Have you ever wondered what will happen if you go to a gas station and mix your half tank of 93 octane petrol with 95 octane petrol? Is your car going to explode? Is it dangerous? Or is it going to be okay? So we are going to answer those questions.
Before we’re going to talk about it, first of all we need to know what is octane and why is it related to petrol.
An Octane (C8H18) is a straight chain alkane that contained of 8 carbon atoms. Octane has a lot of structural isomers and one of it is isooctane (2,2,4-trimetilpentane) which is the main element of a petrol. If you want to know more about alkane you can read All Uses of Alkanes, Alkenes, and Alkynes in Industry and Many Fields. Another chemicals on petrol that you can see in List of Chemicals Found in Gasoline ; Substances &; Uses
That is why it is also used to rate petrol, which is usually called as an octane number. So, octane number is a standard measure of the performance of an engine or aviation petrol.
A petrol rating is determined on how much heptane that you add to isooctane. Add more heptane the lower the number; add less heptane the higher the number. The higher an octane number, the less flammable it gets.
93 + 95 Octane = ?
Now, we are into the main topic. What will happen if you mix 93 octane petrol with 95 octane petrol? The answer is you are going to get a 94 octane petrol.
Then, is it okay if you mix different number of petrol? It is okay for you mix different 93 octane and 95 octane fuel as long as your vehicle octane number requirement isn’t too far below or above 94 octane, although it is okay to give a higher octane fuel than it is required because it will do nothing to the engine. For example your car need 91 octane petrol and you give it 93 octane petrol, it won’t damage your engine nor add any power, but it definitely waste of money, because a higher octane petrol means the higher the price is.
On the other side, giving your car a low octane fuel in a high octane engine could cause your car to reduce its performance or even worse it could destroy your engine, because a lower octane number is more flammable and if a spark off when the piston is half way it can cause constantly damage to an engine, and I’m sure you don’t want that to happen to your engine.
So, petrol octane number is important for you to pay attention to Why Should You Be Concerned with The Chemicals Emitted By Fuels. Stick to your vehicle’s manual and give the right octane number to your vehicle, besides saving more money; it also avoids you from engine damage.