Properties of Gasoline Stored in Various Containers

Cheol-Hwan Jeon,Byung-Ki Na,Cheon-Kyu Park,Jae-Kon Kim

doi:10.3390/en10091307

Cheol-Hwan Jeon, Byung-Ki Na + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en10091307

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Abstract

Recently, consumers in rural areas have complained about the reduction of the octane number for gasoline stored in storage containers made of polyethylene (PE) in Korea. In addition, problems have been found in gasoline that has not been used for a long time in dual-fueled cars that use liquefied petroleum gas and gasoline at the same time. The reduction of the octane number has caused problems in the quality of fuels. To understand the fuel quality problems, the fuel properties of gasoline for automobiles were investigated in this study by storing gasoline for a long time in various simplified storage containers (tin-coated steel, PE, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)) in a laboratory scale. For the four months of the storage period, the storage containers were kept indoors and outdoors to monitor the research octane number (RON), vapor pressure, oxidation stability, and the content of all the components to evaluate the fuel properties. In addition, the surfaces of containers were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the PE storage containers that were kept outdoors under extremely harsh conditions. Depending on the storage period, some of the PE storage containers kept indoors and outdoors failed to satisfy the specification of quality standards of the gasoline as the samples with high octane numbers and low boiling points evaporated. In addition, the octane number of the gasoline in PE storage container stored indoors decreased as the content of n-paraffin and olefins having low boiling point components decreased during the storage period. The surface analysis of the PE storage containers kept indoors showed that the gasoline permeated into the surface of the containers. In this study, it has been showed that tin-coated steel material storage containers for gasoline storage are less affected by external influences than PE material storage containers and thus are more advantageous for maintaining stable fuel quality.

Highlights

Gasoline is a mixture of C4 to C12 hydrocarbon compounds containing single or double bonds.This petroleum fraction distills in the temperature range 30 to 220 ◦ C [1]
With regard to the fuel properties of the gasoline for automobiles depending on the storage containers in the storage period, Figure 1 shows the variation of the research octane number (RON), which is the most important indicator affecting the automobile’s performance
The following conclusions were obtained by evaluating the fuel physiochemical properties of gasoline for automobiles stored indoors and outdoors by using various kinds of properties of gasoline for automobiles stored indoors and outdoors by using various kinds of storage storage containers at a laboratory scale for a storage period of four months

Summary

Introduction

Gasoline is a mixture of C4 to C12 hydrocarbon compounds containing single or double bonds. This petroleum fraction distills in the temperature range 30 to 220 ◦ C [1]. It is very dangerous because it can evaporate at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, is highly inflammable, and becomes explosive when the volatile gas is mixed with the air. The gasoline mixture includes a small amount of oxygenates, sulfur compounds, and nitrogen compounds. The hydrocarbon compounds in gasoline may be classified as n-paraffins, iso-paraffins, olefins, aromatic compounds, and naphthenics. The relative ratios among these five groups of hydrocarbon compounds are determined by considering the manufacturing process, the requirements of the automobile engine, and the quality standards for appropriate fuels in individual countries [1]

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