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

A common early internal combustion engine was the *hot bulb engine* which burnt (amongst other things) fuel oil – still not undistilled crude, but a heavier fraction than either petrol or diesel.

The problem with pure crude oil is that it is such a wide mix of fluids that no one burner can easily burn everything. The lightest fractions will explode, and the heaviest will just get burnt onto your combustion chamber. This had been worked out before the dawn of internal combustion engines by operators of steam engines.

Answer 2

A common early internal combustion engine was the *hot bulb engine* which burnt (amongst other things) fuel oil – still not undistilled crude, but a heavier fraction than either petrol or diesel.

The problem with pure crude oil is that it is such a wide mix of fluids that no one burner can easily burn everything. The lightest fractions will explode, and the heaviest will just get burnt onto your combustion chamber. This had been worked out before the dawn of internal combustion engines by operators of steam engines.