Gasoline

:Petrol (petroleum spirit) redirects here. For the seabird, see petrel, spelt with an 'e'.

History

Pharmaceutical

Before internal combustion engines were invented in the mid-1800s, gasoline was sold in small bottles as a treatment against lice and their eggs. In those early times, the word "Petrol" was a trade name. This treatment method is no longer common, due to the inherent fire hazard and risk of dermatitis and that gasoline is a carcinogen where continued contact might develop cancerous growths.

Related Topics:
Internal combustion engine - Lice - Trade name - Dermatitis

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The word petrol may be derived from Old French pétrole, meaning petroleum: see #Etymology.

Related Topics:
Old French - Petroleum - #Etymology

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Petrol is also abused as a psychoactive inhalant.

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Etymology

The word "gasolene" was coined in 1865 from the word gas and the chemical suffix -ine/-ene. The modern spelling was first used in 1871. The shortened form "gas" was first recorded in American English in 1905.http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=gasoline

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Although, Gasoline originally referred to any liquid offered for sale, sold or used as the fuel for a gasoline-powered engine, but does not include diesel fuel or liquefied gas. Methanol racing fuel would have been be classed as a type of gasoline.http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/audit/motorfue/glossary.htm

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The word "petrol" was first used in reference to the refined substance as early as 1892 (it previously referred to unrefined petroleum), and was registered as a trade name by English wholesaler Carless, Capel & Leonard.

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http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=petrol http://www.chrysler-restorers-sa.org.au/crcmag154.pdf

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Bertha Benz got petrol for her famous drive from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back from chemists' shops. In Germany petrol is called Benzin but this is not related to her name but to the chemical Benzine.

Related Topics:
Bertha Benz - Mannheim - Pforzheim - Germany - Benzine

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World War II and octane

One interesting historical issue involving octane rating took place during WWII. Germany received nearly all its oil from Romania, and set up huge distilling plants in Germany to produce gasoline from coal. In the US the oil was not "as good" and the oil industry had to invest heavily in various expensive boosting systems. This turned out to have benefits. The US industry started delivering fuels of ever-increasing octane ratings by adding more of the boosting agents and the infrastructure was in place for post war octane agents additive industry. Good crude oil was no longer a factor during wartime and by war's end, American aviation fuel was commonly 130 to 150 octane. This high octane could easily be used in existing engines to deliver much more power by increasing the compression delivered by the superchargers. The Germans, relying entirely on "good" gasoline, had no such industry, and instead had to rely on ever-larger engines to deliver more power.

Related Topics:
WWII - Germany - Romania - US - Supercharger

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However, German aviation engines were of the direct fuel injection type and could use methanol-water injection and nitrous oxide injection, which gave 50% more engine power for five minutes of dogfight. This could be done only five times or after 40 hours run-time and then the engine would have to be rebuilt. Most German aero engines used 87 octane fuel (called B4), while some high-powered engines used 100 octane (C2/C3) fuel.

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This historical "issue" is based on a very common misapprehension about wartime fuel octane numbers. There are two octane numbers for each fuel, one for lean mix and one for rich mix, rich being always greater. So, for example, a common British aviation fuel of the later part of the war was 100/125. The misapprehension that German fuels have a lower octane number (and thus a poorer quality) arises because the Germans quoted the lean mix octane number for their fuels while the Allies quoted the rich mix number for their fuels. Standard German high-grade aviation fuel used in the later part of the war (given the designation C3) had lean/rich octane numbers of 100/130. The Germans would list this as a 100 octane fuel while the Allies would list it as 130 octane.

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After the war the US Navy sent a Technical Mission to Germany to interview German petrochemists and examine German fuel quality. Their report entitled "Technical Report 145-45 Manufacture of Aviation Gasoline in Germany" chemically analyzed the different fuels and concluded that "Toward the end of the war the quality of fuel being used by the German fighter planes was quite similar to that being used by the Allies".

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