AUTOMOTIVE GASOLINE - ITS COMPOSITION AND MANUFACTURE - PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

The history of the development of gasoline as a transportation fuel is used to demonstrate the influence that increased demand and more severe performance requirements have had on its manufacture and composition. The nature and purpose of the major hydrocarbon conversion processes, the emergence of consensus specifications, the properties of common blending stocks, and the use of additives to improve performance characteristics are discussed. The blending of an unleaded gasoline and its properties and hydrocarbon composition are treated in detail. Finally, the effect of constraints imposed by air quality regulations on the manufacture and composition of environmentally acceptable automotive gasolines is addressed.