PROPERTIES OF GASOLINE

For a gasoline fuel system to function properly, it is necessary that the fuel have the right qualities to burn evenly no matter what the demands of the engine are. To help you recognize the qualities required of gasoline used for fuel, let’s examine some of the properties of gasoline and their effects on the operation of the engine.

Volatility
The ease with which gasoline vaporizes is called volatility. A high volatility gasoline vaporizes very quickly. A low volatility gasoline vaporizes slowly. A good gasoline should have the right volatility for the climate in which the gasoline is used.

If the gasoline is too volatile, it will vaporize in the fuel system. The result will be a condition called vapor lock. Vapor lock is the formation of vapor in the fuel lines in a quantity sufficient to prevent the flow of gasoline through the system. Vapor lock causes the vehicle to stall from lack of fuel. In the summer and in hot climates, fuels with low volatility lessen the tendency toward vapor lock.

Antiknock Quality
In modern high compression gasoline engines, the air-fuel mixture tends to ignite spontaneously or to explode instead of burning rather slowly and uniformly. The result is a knock, a ping, or a detonation. For this reason, gasoline refiners have various ways to make gasoline that does not detonate easily.

Octane Rating
Agasoline that detonates easily is called low octane gasoline. A gasoline that resists detonation is called high octane gasoline.

The octane rating of a gasoline is a measurement of the ability of the fuel to resist knock or ping. A high octane rating indicates the fuel will NOT knock or ping easily. It should be used in a high compression or turbo-charged engine. A low octane gasoline is suitable for a low compression engine.

Octane numbers give the antiknock value of gasoline. A higher octane number (91) will resist ping better than a gasoline with a low octane number (83). Each manufacturer recommends an octane number for their engine.