Discussion»Questions»Science and Technology» Synthetic oil is used in cars. Why not synthetic gas. Why do we need fossil fuels at all if we can make stuff that works from other stuff?
Synthetic gasoline can be created in a lab, but it would be quite costly. We already have a synthetic 'bio-Diesel' made from vegetable oils with a simple chemical process using inexpensive chemicals.
A lot. It's an alcohol as opposed to a hydrocarbon mainly. For it to be a synthetic gasoline it would be gasoline just made by synthesizing it from simpler chemicals. It lacks the lubricating qualities of gasoline. It doesn't have any octane ( gasoline too though is a simulated octane rating not a true one too) the simulated octane numbers are consistent in all types of engines. For example ethanol blend may perform as an 87 octane rated gasoline in a car engine, but not in a small 2-stroke engine. It has a much smaller energy density than gasoline. Gasoline repels water while ethanol attracts water. ethanol blends become acidic as they degrade.
It's not a hydrocarbon and isn't a gasoline so it isn't a synthetic version of gasoline. It's a replacement fuel in combustion engines, but it share no actual qualities of any hydrocarbon fuel.
I'm pretty sure 99 will verify that it isn't too. Really ethanol is red herring and was sold to the public with smoke and mirrors. Butyl Alcohol is actually the much more suitable gasoline replacement when it comes to bio-alcohols but that has it's own set of problems too.
Seriously though. Don't run ethanol blends in anything but your car if non-ethanol 91 or 93 is available. Even if it says it' okay it's better if you don't.
Most synthetic oils are made from alkenes that are synthesised from base hydrocarbons. Natural gas or naptha. These types are made from crude oil and natural gas so that won't stop oil drilling Some of the more expensive and exotic ones are made from condensing acids and esthers which is it's own environmental hazards.
To synthesize gasoline on an industrial level would require other hazardous chemicals and still require a lot of energy that would inevitably come from burning fossil fuels. No win. If it was feasable the oil companies would do it. Yet synthetic oil isn't made to decrease crude oil dependency. It doesn't do that, it just performs better.
That would be a VERY EXPENSIVE fuel m'dear depending upon the type of Scotch. I had a boss (very wealthy guy) who used to import his Scotch from Scotland. I think it was called Glen Fiddich or something like that! He used to collect cars as well! Wonder if he ever ran any of the cars on the booze? Thank you for your reply Malizz and Happy Friday! :)
You can run a diesel vehicle on lots of fuels....a diesel vehicle will run on any used domestic cooking oil .....better still you can run diesel on thinner hydraulic oil such as brake fluid or second hand hydraulic oil used in giant planes....
Newer diesels will not run on actual cooking oil and even the old ones that can need a heat exchanger to warm the oil up to high enough temps. They still need regular kerosene fuel to start off with and then switch once the proper temps for the heat exchanger are reached. Still it can cause some problems. It can be modified with a strong base and methanol though to change it to a proper replacement by slightly changing it's structure. Leaving the fuel and glycerine by-product. That will run fine with no modifications.
Serioiusly NJ? Canola oil too? "Any used domestic cooking oil"? Wow! Imagine cooking with something that you can ingest which also works in vehicles to propel them? Mind-boggling!. Thank you for your reply m'dear and Happy Friday to thee! Cost-wise wonder how it would compare to regular gas? You know we pay more in California for gasoline because of EPA requirements than they do in other states. Right now it's abut $3/gallon whereas our son pays about $2.20/gallon in Arizona. :)
WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH 