“Can’t get diesel without gasoline. Matched set.”

B.F. Randall

Crude oil is a mixture of liquidy-sludgy hydrocarbons. Crudes come in many grades. Crudes are separated through refining – based on specific gravity.

Civilization’s INDUSTRY is 100% dependent on “heavy distillates” (kerosene-jet fuel-and below). Heavy = BLOOD. Everything above kerosene is a BYPRODUCT from industry’s POV.

The US “technolution” produces gas and LIGHT oils that do not make much heavy distillates. It comes out more in the petrol range. SO US refiners are starving for heavy distillates.

An excellent account to follow if you’re on Twitter.

20 Replies to ““Can’t get diesel without gasoline. Matched set.””

  1. Ethanol is a different process that our politicians have failed to understand how much damage the mixture can create.
    Many small engines have died a horrible death needlessly…
    Manufacturers have also warned that their warranty will be pulled should politicians spoil the fuel route.

    1. It was “cool” back in the 1940s and 50s.

      Water / Methanol injection was used in some WW2 aircraft for “emergency” boost. I have seen a few such systems fitted to vehicles like F-100s, etc.

      In a “highly-stressed” military application, this boost, of course shortened engine life, in the name of extending the pilots life.

      HOWEVER, alcohols have a nasty effect or two on engine components made from Aluminium. Magnesium, or even rubber, (fuel lines).

      Alcohols are also hygroscopic; they attract and hold stray water vapour from the atmosphere. If your vehicle has a steel fuel tank, consider the possibilities, and then consider what role the residual sulphuric acid from refining, in the fuel , may “contribute”.

      If you are NOT servicing your car with the thoroughness and frequency of a WW2 aircraft maintenance schedules, you will be in for an expensive surprise,

      Last time alcohol-enhanced automotive fuel was a bit of a rage, MOST engines were low-compression, iron monsters that got serviced every 1,000miles or less. 10,000 miles between proper services and chemically reactive fuel? In an alloy engine with synthetic rubber fuel lines? What could go wrong?

  2. Very good and interesting thread.

    I as well as most would love to know the input costs to any supposed RENEWABLE..
    Funny eh how thats never compared to the reality of output…nor talked about.

    Renewables = BULLSHIT any which way you look at it.

  3. A from the bottom end of the refining process of heavier crudes we get coke.

    Coke is used to make synthetic graphite. Synthetic graphite is used in the anodes of most, if not all, lithium ion batteries.

    No oil, no lithium batteries.

  4. A lack of basic understanding (that only takes moments to outline, especially by a lawyer) leads the general public to support unicorn causes that cannot be sustained. A fool and his money are soon parted, AND, marry in haste, repent in leisure (yes, a quotation fest – feel free to add your own). So when people realize that they have been hoodwinked by intellectual gnats, what will they do in the disaster that follows?

  5. Everything is too complex for the masterminds to understand.
    All of these resources have developed over centuries to get to the high level of efficiency that we have reached today. By products of the main resource have been turned to profitable uses, which means less waste. The free market capitalist system incentivizes such efficiency, but the centrally planned soviet system doesn’t care, so they waste rather than take advantage.
    Another example is the beef industry. No one knows just how much good is done from cattle in all the different resources therein. Besides the obvious steaks and hamburgers, there is a lot of leather and medical benefits that would be lost. Don’t forget fertilizer. I’ll put up with a few farts, which are probably a benefit but the climate crazies won’t admit it.

    1. Seems to me the Indians in southwest Ontario used the natural occurring oil oozing from the ground to fix their canoes but not much else. Must have been magic to created ‘chemical valley’ in the Sarnia area (sarcasm). Or maybe whitey contributed something to the betterment of Mankind?

    2. You are being WAY too charitable.

      The enemies of civilization and indeed, humanity, understand all too well.

      As the old saying goes:

      “NEVER ascribe to “Incompetence”, that which is clearly MALICE”.

  6. Generally, depending on the feedstock, out of the 42 gallons in a barrel you can get:

    46% gasoline and similar distillates
    26% diesel and similar heavy fuels
    9% jet fuel
    3% asphalt
    1% lubricants
    and 15% ends up used for other products as feed stocks.

    What the “Just stop oil” lunatics are unaware of is that 15% is needed to build their wind turbines, hair dyes, shoes, tshirt printing, acrylic paint, cell phones, glues, and cameras used to film their temper tantrums.

    we do have the engineering knowledge to convert some of the light products into heavier products (at least one company is turning natural gas into lubricants), but in the same way no new refineries are going to be built, neither are new plants to convert from one product to another, because they use a lot of energy.

    1. “3% asphalt”

      How many million tons of that stuff is needed to pave thousands of miles of road and millions of acres of driveways and parking lots?

      And where is the “renewable” alternative product to replace this when we “just stop oil”?

      1. Dirt, foo, it is called dirt. Exactly what our “driveways” were made of when I was a kid. So were most of the roads. I prefer asphalt. Of course the horses will prefer the dirt to asphalt as it is much easier for them when pulling a load. There will be no horse trips from NFLD to BC and you will stay real close to home as that is the plan. The shit however is a whole other thing. Grow organic veg right?

        1. When we were kids, we would wait wait for the milkman to come around and hope that his horse would shit so we could pick it up and put on the veg. garden. We’d also got a kick out of watching it shit because we were little dirty urban brats
          Ah, memories!

  7. What may not be known to all is that EVERY oil sands “refinery” produces as their #1 and most profitable PRODUCT…..HYDROGEN.

    I Worked on 5 month shutdown as an Inspector back in 2013 at Suncor Base Plant Location: A 100% Complete rebuild of plant 6F2, a 50 yr old Hydrogen Furnace…whose end product is 100% Hydrogen.

    Said plant was one of 6 designed way back in the mid ’60,’s. 3 of which have since been de-commisioned (at various global sites), and 2 that Blew up catastrophically (think tactical NUKE). SUNCOR has the only operating one left world wide.

    Cost to re-build in 2013: ~2.5Billion…and they do it EVERY 5 YRS. Its full of special Hi alloy porous Piping manufactured by KUBOTA in Orillia, Ontario. (No, not the tractor plant- and strangely enough I was allowed in that very plant a few years prior when I was an ESAB Rep). Said Piping is spun on to mandrels …. amazing tech). Blew me away when I saw these sitting in the laydown yard. “NO SHIT..!!” was my reaction at the time..!

    This furnace approx 100′ hi by 60′ wide has 2 sets of 177 ea 35′ long heavy wall 4″ Pipes standing upright that are filled with catalyst, then continually filled/pressurized their entire length with every waste gas they produce in other operations with the furnace fired by Na gas…it runs at approx ~ 1750F degrees 24/7….when looking thru a site glass in operation its a peek into Dantes inferno..!! Unreal.

    The H2 produced then goes thru gathering lines and finally into a Pair of monstrous Heat exchangers and off to a Huge Compressor station to be the utilized in numerous processes.

    Their #1 Money maker. So good they added 2 more plants. Albeit with a far more modern design.

    1. Very interesting processes Steak.
      Lots of amazing tech right here in our backyard.
      Thanks for that peek into Suncors business.

      Now I wonder if our turd world invaders aka gimmegrants will be able to run the infernal machine in 20 years time or canibalize it for scrap to the Chynaman.

    2. Back in the ‘90s, i worked on the ventilation of a building housing a hydrogen swing compressor, two huge pistons laid out like a BMW flat twin. The client lead man came to our office dressed like a UK banker. The compressor driven by a 5,000HP elec motor required a lot of air exchange to control space temperature. It was a great learning experience. I believe the hydrogen was used in chemical processes to create complex synthetic CH chain products.

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