Gasoline

I've repaired and worked on small engines a very, very long time. You will learn alot if you read and gain knowledge from my blogs.

GASOLINE is a hydrocarbon fuel which is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon, which is refined from petroleum. PETROLEUM is a dark, thick liquid that is extracted from our earth by oil wells we see popping up everywhere. Lucky for all of us, petroleum is the second most plentiful liquid in the world; only water is available in greater quantity. Gasoline, however, cannot be recycled as water can. Therefore, it is imperative that we all conserve gasoline and use it wisely, especially today when gas prices are so high. After studing what I do, I can tell you that gasoline contains a great amount of energy. For engine use, it should:

* Ignite readily, burn cleanly, and resist detonation which is a violent explosion.
* It should vaporize easily, without being subject to vapor lock, which means, vaporizing in fuel lines, impeding flow of liquid fuel to your carburetor.
* It should always be free of dirt, water, and abrasives.

Gasoline is assigned an OCTANE NUMBER that corresponds to its ability to resist detonation. Preminum grade gasoline burns slower than regular gasoline. It has a high octane number and is used in engines with high compression. Regular grade gasoline has a lower octane number and burns relatively fast. Generally, regular gasoline is used in small, low compression, one-cylinder and two-cylinder, gasoline engines. We all know that gasoline was once available in both leaded and unleaded varieties. The use of lead compounds was the most economical way to increase gasoline's octane number. For many years, most gasolines contained TETRAETHYL LEAD.
Since way back in the 70's unleaded gasoline has replaced leaded gasoline. Instead of lead compounds, OXYGENATES which is alohols and ethers, are commonly added to these fuels to increase octane levels. The main reason that unleaded gas was introduced was to provide fuel for automobiles equipped with catalytic converters. These vehicles will not operate properly on leaded fuel.