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While a lot of attention has been directed toward the prices of crude oil, diesel gas suddenly appears scarce as we head into the winter months. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has stated that the U.S. now only has 25 days’ worth of diesel supply left, which is a dangerously low level.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has drastically impacted global energy supplies as refinery closures and disruptions in the U.S. have recently caused issues with the supply of diesel gas at a time when demand is surging due to the changing seasons.
With diesel fuel and heating oil inventories running low, inflation will remain high for the foreseeable future. Since diesel is the primary fuel source for trucks, rails and vessels that transport most consumer goods, it’s looking like the prices of these transported goods will also increase….Continue reading….
By: Q.ai – Powering a Personal Wealth Movement
Source: Diesel Gas Shortage: What Stocks Are Impacted By A Diesel Gas Shortage?
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Diesel fuel originated from experiments conducted by German scientist and inventor Rudolf Diesel for his compression-ignition engine which he invented around 1892. Originally, Diesel did not consider using any specific type of fuel. Instead, he claimed that the operating principle of his rational heat motor would work with any kind of fuel in any state of matter. The first diesel engine prototype and the first functional Diesel engine were only designed for liquid fuels.
At first, Diesel tested crude oil from Pechelbronn, but soon replaced it with petrol and kerosene, because crude oil proved to be too viscous, with the main testing fuel for the Diesel engine being kerosene (paraffin). Diesel experimented with types of lamp oil from various sources, as well as types of petrol and ligroin, which all worked well as Diesel engine fuels. Later, Diesel tested coal tar creosote, paraffin oil, crude oil, gasoline and fuel oil, which eventually worked as well.
In Scotland and France, shale oil was used as fuel for the first 1898 production Diesel engines because other fuels were too expensive.[13] In 1900, the French Otto society built a Diesel engine for the use with crude oil, which was exhibited at the 1900 Paris Expositionand the 1911 World’s Fair in Paris.The engine actually ran on peanut oil instead of crude oil, and no modifications were necessary for peanut oil operation.
During his first Diesel engine tests, Diesel also used illuminating gas as fuel, and managed to build functional designs, both with and without pilot injection. According to Diesel, neither was a coal-dust–producing industry existent, nor was fine, high-quality coal-dust commercially available in the late 1890s. This is the reason why the Diesel engine was never designed or planned as a coal-dust engine.
Only in December 1899, did Diesel test a coal-dust prototype, which used external mixture formation and liquid fuel pilot injection.This engine proved to be functional, but suffered from piston ring failure after a few minutes due to coal dust deposition. Before diesel fuel was standardised, diesel engines typically ran on cheap fuel oils. In the United States, these were distilled from petroleum, whereas in Europe, coal-tar creosote oil was used.
Some diesel engines were fuelled with mixtures of fuels, such as petrol, kerosene, rapeseed oil, or lubricating oil which were cheaper because, at the time, they were not being taxed. The introduction of motor-vehicle diesel engines, such as the Mercedes-Benz OM 138, in the 1930s meant that higher-quality fuels with proper ignition characteristics were needed. At first no improvements were made to motor-vehicle diesel fuel quality.
After World War II, the first modern high-quality diesel fuels were standardised. These standards were, for instance, the DIN 51601, VTL 9140-001, and NATO F 54 standards. In 1993, the DIN 51601 was rendered obsolete by the new EN 590 standard, which has been used in the European Union ever since. In sea-going watercraft, where diesel propulsion had gained prevalence by the late 1970s due to increasing fuel costs caused by the 1970s energy crisis, cheap heavy fuel oils are still used instead of conventional motor-vehicle diesel fuel.
These heavy fuel oils (often called Bunker C) can be used in diesel-powered and steam-powered vessels. About 86.1% of diesel fuel mass is carbon, and when burned, it offers a net heating value of 43.1 MJ/kg as opposed to 43.2 MJ/kg for gasoline. Due to the higher density, diesel fuel offers a higher volumetric energy density:
The density of EN 590 diesel fuel is defined as 0.820 to 0.845 kg/L (6.84 to 7.05 lb/US gal) at 15 °C (59 °F), about 9.0-13.9% more than EN 228 gasoline (petrol)’s 0.720–0.775 kg/L (6.01–6.47 lb/US gal) at 15 °C, which should be put into consideration when comparing volumetric fuel prices. The CO2 emissions from diesel are 73.25 g/MJ, just slightly lower than for gasoline at 73.38 g/MJ.
Diesel fuel is generally simpler to refine from petroleum than gasoline, and contains hydrocarbons having a boiling point in the range of 180–360 °C (356–680 °F). Additional refining is required to remove sulfur, which contributes to a sometimes higher cost. In many parts of the United States and throughout the United Kingdom and Australia, diesel fuel may be priced higher than petrol per gallon or litre.
Reasons for higher-priced diesel include the shutdown of some refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, diversion of mass refining capacity to gasoline production, and a recent transfer to ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD), which causes infrastructural complications. In Sweden, a diesel fuel designated as MK-1 (class 1 environmental diesel) is also being sold. This is a ULSD that also has a lower aromatics content, with a limit of 5%.
This fuel is slightly more expensive to produce than regular ULSD. In Germany, the fuel tax on diesel fuel is about 28% lower than the petrol fuel tax. Diesel fuel is similar to heating oil, which is used in central heating. In Europe, the United States, and Canada, taxes on diesel fuel are higher than on heating oil due to the fuel tax, and in those areas, heating oil is marked with fuel dyes and trace chemicals to prevent and detect tax fraud.
“Untaxed” diesel (sometimes called “off-road diesel” or “red diesel” due to its red dye) is available in some countries for use primarily in agricultural applications, such as fuel for tractors, recreational and utility vehicles or other noncommercial vehicles that do not use public roads. This fuel may have sulfur levels that exceed the limits for road use in some countries (e.g. US).
Diesel fuel is mostly used in high-speed diesel engines, especially motor-vehicle (e.g. car, lorry) diesel engines, but not all diesel engines run on diesel fuel. For example, large two-stroke watercraft engines typically use heavy fuel oils instead of diesel fuel, and certain types of diesel engines, such as MAN M-System engines, are designed to run on petrol with knock resistances of up to 86 RON.
On the other hand, gas turbine and some other types of internal combustion engines, and external combustion engines, can also be designed to take diesel fuel. The viscosity requirement of diesel fuel is usually specified at 40 °C. A disadvantage of diesel fuel in cold climates is that its viscosity increases as the temperature decreases, changing it into a gel (see Compression Ignition – Gelling) that cannot flow in fuel systems. Special low-temperature diesel contains additives to keep it liquid at lower temperatures.
- “Diesel Fuel Technical Review”. www.staroilco.net. Chevron. 2007.
- ^ “Table 2.1” (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20.
- ^ “Facts about Diesel Prices”. Archived from the original on 2008-07-19. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- ^ “Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update – Energy Information Administration”. Archived from the original on 2001-08-15.
- ^ “Petrol vs. Diesel: Should I Buy a Diesel Car in 2022? | Carplus”.
- ^ “A Primer on Diesel Fuel Prices”. Energy Information Administration. Archived from the original on 2007-03-17. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
- ^ [2][permanent dead link]
- ^ United States Government Printing Office (2006-10-25). “Title 26, § 48.4082–1 Diesel fuel and kerosene; exemption for dyed fuel
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