| MadSci Network: Engineering |
Good morning Joe, The gasoline purchased at retail is a blend of components. The distilled gasoline from crude oil runs about 15-20% dependent of the crude. We call the gasoline distilled from crude "light straight run" (LSR) gasoline. The LSR gasoline has low octane and wouldn't run very well in your car. The refining process is a continuous operation of many individual units to perform upgrade of crude fractions. Low octane light material is converted to high octane gasoline components in processes like reforming and alkylation. Heavier crude material is broken down into shorter molecules by cracking. The crude fractions are stored in tanks at the front of each unit until processed. If we are talking LSR gasoline, then the time would be short. Once the crude enters the distillation tower, only seconds until gasoline condenses from the fractionation tower. If we are talking about finished gasoline, the time would be longer, but really not all that much longer. There is no definite answer, only estimates. With all the units running, my best estimate less than 1 hour.
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