out of the park with this video. You covered a huge amount of knowledge in this 27 minute video ❤

[@Hexnilium]

I want to understand more of the concepts, but some of it went too fast for me. I will say that the video is amazingly comprehensive. I would be very interested in a longer form series of the evolution of gasoline that takes a bit more time for each of the steps and explains the chemistry and processes in a little more detail but also more digestible for the layperson. Not sure how that would go, but I have seen some engineering and math/science videos that do a very good job of breaking down the details and then showing the higher level abstractions and then refreshing that information so the viewer doesn't get lost because of the new domain of information to them. I think I'll need to watch this video a few times to really comprehend it a bit more, but it is rather interesting and information dense.

[@rscott2247]

If petroleum refining can make it more cost effective & fuel efficient for consumers, it seems the potential is unlimited as to what advances could be achieved ? I'm glad one chain retailer in North America offers cheaper but high quality fuel to this end. Probably not in the best interest of oil companies though as decreased sales mean decreased profits ?

[@wb6csh]

This IDIOT VIDEO is off by about 90 years in crediting thermal cracking to Vladimir Shukhov and Segei Gavrilov in 1981, at 08:36 - well after Shukhov was dead! The Shukhov Thermal Cracking process was invented and patented in Russia in 1891. Standard Oil attempted to repatent the process in the US in 1913 (Burton Process). Thermal cracking has mostly been superseded by catalytic cracking.

[@sammy5576]

I was so surprised and happy to know heavy long chains can be broken into smaller ones, this process is skipped and glossed over so often,

[@serjonunes181]

Same here.

[@rayceeya8659]

Wow, tetra ethyl lead was like a high speed catalyst. I never thought about it that way. Great way to illustrate the process.

[@leocurious9919]

I is not a catalyst, it works by reacting with the hydroperoxyl radicals and thus "quenches" the initial stages of the combustion. I dont know why he was taking about dissociation and formation of branched hydrocarbons. That does not make any sense. Larger molecules are MORE prone to knocking, not less. It would also mean that you need to add so much that you get a completely different gasoline, not just trace amounts. This is one of the few false things in the video, or many instead of few, depending on how you look at it.

[@Pietjepukmuk]

Shukov was 1891, not in 1981 ;) (switched the 8&9 I assume)

[@aryaman05]

..he got a little excited there !😀

[@vcente671]

PWNED!😂

[@anhedonianepiphany5588]

An error for sure, but an obvious one which is almost instantly resolved by all but the feeblest minds.

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

Easy mistake to make.

[@noehernandez6553]

This guy definitely reminded the teacher about homework

[@TechGorilla1987]

Here is another tidbit I picked up while working in the business of installing gas station equipment - The mid-grade blend is actually mixed at the proportional valves at the dispenser itself. Most stations only get two products (liquid gasoline) delivered. The octane blend of the mid-grade is set by a programmable ratio for different state requirements. Most tanks only contain either low-grade or high-grade. I said "Gas Dispenser" because they are NOT pumps. The pumps are STP's that are actually submerged in the tanks underground. There are precious few "actual" pumps above ground unless the tank happens to be above ground.

[@John15293]

Do you mean liquid when you say gas?

[@TechGorilla1987]

@@John15293 Yes. I edited the comment for clarity.

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

What do you think of ethanol blends? I think it is a very bad idea. It may have destroyed my small gas engine, and is known to do so. Besides raising food prices, it's also not that great environmentally. It's another thing pushed through by lobbyists.

[@obelic71]

@@FLPhotoCatcher Small aircooled 2/4 stroke engines suffer from the new ethanol blends. Especially the 2 stroke engines suffer from failing seals and lack of lubrication. I have seen lots of small garden/agricultural, moped/motorcycle engines die using modern ethanol blends. 100% Alkalyte fuels (0%alcohol) and fully synthetic oil or even better ceramic 2stroke lubricants are the way to go for these small engines. The big issue is that you need to change new seals in the entire engine when you want to run on alkalyte fuels. There are no aromates in alkalyte fuels like in "normal" fuels. Aromates make the seals expand in "normal" fuels. Even historic 100+ years old engines can be drasticly reduced in harmfull emissions.

[@Shinzon23]

"STP'S"?

[@oldroscoe2590]

Ethanol in gasoline has provided me with a steady supply of lawnmowers that would no longer run. Clean the carb. (sometimes a cheap new carb, , fresh gas. It's back in business. Now those EPA gas cans.... that's another story, I've split and wasted more with those things then I ever did with the old ones.

[@gabepesco]

Sir, you make some of the best content on KZbin. Nothing else to say.

[@JoseLopez-hp5oo]

I remember the filling station asking "Leaded or unleaded regular?" in the mid 70s as it was being phased out, both simultaneously existed at the filling station for a bit of time.

[@robthebloke]

I’m an old lad, but I only remember a choice of 2 or 4 star (both leaded). The choice between leaded/unleaded only came about towards the later half of the 80’s

[@user-it7lf7kk8m]

I remember 2,3, 4 and 5 star. 2star was unleaded and used mainly for two stroke bikes and lawnmowers. 3 and 4 for cars and 5 star high octane for high performance engines. 3 star wars lower octane and thus cheaper than 4 star

[@robthomas3664]

I remember the leaded/unleaded choices, that was about the time I was learning how to drive. Oddly, my dad and stepmom used to refer to sweet/unsweetened tea as leaded/unleaded...

[@HappyHarryHardon]

I was putting leaded gas into my 55 Chevy in 1989. 89¢/gallon.

[@user-it7lf7kk8m]

@@HappyHarryHardon iirc I was buying gas at around 90c a gallon in cal in 1998. It had risen to about 1.90 by the time I left in 2000. People were up in arms over it because it doubled in that time. That was mainly due to the cost of oil going up. That is something the British often don't understand because there is so much tax on fuel in UK, that doubling the cost of oil often only raises the price of a litre by a few pence. Around 70% of the price is various taxes, so changes in producer prices pale into comparison with the tax burden.

[@z987k]

Piston aviation engines do not use high compression ratios. They're in fact quite low by modern standards with the highest certified engine having only a 8.7:1 compression ratio. The reason for the high octane is mostly due to fixed timing using magnetos out of 1930s tractors. All the higher horsepower engines are also air cooled and have terrible combustion chamber design, last being updated in the 1960s. Hot spots, lead fouling. One manufacturer finally got around to rollers and sodium filled valves in the 2000s, a cool 50 years later than cars.

[@saginaw60]

Yup, there are numerous improvements that could be made to aircraft, but are not due to the expense of government compliance.

[@KlodFather]

@@saginaw60 - I know many guys who rebuild their own aircraft engines with a little elfen magic LOL Just like using an AN case alternator with automotive parts in it. So it at least appears to be the approved unit. I know a guy with an alternator shop who was making them up for the aviation guys... They just had to stamp their own part numbers on the stuff... I have one of my license for working on aviation electronics so I heard about some of this nonsense. As long as the work is good, you don't have anything to worry about.

[@philliprobinson7724]

Hi. Piston aero engines have lower compression ratios because most are supercharged for higher altitudes. The more fuel/air mixture can be forced into the cylinder, the more power, and the extra charge pressurized into in the larger combustion space more than compensates for the slightly lower efficiency of combustion. Four valve heads appeared very early, also roller bearings. The P.&W 14 cylinder twin Wasp used in the DC3 had sodium cooled exhaust valves, and I think the Wright Cyclone did too. Not needed for the inlet valve which is cooled by the incoming charge. Variable ignition timing was built into the magnetos themselves, and aircraft regulations demanded two mags and two spark-plugs per cylinder. The engine designers from the early C20 were brilliant scientists, such as Harry Ricardo, and Stanley Hooker, the man who double supercharged the R.R. Merlin and got 2000 h.p. from a 27 ltr engine. Naturally aero engines led the way, because no nation wanted its airforce to be outclassed in performance. Hooker wrote a very readable autobiography titled "Not much of an engineer". He also rescued R.R. from bankruptcy in the 1970's when he got their problematic 211 turbofan engine running reliably and efficiently. Cheers, P.R.

[@z987k]

@@philliprobinson7724 Radials are all but non existent now. Current piston engines are mostly flat 4's and 6's. Some are turbocharged, but that's rare. The vast majority of piston engines flying today are naturally aspirated AND low compression. The turbo engines are even lower, usually 7 or 7.5:1 while the non-turbos are an anemic 8-8.7:1

[@philliprobinson7724]

@@z987k Hi. The last large capacity piston aero engine was the supercharged P.& W. 4360 hp "corncob" 28 cyl radial powering the strato-fortress high altitude bomber. All aero piston engine development ceased after 1944 because the gas turbine in both its jet-prop and pure jet form superseded it, being lighter and with better performance than piston engines at high altitude, cheaper fuel, and cheaper to run. The R.R. Dart was the first Jet-Prop engine. Where I worked, the DC3 P&W's were overhauled every 1000 hrs. The vibration of hundreds of components going up and down caused far more wear than in the gas turbine where all movement was rotary. Better flight for the passengers too. So that's why the aviation piston engine fell on hard times, the best and brightest bods went into fluid dynamics and gas flow and improved the jet engine. Today if you want an aircraft engine of five hundred horsepower, you'll end up with a gas turbine running a propeller. Do read Stan Hooker's book, he worked on the best of the old piston engines, and also made the jet what it is today. Cheers, PR.

[@MWGrossmann]

Excellent and highly informative. My only problem -- and it's serious -- is the casual, utterly nonchalant vague mention at 22:36 of the use of biomass having an effect on food prices. The effect on Mexico alone is stunning: a price increase of only 20%results in 14% additional costs for that 80% of their staple grain (maize/corn) before inflation. According to a Tufts paper 10 years ago, some 40% of food production had already been reallocated to ethanol. Not only have food prices since the major shift toward biofuel skyrocketed, the production receives government subsidies, meaning it's not even paying its own way while increase. Along with removing food, there's the soil depletion, made worse by attempts to use the cellulose from the non-food portion of the corn plants for fuel as well.

[@ReggieArford]

And then there's the fact that more fuel is used producing ethanol, than is gained in the ethanol itself. It's a waste of food, of fuel, and of time.

[@ThomasBomb45]

@ReggieArford I agree there are problems with ethanol as fuel, but I think modern ethanol production is energy positive

[@sahhull]

Cool video. I was a technician for BP Chemicals. Lubricating oil and fuel development. We also did independent engine testing.

[@erictaylor5462]

22:25 There are also concern about land management. Corn, one of the most popular plants for ethanol production depletes the ground of nitrogen and a lack of crop rotation leads to heavy use of ammonia to keep the land viable to growing more corn.

[@jeffsims7386]

Food production is a far greater concern in this regard, it outweighs ethanol production demand by orders of magnitude thanks to such products as high fructose corn syrup being utilized in every processed food.

[@jeffsims7386]

Farmers here in the Midwest still practice crop rotation, but we would be even better off if the petroleum companies had never convinced farmers that they needed to use their chemicals to improve crop production. There are a lot of myths out there about ethanol, but when you consider that every percentage change in gasoline/ethanol blend equals billions of dollars in lost revenue to oil companies, it’s easy to see why they would arise and propagate.

[@kenneth9874]

And switch grass has a higher sugar content and would be more suitable.

[@KomradZX1989]

I absolutely love all your videos. I could listen to you narrate all day long ❤

[@whirledpeas3477]

Best way to get a like 👍 kissing ass is the most popular 👌

[@bensullivan9478]

top quality, very informative, easy to consume content. you are the type youtube needs more of :)

[@drbadzer]

The level of detail is outstanding. More KZbin channels should do this.

[@jakubtrzpis2595]

another phenomenal video, thank you

[@JRDavison]

Brilliant video! Should be at the start of every refinery induction. You'd think refining would be a series of discrete stages, but completely not the case. You have a 'diet' of particular crude with different properties, of which you need to make an array of blended products with a system of interconnected refining stages. I think the video captured this really well.

[@adamdorris4081]

As always, beautifully done and mentally immersive. Excellent! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@volvo09]

Great video, I didn't know there had been so many advances in catalytic cracking.

[@nickhowatson4745]

Catalytic Cracking is the favorite activity of my friendly neighborhood Crackhead. He tells me his preferred catalyst is a heated aqueous solution of baking soda and H2O when working with his favorite reactant which is the Hydrochloride Salts of Cocaine. he says that the product of this reaction is tremendously fun if one were to put it on top of a small wad of steel or brass wool that's stuffed into a glass pipe and smoked. he doesn't shut up once he gets going talking about it.

[@dillan6134]

@@nickhowatson4745lmaoooo you killin me dude 🤣

[@the_kombinator]

Lead in fuel also lubricated the valvetrain. I had to knock back the timing in my classic to prevent the heads getting too hot and damage to the valve seats. Either that or I have to put in additives, which can get expensive.

[@johnblair8146]

Propane was referred to as "casing head gasoline" in the early days of the oil industry. The propane was merely collected from the upper end of the well casing and flared off, or later collected and sold.

[@frankmiller95]

The 1970s and earlier USCG training manuals also referred to "casing head gas" as the most explosive and therefore dangerous tanker cargo. l had to look up the term to understand they were referring to propane.

[@jomiar309]

Great video! Just the facts, with concerns mentioned but not getting lost in the weeds. I think I've found a new favorite channel to show my kids how things work!

[@chriskirch5899]

Beside the OCTANE Rating, this fantastic Video would be great to include the KWh/l and per Galon to generate a general understanding on the evolutional power density. Also the Carnoute principle to understand transformation limits would be a great edit, as well as the general final energy use. Outstanding Video great job.

[@christycullen2355]

I used to work with Xylene. Used it as a thinner in resin flooring. Didn't realise it was a hydrocarbon. You learn something new everyday

[@geeache1891]

Quite unhealthy as well to work with, I understand.

[@Drumsgoon]

This channel is really great, fantastic quality and clarity to explain the engineering feats the modern world features, but are often taken for granted!

[@kfl611]

You explained this very well. Thank you.

[@madeingreece3329]

Very informative video, great work!

[@chicoroth8679]

as always - very good documentation. many thanks

[@tonners.pettitt9938]

Thankyou for an excellent recap on my hydrocarbon chemistry! Organic is always my favourite

[@whirledpeas3477]

Love the historical photos. You're hard work shows

[@ApolloTheDerg]

I’d love to see a video on the evolution of Diesel, and maybe a bit more of an angle on the differences, benefits, disadvantages, and how it shapes our world today.

[@johncourtneidge]

Magnificent! Thank-you! Sharing!

[@punditgi]

Excellent presentation!

[@peterlonter9053]

thank you for this informative video

[@Erikitties]

very informative! Thanks.

[@mskellyrlv]

That was an excellent technical history video. I've had some experience in this industry, but not at the expert level. I think you've produced a first-rate tutorial product here.

[@youerny]

Very high quality contents. Bravo/bravi

[@mentalizatelo]

This production is awesome.

[@she3esh]

Here in Australia propane known as "autogas" runs a fair few cars and costs half of what petrol does with a higher octane rating

[@kainhall]

Less power however . Running cars on propane was common in the 80s and 90s in the USA . A few still do it.... but propane is just as expensive now days . Mostly used for indoor fork lifts

[@hyric8927]

The part about hydrocracking surprised me. I thought that was better suited for raising diesel yields and that the gasoline yields would need to go through a reformer due to low octane ratings.

[@Hades9898z]

Awesome video❤

[@kexcz8276]

5:33 Škoda at the background! 😃🧡 And also great video! :3🧡

[@c63amgblack]

This channel is amazing

[@blankblank4949]

5:48 small correction, not trying to be nitpicky, but im pretty sure gasoline is never supposed to detonate in classical engines, only combustion; that is the reason we care about octane ratings.

[@blankblank4949]

the point being there's a difference between detonation and combustion that the language in this area of the video doesn't seem to take into account. no hate at all, thank you for the great video

[@guillaumejacky9834]

Exactly, same as the common engine is the "internal combustion engine" and not the "explosion engine " like we hear sometimes

[@mastershooter64]

​@@guillaumejacky9834 I wonder if people have designed internal detonation engines

[@yayayayya4731]

@@mastershooter64 pulse detonation engines

[@southernflatland]

​@@mastershooter64 If it counts for anything, there are old antique tractors that have basically a zero RPM idle, as the crankshaft goes back and forth at idle speed. It's really weird to actually see it in action even, as it's like 'running', but not running at the same time at idle. Not sure if that relates in any way to the detonation/combustion discussion, but it's still pretty interesting.

[@davidgrisez]

Since I was born in 1951 I have seen the changes in gasoline over the years. One thing that is long gone from my young years was when gasoline pumps at gas stations had a label on the side of them that read, "For Use As A Motor Fuel Only Contains Lead Tetraethyl". For so many years gasoline was sold that had a highly toxic lead additive in it. It is good that gasoline is now unleaded.

[@TechGorilla1987]

I doubt that anyone will read this, but if you would like a DEEP DIVE (deeper than even this video) in to the petroleum industry from Titusville to OPEC and beyond, go get this book: The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power. At 1000 pages, it is not a light read, but it's the most comprehensive tome on the complete history of the petroleum industry.

[@kirstenspencer3630]

Thank you

[@Vincent_Sullivan]

I have a copy of "The Prize" that I purchased at a school book sale years ago and it is a truly excellent book! It covers all aspects of the oil business from the start at Titusville to the late 1980s or early 1990s. As you say though... It is not "light" reading material. The author, Daniel Yergin, has written a more recent book entitled "The Quest" which covers the entire energy industry (not just oil) and it takes up time wise from where "The Prize" leaves off. It is also ~1000 pages and tough reading but well worth the effort!

[@jimmycincinnati3714]

Those are, by far, the cleanest refineries I ever saw.

[@Litvagopnik]

I love Petroleum and Oil. If i could do it all over again, I'd do petroleum engineering or organic chemistry in a heartbeat. Great video, man.

[@linkin543210]

Very informative

[@3v068]

For those who dont know, while it is illegal to sell Leaded gasoline for major automotive use, it is still made in smaller quantities for other specified engines, typically aviation and extreme power engines, however its mainly used in aviation as methanol and other fuels are better suited for racing and pure power applications.

[@wonniewarrior]

Service stations started to put out booklets stating what cars could function adequately on unleaded as leaded was being phased out - and which cars needed a upper cylinder lubricant that acted as a leaded substitute added to petrol tank with unleaded. Flashlube was 1 brand. Some vehicles including dual fuel (Autogas or LPG) had upper cylinder lubricant systems installed under the bonnet with a 1 litre (mines) bottle drip feeding to the carburetor. Mines was tuned to 6 drops per minute according to the mechanic. My 1974 Holden-Isuzu Gemini could handle the phasing out of unleaded, but my 1982 Ford Falcon could not.

[@fredsalter1915]

One of the greatest deep dives into modern gasoline. Thanks!!!

[@NewMind]

Thank you!

[@mikemorgan5015]

Best damn explanation of gasoline I've ever seen. Well done!

[@craigfrancis9578]

I worked in this industry very so true its lime u work there before

[@TheGiantHog]

I love your channel!

[@samsonsoturian6013]

I use to work as a guard at a refinery. I don't know what the catylist they use these days is, but it smells like a chemical weapon (assaults all senses).

[@ericlotze7724]

Might be thinking of Hydrofluoric Acid used as a catalyst in Alkylation (they only mentioned Sulfuric Acid, which is a (still quite nasty) different option. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkylation_unit I do wonder why they are releasing so much of it that you can smell it though oof, stay safe out there!

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@@ericlotze7724 They called it cat and we went through a truckload a day. We weren't present for it's unloading but we could smell it as we checked trucks in.

[@nessunodorme3888]

I worked in a refinery for awhile in the late 1970s and I remember they did use hydrofluoric acid in part of the place ( _really_ dangerous stuff!) but I think the catalyst he's talking about was this pelletized stuff that was grey in color, if I remember right (or possibly a sort of tan) they just called it "catalyst" and we shoveled it into the base of a gigantic cylindrical thing. Watching this video I think it may have been either silica or alumina, possibly with some kind of nickel or maybe Pd/Pt coating. That's a guess based on the refinery having a prominent "cat cracker" in the late 1970s. As far as smell goes, everything in that place stunk and a film of oil and chemicals coated the inside of your nose all the time. Everything there assaulted your senses! I hope this helps and I would be interested if anyone has an idea of what that "catalyst" was. Thanks in advance!

[@nessunodorme3888]

​@@samsonsoturian6013Was it sort of in pellet or prill form? See my comment here for what I knew as "catalyst".

[@rexanguis214]

God bless you, love your work, can you do an episode on transistors, transmissions, antennas, lithium batteries and components of the electrical grid……thank you and god bless you

[@fqwgads]

Good video! One correction with corn biofuel ethanol though - its production is unfortunately energy negative. It takes more energy to make it than you get out of it. Real engineering made a good video about this

[@TarenGarond]

I would not trust Real Engineering as their videos tend to be filled to the brim with misinformation.

[@hansschonig2472]

incredibly interesting!

[@dogreviewdog9088]

Brilliant doco

[@Tellyfive]

The part about ethanol is way off. This is a heavily government subsidized program and never had anything to do with adding jobs in farming lol.

[@JF-xq6fr]

Always found it interesting while stationed in Germany that the use of leaded gas was still in widespread in 1991. Use to buy regular leaded benzin with Esso ration coupons.

[@tigertiger1699]

Great vid🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@ericcarabetta1161]

Great video.

[@JensSchraeder]

Excellent documentary! 125 years later and gasoline and diesel are still dominant. The energy density of gasoline and diesel is tough to beat. I like that we are constantly looking for ways to improve performance and reduce emissions.

[@xxxDoctorZxxx]

Loving your videos! How about giving an update on the H2 ICE, especially in the context of commercial vehicles? The DOE recently held an webinar giving a brief overview with many additional sources for further research. Since yt doesn't allow links you have to s arch for "February h2iq hour".

[@philliprobinson7724]

Hi. Excellent presentation and narration. Epitomizes the 1950's radio star Sergeant Thursday in "Dragnet"; "we want the facts man, just the facts". Obviously the existing petrochemical industry has indispensable knowledge to add to the development of bio-fuels. Cheers, P.R.

[@issamazouagh6982]

Nice video, i just want to precise that the clip shown at 19:50 show morocco and moroccan numberplates on cars 😅

[@AndyClements]

TEL was chosen because they could patent it and make a profit. The ethanol choice was more available, cheaper, and not poisonous, and they knew about it before TEL.

[@kirstenspencer3630]

Yes, I had a chemistry book published in 1917 that speaks of ethanol as an OXYGENATE.

[@colin351]

I believe that TEL inhibits knocking by acting as a free radical scavenger, not by reacting with gasoline compounds to form higher octane components.

[@nickhowatson4745]

it does both

[@colin351]

@@nickhowatson4745 Thanks for clarification

[@nickhowatson4745]

@@colin351 no problem, friend

[@frankmiller95]

Maybe they could use DMSO for the same purpose, since it functions as a free radical scavenger when applied topically to humans and horses for athletic injuries and bruises. Unfortunately, it's not very helpful for tendonfuckinitis, only muscle and joint issues.

[@ApolloTheDerg]

Gotta love the fact we still have 85 here in the Rocky Mountains, and how many people are concerned with price and feeding that to their vehicles that require premium. Even I am guilty of this 😇 I primarily drive diesel tho, it’s a love hate on price sometimes haha.

[@Littlebitoferic]

You should make a video on Canbus systems, it's in everything !

[@simonreij6668]

Great vid ty

[@yaroslavpanych2067]

I will point at error: according to relatively recent studies/models, there is not double bonds in aromatocs' base. Those extra valent units of bondage are forming new type of bond - banana bond(not sure how english speaking world calls it), it is modelled as big electron cloud in the center of the base. That is why proper schematic image of aromatic base is circle in the hexagon, which replaced old image - hexagon with every other double line side.

[@hsharma3933]

5:12 the conjugated/alternating double bond is absolutely necessary for aromaticity. Without it, the compound is not aromatic. The conjugated double bonds are what permit the hybridization of the structure so each carbon is simultaneously single and double bonded to the carbon adjacent. There’s actually four rules for aromaticity. It has to be cyclic, planar, conjugated (alternating double bonds), and have 4n+2 pi electrons (where n=1,2,3…)

[@Psychx_]

Sulfur oxides to contribute to acid rain aswell. They readily react with water in the air to form sulfurous acid and sulfuric acid.

[@jeffsims7386]

Literally any vehicle produced after the 70’s fuel embargo can run on E15 and E30 without fear of damage or reduction in performance. They’re designed to be able to handle methanol, a far more corrosive alcohol, by government mandate due to the embargo. I’ve run vehicles from the 90’s on up to E50 without modification, and regularly use E30 for chainsaws, mowers, and other small equipment (especially two stroke engines that prefer higher octanes) despite the warning stickers advising otherwise. Oil companies lose billions on every percent of ethanol added, they’re highly inclined to make you believe it will harm your engine.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Where did they think they were going to get large amounts of methanol in the 1970s? Natural gas was actually in a shortage in the 1970s. Coal gas is all I can imagine. That would definitely be in line with the Synthetic Fuels initiative of the time.

[@GoDodgers1]

Very good.

[@kevinwayne7546]

Awesome!

[@samueladler8233]

What software do you use to model chemical structures?

[@richardbennett4365]

Nice video.

[@sammy5576]

Some times nitrogen oxide emissions come from the pressure and temperature of combustion rather than from the fuel

[@KP-ty9yl]

I now know more about gasoline that I know about myself

[@danial1635]

At 8:45 there is a mistake in audio narration. It was supposed to be 1891 instead of 1981.

[@LaGuerre19]

Just unreal. I was thinking earlier today about your video regarding the science of small distances and this pops up. This is, no exaggeration, one of the best channels on youtube.

[@johnzelinka5684]

Thanks!

[@NewMind]

Thank you for the appreciation!

[@staninjapan07]

Great video. Liked. Sub'd.

[@Unb3arablePain]

9.5/10, fantastic video that broke down the chemistry and history well from a factual standpoint. My only detraction is there are more issues with Ethanol than food scarcity and competition. Ethanol has many benefits but also many drawbacks. First, it is overall a net negative fuel where the energy spent to make it is greater than what it provides in mass, but this can be justified. The bigger issues are that it degrades fuel line components much more and is less energy efficient despite the better anti-knock capabilities. Now the fuel line degredation issue has mostly been solved but even a modern car like mine recommends to avoid anything over E-15 and even then, would rather you not. The other issue is it's less energy dense and I have noticed (and showed mathematically in university) you get worse MPG the greater your Ethanol content. Ethanol free fuel in economy cars can easily get a few more MPG per tank and that's what a co-worker did with his Focus. That aside, again excellent video and earned a sub and a whole watch later list.

[@VioletGiraffe]

In my language gasoline/petrol is called "benzine", and "gasoline" is the term for the lighter oil fractions (than benzine).

[@jebadias1468]

Nice general overview. Too bad you skipped hydrotreaters. These are essential in modern refining, and without them some units like reformers can not function.

[@atrumluminarium]

22:05 keep in mind that yes growing the crops captures CO2, but fermentation into ethanol releases a significant portion of it back out.

[@UQRXD]

The monsters that run this planet never get sick. They don't live on it.

[@dakotarivers6741]

“Fossil” fuels. Sure we’ll go with that lmao

[@icosthop9998]

TY 📚👍📚

[@markissboi3583]

finally i understand cracking fuel

[@WingDiamond]

Born to leed ... With Breakneck Speed. And High Octane, We're Spitting Flames!