Development of petrol

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Otto fuels , formerly also known as carburetor fuels , are, in the broader sense, all fuels for Otto engines ( internal combustion engines with external ignition ). These engines, which work according to the Otto cycle , are used in many different ways in land vehicles , small appliances such as lawn mowers or chain saws, and as boat and aircraft engines .

The term petrol in the narrower sense for a motor gasoline according to DIN EN 228 as a counterpart to diesel fuel is used in many regulations and documents.

In the German Reich of the Weimar Republic and during the Nazi period, the lack of had oil from domestic extraction and the use of the addition of various other (usually much knocking firmer promoted) substances as fuel. These products, some of which are banned today, and some of which are also known as “ alternative fuels ”, have undergone significant development in their manufacture and use.

Early use

Spirit (ethanol, agricultural alcohol)

As early as the 1860s, Nikolaus August Otto used " spirit " ( potato fuel , agricultural alcohol , today known as bio-ethanol ) as a knock-proof fuel ( octane number at least 104 RON) in the prototype of his internal combustion engine. During the First World War, this fuel was used as an engine spirit for high performance requirements such as fighter planes on enemy flights.

The first car with a petrol engine (ligroin) from 1886

Light petrol

The earliest use of petrol in vehicles is the use of light gasoline (around 75 to 85 RON), which was already described in the patent specification for Benz Patent Motorwagen number 1 from 1886 as "highly volatile oil" for use. This could be the somewhat heavier ligroin , named there, or the somewhat lighter gasoline . The surface carburetors used at the beginning of the 20th century were able to form ignitable mixtures with the volatile light gasoline.

Bertha Benz , wife of the automobile inventor Carl Benz , made her trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim at the beginning of August 1888 by purchasing ligroin in the city ​​pharmacy in Wiesloch , making it the world's first petrol station. Other names for light gasoline are or were petroleum benzine , petroleum ether , benzene or Hydririn . During the First World War, light petrol was also used as aviation fuel.

petrol

Early fuel pump

Early 20th century and intensified after the First World War was gasoline (depending on the source and origin of very different quality knock resistance from about 40 RON) is used as fuel, both as motor gasoline or motor gasoline for vehicles with petrol engines as well as jet fuel for aircraft with gasoline engines (piston engines with external ignition). Although Wilhelm Maybach had invented the spray nozzle carburetor, which could form ignitable mixtures with gasoline, as early as 1893, it was not until after the First World War that gasoline (more precisely: medium gasoline) replaced light gasoline as vehicle gasoline.

Petrol was less knock-proof than light petrol, but it was cheaper. In the USA in particular, it started to gain ground. So it came about that there was a so-called large filling station (from “ Standard Oil of Indiana”) there as early as 1917 , while other fueling stations were mainly filled from canisters or barrel pumps . The barrels and canisters were brought from the flatbed truck or the canisters were filled directly from the tanker truck. Normal gasoline was often sufficient for fighter planes on training flights.

benzene

As a petrol, pure benzene has a high knock resistance (99 RON), but it was comparatively expensive and engines sooted very quickly. Therefore, benzene was only used as a fuel for special applications such as engines with high compression or for high performance requirements such as fighter planes on enemy flight (engine benzene) .

1920s

" Iron Maiden ", the gas pump from the 1920s (on the right in the picture) in the Deutsches Museum
First Berlin gas station with service area from 1928/1929

The distinction between normal (petrol), known as Bensin in Scandinavia , and super with two standardized anti-knock levels , which was long in the second half of the 20th century , did not exist in the 1920s. The differences in performance and quality (e.g. with regard to the knock resistance ) of the petrol described here are also shown by the price comparison, as the following list from a joint filling station in Arnstadt in 1926 (prices per liter) shows:

According to another source, the gasoline-potato alcohol mixture Monopolin, the Reichskraftsprit, cost about as much as regular gasoline at the end of the 1920s. It was more knock-resistant due to the ethanol content, but had a lower volumetric energy density ( calorific value per liter). The use of alcohol served to replace foreign mineral oil with local fuels. Knock-resistant types of gasoline, which were not yet called super (gasoline) at the time, such as Motalin from Deutsche Gasolin ( synthetic gasoline Leuna with iron pentacarbonyl additive ), were about 5% more expensive than regular gasoline, similar to light gasoline. Compared to gasoline, benzene, which is much more knock-resistant, cost around 35% more due to its significantly higher energy density , with a gasoline-benzene mixture in between.

In the course of the 1920s, many of the mineral oil companies set up their own gas station chains in addition to exploration and trading, initially by setting up individual filling stations on public land. In addition, there were many dispensing points operated by business people, for example as a single tap on the sidewalk in front of a shop, but sometimes also consisting of a line of many different tapping points of various brands and types, so-called community filling stations.

Fuel consumption in Germany at the end of the 1920s was 800,000 to 900,000 tons. Of these, around 500,000 to 600,000 tons, mainly gasoline or crude oil for gasoline production in local refineries, were imported from a wide variety of countries via the mostly foreign parent companies.

Light petrol

There was still light petrol, but it was increasingly being replaced by premium petrol. Since the carburetor technology based on the spray nozzle carburetor invented by Wilhelm Maybach in 1893 had improved so much that fuels with a higher boiling behavior (medium petrol) could be processed, the lower boiling losses of medium petrol and the higher volumetric energy density became increasingly important. Carburettor fires also occurred less frequently with medium-grade petrol than with light petrol.

Today, light gasoline is processed into gasoline components by isomerization or used as a solvent for grease, rubber and resins as well as in the manufacture of paints and pharmaceuticals.

petrol

While in the USA, Great Britain and the Netherlands in the 1920s the gasoline consisted mainly of petroleum, some of the petrol in Germany at the end of the 1920s consisted of synthetic petrol due to the lack of its own abundant petroleum sources and the efforts of IG Farben , that is extracted from lignite . The prime cost of synthetic gasoline was around 20 pfennigs compared to around 5.4 pfennigs for petroleum gas.

Since the quality of the basic petrol (and therefore knock resistance) fluctuated strongly (before 1930: 40 to 60 RON), 5% to 10% benzene was often added in Germany for standardization (adjustment of the knock resistance), which was due to the small amount considered at the time had not yet to be declared.

The best-known normal gasoline brands of the Big Five were called petrol station companies back then

  • Dapolin (petrol made from American petroleum from the German-American Petroleum Society (DAPG)),
  • Stellin (petrol made from Indian, American or Romanian oil from Rhenania-Ossag ),
  • Strax (petrol from Persian (from 1935 Iranian) oil wells from OLEX ) and
  • Leuna (German synthetic hydrogenation gasoline from IG Farben , sold by Deutsche Gasolin).

The Benzol Association, the fifth member, had no regular gasoline, but instead sold its Aral Bibo mixture .

Premium gasoline

Super gasoline as a more knock-resistant type than normal gasoline was produced by mixing with other, knock-resistant fuels or by adding additives. The difference between the two processes is that the admixture of other, knock-resistant fuels requires amounts of 10% to 40% of the volume, while the additives are only required in a tenth of a percent range because of their effectiveness.

Fuel admixture with spirit (agricultural alcohol)

1925 founded Reich Spirits Monopoly Administration and the recovery Association of German alcohol factories , the Empire force fuel (RKS) to the of potatoes produced " Spiritus (now" agricultural alcohol , bio-ethanol called) to market as gasoline agricultural support.

RKS sold its gasoline mixture with up to 25 percent potato alcohol under the brand name Monopolin . Despite the higher knock resistance of Monopolin, it was one of the cheapest fuels due to the domestic alcohol prices, the import taxes on gasoline and the lower volumetric energy density. Depending on the quality of the base gasoline, Monopolin has an octane number between 56 RON and 70 RON. In addition, Reichskraftsprit also had a gasoline-benzene mixture with the corresponding “spirit” additive called Albizol .

Benzene added to fuel

After OLEX had launched a gasoline-benzene mixture (Olexin) on the market in 1923 , the Benzol Association (BV) came out in 1924 with its BV-Aral , a mixture of "6 parts gasoline and 4 parts benzene". These fuels, also known as Bibo Mixtures, were very knock-proof for the time. While the benzene came from domestic production, around 1926 the gasoline came from all countries from which the (western) mineral oil companies involved in the mutual supply agreement obtained their oil. In the late 1920s, the Benzene Association obtained its gasoline from Russian sources. Depending on the quality of the base gasoline, BV-Aral has an octane number between 64 RON and 76 RON. Other such premium petrol was Dynamin from Rhenania-Ossag , whose benzene came from Great Britain at the end of the 1920s, Duolin from DAPG, which was sold as a red Esso from September 1928 , and Motorin from Deutsche Gasolin .

Additives ("lead tetraethylene")

Iron pentacarbonyl

1924 founded the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey with General Motors , the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation to the US patent for the then so-called "Bleitetraäthylen" (English Tetraethyllead. TEL dt. Tetraethyl lead ) to control and knock firmer in the US gasoline to produce. Since TEL is about 300 times more effective than benzene in increasing the knock resistance, only comparatively small amounts of it are required as an additive. Tetraethyl lead (en) was not available in Germany in significant quantities until 1936.

Additives (iron carbonyls)

From the second half of the 1920s in Germany, Motalin was a premium gasoline made knock-proof by Deutsche Gasolin with the additive iron pentacarbonyl ("compression-proof fuel"). The basis was mainly the synthetic gasoline Leuna produced by IG Farben in the Leuna works . From 1928 there were small metal canisters with a concentrated mixture of iron carbonyls (so-called Motyl cartridges ) as an additive for normal gasoline to increase the knock resistance, which thus obtained Motalin-like properties.

1930s to World War II

Double glass cylinder petrol pump from the 1930s

At that time, enthusiasm for the subject of cars and gasoline was not only evident in racing . In this context, a film called "PS" was made on behalf of the DAPG in 1932 at the UFA in Berlin and in 1936 Olex had the first color advertising film made for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

In order to reduce the dependency on mostly foreign oil in Germany in the 1930s, in order to use more domestic raw materials and to save foreign currency during the world economic crisis , in 1930 the supply regulation for alcohol for fuel purposes came into force for all fuel companies. 2.5 percent by weight of the amount of fuel produced or imported was to be obtained from the Reich Monopoly Administration. This quota increased gradually to 10% by October 1932. The term gasohol was coined in America for such a gasoline-alcohol mixture with 10% alcohol . The two gasoline-alcohol blends Alcoline and Agrol , however, could not prevail against the cheaper gasoline in the USA in the 1930s, despite their higher knock resistance.

At the end of October 1930 51% of the company shares in Reichskraftsprit went to the member companies of the Fuel Convention . The participants in the takeover undertook to use at least 20,000 tons of alcohol as an admixture for Monopolin by the end of 1934. Since agriculture encountered difficulties in delivering the agreed sales volumes in the course of the 1930s, IG Farben later used this to force it to mix the synthetic methanol it produced as a by-product .

In Germany, petrol cost between 38 and 42 pfennigs per liter in 1935 and was set at 40 pfennigs in 1939. Similar to the mid-1920s, premium gasoline was around 2 pfennigs more expensive in 1938.

In the course of the armament of the Wehrmacht , planners of the Nazi regime and the military thought about supplying the Wehrmacht with enough suitable types of fuel.

Car petrol or petrol

As a result of the compulsory admixture of agricultural alcohol for all fuel companies in Germany, the twenties gasoline developed into a vehicle gasoline that was normalized by alcohol to achieve a higher knock resistance , which in the 1930s had an octane rating of 70 RON.

The best-known normal gasoline brands of the large petrol station companies were called Standard in the 1930s ( Dapolin was renamed by the German-American Petroleum Society in 1931 ), Stellin , Olexin and Leuna were still around . The Benzol Association now sold its Deron petrol . From the NITAG there was Nitalin . In addition, there were many medium-sized mineral oil and petrol station companies, many of which merged in UNITI . At the Reichsautobahn-Fuel-GmbH the gasoline was simply called Reichsautobahnbenzin . At the same time, IG Farben increased the proportion of synthetic hydrogenation gasoline ( Leuna gasoline ) made from lignite more and more; from 1936 the first synthetic gasoline made from hard coal from the Scholven hydrogenation plant , which was also marketed by the Benzol Association as Leuna , was added. Domestic gasoline production rose from about one to three million tons between 1935 and 1938.

In June 1938, the Reich Minister of Transport issued an order according to which only motor vehicles with engines using 74 RON were allowed to be registered. The normal gasoline from the beginning of 1939 for normal consumers became the two types of vehicle gasoline with an octane rating of 74 RON. Since there was no longer enough potato alcohol, Nordbenzin (or Fahrbenzin N ) was produced with an admixture of 13% of this alcohol and a little benzene. South of the line “Elbe-Stade-Bremervörde-Soltau-Celle-Braunschweig-Berlin-Poland”, the Südbenzin (or Fahrbenzin S ) was given the additive tetraethyl lead instead of alcohol to increase the knock resistance.

Housed tap in 1939

Gasoline-Benzene Mixture (Bibo)

Benzene Association

The main supplier in Germany for gasoline-benzene mixtures (Bibo) was the Benzol-Verband, which in 1935 was the largest mineral oil distribution company of the Big Five with a sales quota of 26.2% and was in third place with 7,740 filling points (13.8% ). At Reichsautobahn-Fuel-GmbH , the Bibo mixture sold within the monopoly corridor of 500 m width along the Reichsautobahn was simply called Reichsautobahn mixture .

The gasoline-benzene mixtures available throughout Germany achieved a knock resistance of 78 to 80 RON in 1939 with 40% benzene, just like the premium gasoline. Bibo was the third type of gasoline approved in Germany from 1939, which could be sold to private vehicles at 78 RON .

Rhenania-Ossag (Shell)

In the mid-1930s, the gasoline-benzene mixed fuel was the most common in Germany. At that time, the Dutch Shell group was getting its crude oil, the so-called Borneo gasoline, from the Dutch-Indian colony of Borneo, in which the gasoline-benzene mixture naturally occurred. Rhenania-Ossag , which belongs to Shell , was therefore able to fall back on a very useful raw material in the production of its Dynamin gasoline brand . Due to their naphthenes and aromatic components - less benzene than higher homologues - the gasoline-benzene fuels have a higher specific weight than, for example, the North American gasoline. The Borneo gasoline had an octane rating of 82.5 RON (76 MOZ).

Premium or extra gasoline

Up until the mid-1930s, premium gasoline , then known as compression-proof fuel , was either made more knock-proof with benzene or alcohol in large quantities, or it was mixed with iron carbonyls, such as the Motalin sold by Deutsche Gasolin .

Tetraethyl lead or tetraethyl lead

Until the mid-1930s, IG Farben, through its longstanding collaboration with the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey on dark business channels, bypassing the US state export ban, obtained tetraethyl lead (TEL) in order to develop aviation fuel from it. As a way out for Germany, in 1935 IG Farben acquired from Standard Oil, with whom they were already working on synthetic gasoline, a license for the US patent for tetraethyl lead for the production of the same, in order to be able to produce more knock-resistant aviation gasoline. After Ethyl GmbH was founded , two tetraethyl lead factories were built and an aviation fuel contract was signed with the government on June 10, 1936. In the period that followed, car gasoline was leaded in addition to benzene.

By 1938 , motor vehicle gasoline , also known as surcharge gasoline, containing 30% benzene and the additive tetraethyl lead, had an octane rating of 78 to 80 RON. It was two pfennigs more expensive than petrol and was the fourth type of fuel to be approved in Germany. From August 1938, this was no longer allowed to be issued to motor vehicles for over 78 RON. It was reserved for the tank troops and for aviation fuel due to the storage requirements.

Other petrol

Aviation fuel

In the USA in 1921 Thomas Midgley ( General Motors ) discovered the effect of tetraethyl lead as an anti-knock agent.

In 1924, Standard Oil of New Jersey and General Motors founded the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation to control US patents for manufacture and use and to produce TEL exclusively in the US.

The IG Farben acquired after lengthy negotiations and despite the opposition of the US government in 1935 by Standard Oil , with whom they were working with the synthetic gasoline, a license for the production of tetraethyl lead to be able to produce so höheroktaniges aviation fuel. After Ethyl GmbH was founded , two TEL systems were built and an aviation fuel contract was signed with the government on June 10, 1936. One of these TEL systems for the annual production of 1200 tons was built in Gapel , the other in 1938/39 for 3600 tons in Frose .

In the USA during the Second World War, after the development of isooctane (by definition: octane number 100 RON) from cracked gases, the use of tetraethyl lead for aviation fuel was replaced by isooctane. With isooctane, a much higher quality aviation fuel was made possible than with the tetraethyl lead still used in Germany. Isooctane was hardly available in Germany because, due to the basic products and technologies used, there were hardly any crack gases as a starting product for isooctane. The planned large-scale production facilities in Heydebreck OS (Kędzierzyn) and Auschwitz (Oświęcim) were not completed by the end of the war, and several small plants did not have the required capacity.

During the Second World War there were several types of aviation fuel in Germany: B4 fuel had 87 RON; it was created, for example, by adding up to 0.2% tetraethyl lead and aniline . The more knock-resistant C3 fuel was 100 RON, it could be produced by adding "30% kybol (diethylbenzenes and propylbenzenes (benzene), 105 RON) or alkylates", and additives such as organic amines or toluidine are also said to have been used.

Racing fuels

During the 1930s, a large number of special racing fuels existed for motorsport, in which mixtures of gasoline and pure alcohol (mostly methanol ) were used. This served to increase the knock resistance and to increase the efficiency of the engines.

The shell mixture Dynamin Alfa was used in fuels for Alfa Romeo racing vehicles around 1940 . This mixture consisted of approximately 82 percent methanol, 18 percent gasoline-benzene mixture, and 1 percent castor oil. Depending on the type of racing engine, the additions could also change. Mercedes-Benz ( Silver Arrows ) and Auto Union used their own high-performance mix called Faust for their Grand Prix racing cars around 1940 . This consisted of 30 percent methanol, 30 percent ethanol, 20 percent benzene, 10 percent ethyl ether, 8 percent light gasoline, 2 percent acetone, nitrobenzene and petroleum. Other mixtures at Auto Union and Mercedes consisted of 60 percent methanol, 22 percent benzene, 10 percent ethanol, 5 percent petroleum ether and 3 percent toluene, nitrobenzene and castor oil. Alfa Romeo and Maserati also rely on a mixture of 49.9 percent ethanol, 34.5 percent methanol, 0.5–3 percent water and another 13–15 percent other components.

Liquid gas

Wood gas generator on an Opel (1940)

As of September 16, 1939, the German city bus service in particular was converted entirely to liquid gas ( butane or propane ) by order. The gas was stored in the trailer, on the roof or, in the case of double-decker buses, on the upper floor. Since too little range was achieved with the filling and there was enough petrol again from 1948, the buses could be switched back to their previous modes of operation.

Wood gas

Due to the regulations for the management and distribution of the produced petrol or diesel fuels, private users of cars and trucks in Germany had to switch to wood gas operation using wood gasification during the course of the Second World War . In the case of the most frequently used system of partial combustion with a lack of air in the direct current process (according to Georges Imbert ), the gas generated from the tank wood (mostly dried beech) was fed to the vehicle's petrol engine after cooling and filtering.

At the end of World War II there were around 500,000 generator gas vans or wood gas vans . In the 1940s, Generatorkraft - a stock corporation for tank wood and other generator fuels with the associated filling stations - was used to supply them .

After the Second World War

Norwegian petrol station from the 1960s with petrol, super and diesel

Even if Deutsche Gasolin advertised a “benzene mixture (without lead)” in 1956 and BV-Aral also advertised its Bibo mixture as “lead-free”, the main gasoline fuels of all brands in the west were those with tetraethyl lead added “ leaded “gasoline types regular and super . At the beginning of the 1980s, the use of benzene in West Germany fell massively, since 2000 the proportion of benzene as an accompanying substance in petroleum products has been limited to 1%, as it is carcinogenic and toxic to reproduction (for further information see benzene ).

GDR

In the GDR one called the varieties after the abbreviation for carburetor fuel VK with the appended knock resistance. So there was VK79 (until the beginning of the 1980s), VK88 and VK94 . From a technical point of view, the fuel supply in the GDR was based on the TGL 6428 . In the second half of the 1980s, Minol offered the following fuels:

  • Normal mixture (88 octane)
  • Normal without oil (88 octane)
  • Extra (94 octane)
  • DK (diesel fuel)

The fuels mentioned were also available from Intertank (especially on the transit highways). There they were sold at red and yellow gas pumps for GDR marks. In the second half of the 1980s, green and white petrol pumps were sold for DM:

  • Special (91 octane)
  • Super (98 octane)
  • diesel

from approx. 1986 additionally:

  • Special lead-free (91 octane)
  • Super unleaded (95 octane)

lead-free

Sign 361 A
The traffic sign "Petrol station also with unleaded petrol", which was mandatory from 1985.

Unleaded is the name of a type of gasoline to which no lead-containing anti-knock agents have been added to improve the octane number.

Water-insoluble lead compounds were deposited in dust form on the vegetation, especially near roads with a lot of gasoline consumption, including field crops, fruit and pasture grass for dairy cattle, and thus ended up in human food. A particularly high concentration of the toxic metal in the body was achieved, for example, by traffic police officers who controlled intersections heavily used by vehicles with hand signals. Lead is hardly excreted from the body because its salts, apart from the acetate, are hardly soluble in water.

Lead is deposited as a lubricating coating on the valve seats and thus promotes the service life of these components. On the other hand, it quickly «poisons» exhaust gas catalytic converters by depositing them on the active ceramic surfaces. In order to replace the inexpensive TEL, motors had to be further developed. For many years there were leaded and unleaded types of petrol next to each other at petrol stations. Lead-free varieties were sometimes labeled green (for: environmentally friendly).

Unleaded regular gasoline (91 octane) was introduced in Germany in 1984, super unleaded (95 octane) in 1985, when cars were increasingly being equipped with catalytic converters . The forest decline observed at the time contributed to a change in environmental awareness. In 1985 Switzerland introduced unleaded 95 instead of leaded regular gasoline (91 octane), in 1993 Super Plus (98 octane unleaded) was introduced.

An amendment to the federal German Petrol Lead Act on December 18, 1987 leaded regular gasoline was banned from 1 February 1988th Due to the lower demand, the further sale of leaded premium gasoline was stopped in 1996. Leaded Super (98 octane) was sold in Switzerland until 1999. In the whole of the EU, leaded petrol has not been allowed to be sold for motor vehicles since 2000.

Prices

Fuel prices

In 1950, a liter of regular gasoline (91-92 RON) in the Federal Republic of Germany cost an average of 56 pfennigs and a liter of super 63 pfennigs, the difference being 7 pfennigs at over 12%. Until 1975 the price difference was 7 pfennigs (8%), only to drop to 5 pfennigs within 2 years. It stayed that way until 2000 (2.5%).

With the changeover to the euro , the average difference between normal and super was only 2 euro cents (1.6%). In inflation-adjusted prices, this means that normal and super cost about the same at the price level of regular gasoline in the mid-1950s. In December 2007, the price of regular and premium fuel was the same for the first time. The loss of the price difference between super and normal led to a radical decline in demand for regular gasoline, with the result that from 2008 onwards, some petrol stations stopped selling regular gasoline. In 2012, practically no petrol station in Germany had regular gasoline on offer, a situation that was reached in Switzerland around ten years earlier.

Petrol (normal and super)

Gas pump u. a. with Super E10 (blocked) and stickers for vehicle compatibility

The base fuels distilled from crude oil only have octane numbers of 50 to 70 RON. As required for modern engines octane numbers by 95 RON, gasolines are grafted (by reforming of platinum - or rhenium - catalysts ) and it was methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE, 118 RON, 101 MOZ) is or ethyl tert-butyl ether ( ETBE, 117 ROZ, 101 MOZ) mixed in with Super Plus as an anti- knock agent .

The so-called normal gasoline (normal) with an octane rating of 91 RON, which is standardized throughout Europe in terms of quality , was sold until around the beginning of the 2010s, with the introduction of E10 (super with, derived from the requirements of the EU biofuel directive) an admixture of 5–10% bioethanol ) is largely discontinued.

The so-called super or super unleaded 95 RON in Germany is simply called unleaded 95 in Switzerland . The German Super Plus (ROZ 98) is the Super or lead- free 98 in Switzerland . This premium gasoline is used in aviation under the name MoGas . In addition, there are recipes with even more knock-resistant formulations of 99 RON and 100 RON for the motor gasoline.

For aviation fuel ( AvGas ), there are also knock-proof fuels with up to 100 MOZ, but these contain lead or have a high lead content (note: the RON is not defined for aviation fuel, there are application-specific methods for determining the knock resistance).

Alternative petrol

The described alternative petrol are very different. The liquefied gases are used as the sole fuel in the corresponding driving cycle, and the engine can be switched to use petrol in its own driving cycle. Nowadays, ethanol is usually not a pure fuel, but an additive to gasoline, as Reichskraftsprit did with its potato schnapps in the 1920s.

Autogas (liquefied petroleum gas, LPG)

Autogas refers to liquefied petroleum gas intended for use in gasoline engines. It is a mixture of the hydrocarbons butane and propane . It has been very common in Italy since the 1970s, and there is a sufficiently dense network of petrol stations available. LPG has a high knock resistance of 105 to 115 RON depending on the butane content.

Natural gas (LNG, CNG)

Compressed natural gas ( CNG ) has been available in Germany since the 1990s. Millions of automobiles are already driving it in Argentina, Brazil and Italy. Natural gas has a very high knock resistance of 130 RON. An alternative to this is liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Bio-ethanol

Ethanol information board at a gas station in California

Bio-ethanol is obtained from sugar beet or wheat, for example. Since 2005, it has been mixed with normal petrol in small quantities in Germany. In Brazil, many FFV automobiles already run on pure or almost pure alcohol ( ethanol fuel ). In Sweden, as a pioneer in Europe, there is already a very high level of alcohol ( E85 ) mixed with gasoline. Processes for the production of cellulosic ethanol from vegetable biomass are being developed in order to reduce the amount of agricultural alcohol used and the food competition that goes with it.

Due to EU regulations (2009/30 / EC of April 23, 2009 amending the EU Fuel Quality Directive 98/70 / EC), E10 gasoline with an addition of 10% bioethanol has increasingly been on the European market since January 1, 2011 , after E5 (petrol with 5% bioethanol) had already been sold.

Racing fuels

Racing fuels were largely free of regulations until the 1950s. This resulted in toxic and aggressive mixtures of benzene, methanol, acetone and nitrobenzene , which had to be drained off immediately after the race and which made hospitalization necessary if handled carelessly. At the end of the 1960s, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) continued to reduce the permitted ingredients for the safety of drivers and mechanics.

Up until the 1990s, the oil companies involved created over 300 racing compounds per year. In 1993 the FIA ​​enforced that Formula 1 fuel must comply with all regulations of EU standards. In Formula 1, the FIA ​​itself monitors that the fuel used complies with the norm for unleaded super , even if the composition differs within the norm from the petrol station fuel. Today's racing gasoline still has 102 RON, compared to 108 RON in the past could.

While the volumetric energy density ( calorific value per liter) used to continue to increase, today the gravimetric energy density (calorific value per kilogram) is much more important in order to be able to stay as close as possible to the minimum weight for the racing car. The consumption and the amount of fuel in racing are therefore usually given on a kilogram basis instead of in liters, because weight is decisive for the vehicle setup (one liter of racing fuel weighs around 750 to 800 grams).

Others

The monergole fuel Otto 2 is used in some types of torpedoes and, despite the similarity of the name, has nothing to do with petrol.

See also

literature

  • Joseph Borkin , Charles A. Welsh: Germany's Master Plan. The Story of Industrial Offensive. Duel, Sloane and Pearce, New York 1943, ( part 1 , part 2 )
  • Joachim Joesten: Oil rules the world. Karl Rauch Verlag, Düsseldorf 1958.
  • Rainer Karlsch , Raymond G. Stokes: Factor Oil. The mineral oil industry in Germany 1859–1974. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-50276-8 .
  • Joachim Kleinmanns: Great, full! A brief cultural history of the gas station. Jonas Verlag, Marburg 2002, ISBN 3-89445-297-8 .
  • Robert Liefmann : Cartels, Concern And Trusts. Botoche Books, Kitchener 2001, (first published in Germany: Robert Liefmann: Kartelle, Konzerne und Trusts. 1932.) ( Online version ( Memento from February 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))
  • Michael Breu, Samuel Gerber, Matthias Mosimann: Bleibenzin, a difficult story ( using the example of Switzerland). oekom Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-928244-88-4 .

Individual evidence

  • motorlexikon.de (Original source for numerous details before switching to chargeable)
  1. ↑ A life without petroleum products! ( Memento of the original from November 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.seniorentreff.de
  2. ↑ Light petrol (link now chargeable).
  3. ^ Bertha Benz Memorial Route
  4. ^ Aviation Fuel in WW-I .
  5. ↑ Joachim Kleinmanns: Super, full! A brief cultural history of the gas station. Jonas Verlag, Marburg 2002, p. 43.
  6. ↑ Bernd Polster: Super or Normal. Gas stations - story of a modern myth. DuMont, Cologne 1996, p. 44.
  7. ↑ Economic, cultural and sporting life (PDF; 25.1 MB), City of Arnstadt
  8. ^ Automobile History : Fuels in the 1920s.
  9. ↑ a b c d e f Rainer Karlsch, Raymond G. Stokes: Factor oil. The mineral oil industry in Germany 1859–1974. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-50276-8 , p. 131.
  10. ↑ Standard Oil Fuels World War II .
  11. ↑ a b Uncontrolled combustion: When it knocks ( memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oldtimer-markt.de
  12. ^ Federal Railways in Defense , Die Zeit - Wirtschaft, 1950.
  13. ↑ Fuels ( Memento from September 25, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ Joachim Kleinmanns: Super, full! A brief cultural history of the gas station. Jonas Verlag, Marburg 2002, p. 46. (quoted from Walter Ade: The gas station problem in Germany. Hamburg, 1936).
  15. ↑ Yearbook of Technology . Volume 21, 1934/135, p. 139.
  16. ↑ Franz Spausta: fuels for internal combustion engines . Vol. 2. Springer, Vienna 1953, p. 122.
  17. ↑ Standard Oil Fuels World War II .
  18. ^ Rainer Karlsch, Raymond G. Stokes: Factor oil. The mineral oil industry in Germany 1859–1974. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2003, p. 187.
  19. ^ CIOS evaluation report 79: Dipl. Chem. Paul Schneider .
  20. ↑ list of underground production sites ( memento of the original dated February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.unterirdisch-forum.de
  21. ↑ Part 6 KTB
  22. ↑ Maximilian Marder: Motor Fuels. Fuels made from petroleum and natural gas . Vol. 1, Springer, Berlin 1942, p. 523.
  23. ^ Richard van Basshuysen: Handbook Internal Combustion Engine. Vieweg + Teubner Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8348-0227-9 , p. 839.
  24. ↑ The history of German truck construction. Book no.2a, Weltbild Verlag, 1994, ISBN 3-89350-811-2 , p. 18.
  25. ↑ Lastauto Omnibus. Special issue 75 years L + O. United Motor Publishers, p. 87.
  26. ↑ A 1941 map from Generatorkraft.
  27. ↑ "The Tankfix reveals the cards"
  28. ↑ Signs on petrol stations with unleaded petrol . In: Verkehrsblatt 1984, No. 176, p. 438.
  29. ↑ Smooth over. - Because too many motorists have switched to “super” because of the ban on regular leaded petrol, the exhaust gases contain more benzene: the risk of cancer is growing , spiegel.de
  30. ↑ From the tiger in the tank - the history of blebenzins (2002) (PDF; 183 kB).
  31. ↑ Average fuel prices: Development in Germany since 1950 , adac.de
  32. ↑ Development of fuel prices in Germany (adjusted for inflation) .
  33. ^ Off for regular gasoline triggers protests , stern.de
  34. ↑ Gasoline requirement criteria (link now chargeable).
  35. ↑ Natural gas as a fuel .
  36. ↑ New gasoline with 10% bioethanol threatens to slow down millions of cars. In: VDI-n. No. 48/2010, December 3, 2010, p. 12.
  37. ↑ Everything is great! .
  38. ↑ Lighter fuel for longer distances .
  39. ↑ This article summarizes parts of the book .
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on November 25, 2007 .