Where Does Gasoline Come From

With rise of both crude oil and gasoline, there is an increasing interest in how crude oil is made into gasoline. For people who are wondering where does gasoline come from should read this article. For those who have still not figured out, gasoline comes from crude oil.

Crude oil, also known as petroleum, is a fossil fuel and is extracted from the depths of the earth. This oil is refined in oil refineries to make a variety of products ranging from liquids like cleaning solvents and motor fuels to solids like plastics and asphalt. The proportion of crude oil that is finally converted into gasoline varies from one region to another and the type of refinery.

In the United States the demand for gasoline is very high and the proportion of crude oil that is converted to gasoline is 50 percent. In other parts of the world like Europe and Asia, this proportion is significantly lower. However, oil refineries in Europe and Asia produce proportionately higher percentages of diesel oil, heating oil and heavy fuel oil.

In order to make gasoline and all other petroleum products, the crude oil is put through a process known as fractional distillation. This is the same method by which alcoholic beverages like vodka, whiskey and rum are made. The crude oil is initially heated in a boiler with the help of superheated steam. This leads to the vaporization of oil and the vapors are transferred to a distillation column. This column is tall, cylindrical with many trays and plates on which the vaporized oil is allowed to condense as it rises and cools. The heavier components of the oil containing longer hydrocarbons condense near the bottom of the distillation column while the lighter components with lower boiling points rise and condense near the top.

Gasoline is lighter in nature and condenses towards the top of the distillation column. Thereafter, the collected gasoline is further refined using number of other steps to remove all the impurities and is then dispatched to filling stations and storage facilities.

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