How to Make Gasoline Cost Science Fair Projects
How To Make Gasoline
Can I Save Money By Making My Own Gasoline?
With the skyrocketing cost of a tank of gasoline wouldn't it be nice to be able to make your own? The rising price of a barrel of crude oil is far greater than anyone might have imagined. Being able to afford gas affects quality of life for almost all Americans. Wouldn't making your own gas be a great money saver?
Gasoline is such an integral part of our society that it is hard to imagine that there is a time in history when it was considered a useless bi-product. Such was the case in one of the earliest refineries, founded in 1859, the Buena Vista refinery in Kern County, California. The nearby oil source comes as close to the "bubbling gruel" featured in the show The Beverly Hillbillies as any.
The refinery distilled crude oil into kerosene and lubricating oil only. After several years they were still unable to make the refinery profitable, so they suspended operations. All this changed with the gasoline fueled car.
The process of refining oil requires 3 basic steps. All of these require complex chemical operations. Separation, conversion and treatment are all based on sophisticated processes that alter the chemical components in complex ways, and are fundamentally essential to the creation of gasoline. Additionally, as society and car engines have advanced, so has the degree of refinement necessary to run a vehicle.
How Much Money Can I Save By Making My Own Gasoline?
A barrel of oil contains 42 gallons. In the most efficient refineries half, or 20 gallons is turned into gasoline. If we estimate that the average price of a barrel of oil is 120 dollars, than the average cost of do-it-yourself gasoline comes out to $6, not making it a financially wise investment. Refineries are able to charge less than this because they are able to use the same barrel to make an assortment of things including jet fuel and kerosene.
Science Fair Projects
Science fair projects that proceed on newly broken ground are the ones that get the most interest from judges. While you could try to replicate the exact processes currently used to refine oil and make gasoline, it would be far more interesting to pursue a technique for alternative gasoline creation.
Currently, there are a number of new approaches being studied. Three of the more intriguing ones are:
The production of petroleum using bacteria
http://meetscience.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/making-gasoline-from-bacteria/
Using concentrated solar energy to reverse combustion
http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/sunshine.html
Making gasoline from cattle dung
Sources:
http://www.sharktoothhill.com/tarseeps.htmlhttp://www.gravmag.com/oil3.html
