Something that everyone needs to be able to acquire in order to live their everyday lives is gasoline. Gasoline is the fuel that drives our vehicles and even though some vehicles do move thanks to diesel fuel, for the most part gasoline is the fuel that runs America (and much of the rest of the world).
Gasoline is made in a refinery and as the name suggests, gasoline is refined from another substance known as crude oil. Crude oil is a fossil fuel that is buried deep within the earth and in order to extract it big drills and sophisticated equipment must be used. When the crude oil is brought to the surface, it is then shipped away to the various refineries throughout the world and there it will be turned into a multitude of products including gasoline.
Besides being refined to become gasoline, crude oil can also be refined to make other kinds of fuels including kerosene and diesel as well as a variety of other products. The percentage of crude oil that is refined into gasoline and other products usually varies by location. But here in the US it is about 50 percent that is dedicated to making gasoline because our demand for the substance is so high.
When making gasoline the refinery will use a process called fractional distillation. Fractional distillation is almost the same method that is used to make strong alcoholic drinks such as vodka, rum, and even whiskey. In this process the crude oil is boiled in a boiler using steam that is super heated. This will vaporize much of the crude oil and what is left is then sent to a distillation column.
The distillation column contains many different plates or trays and this is where the vaporized oil will condense as it begins to rise and cool. While this is happening the heavier components of the crude oil which will contain longer hydrocarbon chains will settle at or near the bottom of the column while the lighter components of the crude oil will rise and settle in liquid form. Some of the heavier components can be further “cracked” to make alternative fuels such as diesel and kerosene and some is left alone to make thicker premium based products.
Almost all of the separated components are then further refined and depending on what they will become they are either made into a finished product, or shipped to where they can become a finished product. In the case of gasoline, the finished product usually comes straight from the refinery itself. Plastics and other materials that have some form of refined crude oil in them are all sent off for further refining and or manipulation.
Once totally refined the gasoline is then shipped off to the various gas stations throughout the country and will then be used by people to make their vehicles go. While you may not think about it on an everyday basis, gasoline just doesn’t appear it has to be refined and made from crude oil. That is why when the price of oil goes up it is usually followed by an uptick in gasoline prices as well, so the more we use the higher the prices will go.
