When cars were originally being made and designed, why was “gasoline” used rather than crude oil, especially since it was what came from the Earth?

Question

Cars today run on “gasoline” which has the hydrocarbons that work with the air and make the combustion possible, but why design engines like this, especially since the refining process is so arduous? Would it not have been easier and more logical to try using the crude oil straight from the Earth?

In: 16

Answer 1

Engines (at least internal combustion engines) work with explosions, not fire. They mix gasoline and air, compress it, and then add a spark, which creates an explosion that drives the piston. Crude oil simply isn’t explosive in the way that gasoline fumes are. Early engines used kerosene, which was OK, and some people experimented with an engine that used gunpowder. (You can imagine how well that worked out when the engine got hot.) Eventually, gasoline became the standard fuel, because it works.

You can, technically, use crude oil in a diesel engine, but it’s going to make a lot of really black smoke, and it will gum up the engine much faster than cleaner diesel fuel.

Answer 2

Engines (at least internal combustion engines) work with explosions, not fire. They mix gasoline and air, compress it, and then add a spark, which creates an explosion that drives the piston. Crude oil simply isn’t explosive in the way that gasoline fumes are. Early engines used kerosene, which was OK, and some people experimented with an engine that used gunpowder. (You can imagine how well that worked out when the engine got hot.) Eventually, gasoline became the standard fuel, because it works.

You can, technically, use crude oil in a diesel engine, but it’s going to make a lot of really black smoke, and it will gum up the engine much faster than cleaner diesel fuel.