undefined | Better HN

0 pointsdidgetmaster10d ago0 comments

The article does a good job of showing how a typical barrel of oil is converted into a dozen or more distinct usable products.

It would be helpful to also have a chart that shows how much gasoline or diesel as a percentage of each barrel is produced. It would be a bit variable, since not all crude oil is the same, but I think it would be close for most of it.

Some people think when diesel and regular gas prices diverge, that they should just be able to produce one at the expense of the other; but the distillation process shows that they are fundamentally different.

0 comments

kryptiskt10d ago

You can to vary the split of the output by cracking heavier hydrocarbons into lighter. So it's not a fixed fraction, but driven by both demand and cost of processing.

pfdietz9d ago

And also by isomerization and alkylation. Some of the processes involved in that involve rather heroic chemistry, using things like superacids to ionize hydrocarbons.

icegreentea210d ago

Some crude averages from https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-produc...

~50% gasoline, ~25-30% diesel.

fuzzfactor9d ago

>how much gasoline or diesel as a percentage of each barrel is produced. It would be a bit variable, since not all crude oil is the same

It is extremely variable, crude oils are amazingly diverse.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse