What Is Gasoline? How to Produce It and Its Benefits

Gasoline is one of the petroleum products widely used in Indonesia and the entire world as a vehicle fuel. Gasoline is produced from crude oil through a series of processes.

So, what is gasoline and what are its benefits in daily life? To learn more about gasoline, read this article until the end!

What Is Gasoline?

Gasoline belongs to aliphatic hydrocarbons, whose molecules contain carbon and hydrogen atoms. It has 7–11 carbon atoms. When it is ignited, it will release water from hydrogen atoms, carbon dioxide from carbon atoms, and heat. The properties of gasoline are flammable and volatile.

Gasoline is a crude oil fraction derived from fractional distillation. Some aromatic hydrocarbons, like toluene and benzene, are often added to gasoline to increase the octane rating.

This is important to allow the vehicle's engine to combust gasoline well and prevent knocking, which is a sign that fuel is not being combusted well in the engine. In addition to aromatics, tetraethyl lead is also added to gasoline to improve the octane rating, making the low-grade gasoline marketable.

Moreover, MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is also added to gasoline as an oxygenate. Oxygenate works to reduce the amount of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide by adding hydrogen during the combustion. Furthermore, MBTE also increases the octane rating.

How to Produce Gasoline

Gasoline is one of the petroleum products massively utilized globally. According to data on Statista, the United States becomes the country that uses the most gasoline. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration revealed that of the 7.4 million barrels of crude oil consumed in 2023, 44% of it was for gasoline.

Then, how is gasoline produced? Here is the process of gasoline making you should know:

1. Distillation

Crude oil extracted from the Earth will be distilled in an oil refinery, which then produces petroleum fractions, one of which is gasoline. Distillation serves to break down hydrocarbons in petroleum based on their boiling points.

In this stage, gasoline, as a crude oil fraction, is a raw material that must be further processed and added with other substances so that it can become a consumer product.

2. Cracking

Gasoline that has gone through the distillation process will enter the cracking process, which breaks hydrocarbon molecules into smaller and lighter ones. After that, gasoline will have a higher octane level and quality than when it was still in the distillation process.

3. Reforming

This process uses catalysts to change the structure of hydrocarbons and increase the octane level of gasoline to reduce the risk of detonation. As a result, the internal combustion process in vehicle engines can be more efficient and minimize engine damage.

4. Blending

The blending process mixes additives into gasoline, making the product reach the desired standard. Once this production process is complete, the gasoline will be distributed to industrial facilities or fuel stations.

An Overview of Octane

Talking about gasoline, you might be familiar with octane. Octane in gasoline can show the amount of fuel compressed before being combusted.

When the gasoline is combusted by compression and not from the spark plug, the engine can experience knocking, or noises indicating that the gasoline is not well combusted. Knocking could damage the engine if it is not properly handled.

The engine compression ratio determines the octane rating you need in your vehicle. Typically, low-octane gasoline can only handle lower compression before being burned.

For example, 87-octane gasoline contains 87% octane and 13% heptane. This kind of gasoline can ignite spontaneously under certain compressions and can only be used in an engine that does not surpass those compression ratios.

Moreover, octane also describes the quality of gasoline. The higher the octane rating, the higher the gasoline quality. High-quality gasoline can ignite on time when the vehicle's spark plug creates a spark and not prematurely due to pressure from the piston.

This is because some lower-octane gasoline might be combusted faster due to the compression from the piston, causing knocking in your vehicle’s engine.

The Uses of Gasoline

As one of the petroleum products widely used in the world, gasoline has several uses, such as:

1. Vehicle Fuel

Gasoline is the fuel of vehicles, such as motorcycles, cars, and small trucks. Gasoline can produce enough energy to power a vehicle. It is also suitable for vehicles that require high efficiency.

2. Industrial Solvent

Gasoline can be an industrial solvent, a cleaner feedstock, and a stain remover. It can also dissolve oil very well and is volatile.

3. Light Aircraft Fuel

Gasoline is also used for light aircraft with piston engines. These aircraft use high-octane aviation gasoline for maximum engine performance.

4. Electric Generator Fuel

Gasoline is often used to power generators, especially in rural areas where conventional electricity is not available. Gasoline-fueled generators can produce small-scale electricity for the area.

5. Agriculture Fuel

In agriculture, gasoline is used to power tractors, water pumps, and other farm machinery thanks to its powerful combustion and wide distribution, making it easily available.

That concludes the information about gasoline you must know. Gasoline is one of the petroleum products used widely, even worldwide, thanks to its broad uses as fuel.

Regarding gasoline, Chandra Asri Group had signed the Sales Agreement with Shell Singapore Pte. Ltd. in 2024. This agreement was made to acquire Shell Energy and Chemicals Park (SECP) in Singapore.

Furthermore, this agreement is also a step to strengthen the company's contribution to energy security in Indonesia and ensure the supply of industrial chemical products, such as gasoline, propylene, ethylene, and so on, remains available in Indonesia.

Additionally, Chandra Asri Group also provides methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) to improve the octane rating in chemicals and gasoline.