tritium

I just read through a thread regarding the choices individuals make regarding the brand and grade of fuel that they use in the automobiles and I thought that, perhaps, the TFP membership could benefit from a little research that I have.

As a member of the international import and export business community, I have a bit of insider knowledge when it comes to commodities. I was, however, a bit of a fish out of water when a large shipment of petroleum products came from overseas on one of our boats -- we usually don't do tankers. I'm still not entirely certain why my shipping company was moving petroleum, but nonetheless, we were.

Now, to the meat of my presentation.

All gasolines and diesel fuels are covered by ISO standards governing their purities (measured in octane). Octane is an ideal standard and is a gas that will not explode when pressurized (or its difficult to detonate). Heptane, on the otherhand, is the direct opposite. Under even slight pressure, heptane gas will detonate. It is a comparison between heptane (rated @ 0) and octane (rated at 100) that yields the rating that our gasoline fuels receive. An 87 octane gasoline behaves like a mixture of 87% octane and 13% heptane. The higher the rating, the less likely the fuel will be to prematuring detonate from compression instead of the spark (aka., knocking or pinging). These ISO measurements standards (87, 91, 93) are closing followed for one large reason: pipelines.

There are close to 23,000 miles of petroleum pipelines in the United States moving all manner of fuels, ranging from various octanes of gasoline to diesel. The reality of these pipelines is that they only allow for 1 (one) type of fuel to run simultaneously and without any stoppers between fuels types (they switch periodically as demand necessitates) there is substantial mixing. This mixture is usually drained off and used in industry for heating where octane or the gasoline v. diesel isn't important.

The other reality of these pipelines is that all gasoline moves through the same arteries, regardless of distiller or destination companies. Thus, we call all gasolines "fungible" commodities. Remember, ISO guidelines determine that all 87, 91 and 93 rated gasolines are created equal. A distiller pours some quantity X into the pipeline at one end, and drains some quantity X out of the other end. This is simplified, but covers what actually happens.

So, since ISO standards cover what goes in and out of the oil pipelines, what does that mean for consumers shopping at Exxon, Texaco, Phillips 66, etc.? All gasolines are created equal.

The only differences between commercial gasolines are the detergents added by the commecial agents after removing the gasoline from the pipeline and moving it to their distribution centers. Oh, and by the way, most of those detergents come from the same manufacturer -- In actuality, it is the same "stuff" added across the board, in most cases.

So what's the difference between Exxon, BP and Phillips? Their marketing strategies.

So, just remember that the tiger in your tank is just as good as the shell in your tank or the 66 or the BP. Same stuff, no matter where you get it.

PS: Little tidbit you might find interesting about the air that you are breathing right now. Do you think that the US banned lead fuels? Wrong. Piston airplanes, which commonly use 115 octane fuel, are permitted to have the same tetraethyl lead compound that was banned for use in cars (inexpensive boost to octane ratings). Leaded or ethyl fuels = no catalytic converter. Jet engines don't use gasoline at all (kerosene, in fact). So, remember that the next time you see a Cesna overhead.

edit: Quickly cleaned it up a little for Halx

__________________
Blah.