A PETROLEUM PRODUCT
DIESEL FUEL REFINED FROM OIL
Diesel is a petroleum fuel that contains energy. At refineries, crude oil is separated into different fuels including gasoline, jet fuel/kerosene, lubricating oil, heating oil, and diesel. Heating oil and diesel fuel are closely related products. The main difference between the two fuels is that diesel fuel contains less sulfur than heating oil. Approximately 7 gallons of diesel are produced from each 42-gallon barrel of crude oil. Diesel can only be used in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine used in many cars, boats, trucks, trains, buses, and farm and construction vehicles.
HISTORY OF DIESEL
Rudolf Diesel originally designed the diesel engine to use coal dust as fuel, then experimented with vegetable oil (biodiesel) before the petroleum industry came out with the product now known as diesel fuel. The first diesel-engine automobile trip was completed on January 6,1930. The trip was from Indianapolis to New York City, a distance of nearly 800 miles. This feat helped prove the usefulness of the diesel engine design. It has been used in millions of vehicles since that time.
USES OF DIESEL
Diesel fuel is important to America’s economy, quality of life and national security. As a transportation fuel, it offers a wide range of performance, efficiency and safety features. Diesel fuel contains between 18 and 30 percent more energy per gallon than gasoline. Diesel technology also offers a greater power density than other fuels, so it packs more power per volume.
Diesel fuel is used for many tasks. In agriculture, diesel fuels more than two-thirds of all farm equipment in the U.S., because diesel engines can perform demanding work. In addition, it is the most widely used fuel for public buses and school buses throughout the U.S.
America’s construction industry depends on diesel’s power. Diesel engines are able to do demanding construction work, like lifting steel beams, digging foundations and trenches, drilling wells, paving roads and moving soil – safely and efficiently. Diesel also powers the movement of America’s freight in trucks, trains, boats and barges; 94 percent of our goods are shipped using diesel-powered vehicles. No other fuel can match diesel in its ability to move freight economically.
DIESEL AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL
When diesel fuel is used, carbon dioxide is a byproduct. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that is linked to global climate change. Diesel-powered cars achieve 20-40 percent better fuel economy than gasoline powered cars, especially in sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and light trucks, which now make up more than half of all new vehicle sales in the United States. Safety is another advantage of diesel fuel; it is less flammable than gasoline and other alternatives.
The major disadvantage of diesel fuel is its harmful emissions. Significant progress has been made in reducing emissions from diesel engines. With new clean diesel technologies, today’s trucks and buses are eight times cleaner than those built just a dozen years ago. In the future, diesel engines must become even cleaner in order to meet tightening environmental standards.
New diesel fuels—some of which have lower sulfur content—can also help diesel vehicles achieve lower emissions. Ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel is highly refined for clean, complete combustion and low emissions. ULSD is necessary for new engine technologies to work properly, and will eventually replace regular diesel fuel. Using low sulfur diesel fuel and adding exhaust control systems can reduce particulate emissions by up to 90 percent and nitrogen compounds (NOx)by 25-50 percent.
Even with these advances, diesel still contributes significantly to air pollution in the United States. It will take a long time for the new cleaner burning diesel vehicles to replace older ones.
