Toluene is it really safe?

[Robert Myers]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
At 02:54 AM 4/4/2003 +0000, you wrote:

>Hello,
>
>Organic Chem 320...

Yeah - I taught that course for 30+ years.

>OK, Toluene is a 6 carbon ring compound with a methyl
>group attached, (CH4).

-CH3 group.


>That is, it is Benzene (a 6 Carbon-atom ring) with a CH4 group attached to
>one of the ring Carbons. These are referred to as Ring Hydrocarbons.

Aromatic hydrocarbons.  There are many hydrocarbons which are ring
compounds which are not aromatic.  Benzene and toluene are aromatic.


>Benzene and Toluene are both very flammable, though not as flammable as
>heptane, Octane or Isooctane (gasoline).  These are referred to as straight
>chain hydrocarbons.

n-heptane is a straight chain hydrocarbon.  Isooctane
(2,2,4-trimethylpentane) is a branched chain hydrocarbon.

A fuel which performs exactly the same as isooctane will have a 100 octane
rating.  A fuel which behaves exactly the same as n-heptane will have a
zero octane rating.  A fuel which behaves exactly as a 90% isooctane/10%
n-heptane has a 90 octane rating.  That does no mean that this fuel is 10%
n-heptane and 90% isooctane.  It just means that this
particular complex mixture behaves as if it were that 90/10 mixture.  There
are other fuels which form free radicals even more easily than isooctane
and therefore these fuels have higher octane ratings than 100% isooctane or
a rating higher than 100.  Toluene is such a fuel.

>The ring hydorcarbons have a lower vapor pressure than
>gas, therefore are used to slow down the burn rate of the gasoline when the
>fuel/air mix is under boost thus reducing the chance of pinging, knocking,
>or detantion.

Try this for size: the -CH3 group on the toluene molecule forms free
radicals (involved in combustion) much more easily than any of the C-H
bonds of n-heptane and therefore is resistant to detonation (pinging of
knocking) and thus has a higher octane rating than most other hydrocarbons.

>I do not know for a fact that Toluene has a slower burn rate than pump gas,
>though I strongly believe that is the case, yeah its been decades since I
>did chemistry--my major.  Certainly, if it has a faster burn rate or is more
>volitle than gas, then it would not be good to use as an octane number
>booster, as it would then reduce the effective octane number of the fuel
>mix, and nobody would be recommeding it.
>
>Higher octane # rated gasoline is slower burning.

It forms free radicals more easily and therefore the combustion process
occurs more easily and rather gradually as compared to something which does
not form free radicals as easily and therefore tends to "go all at once".

>94 is slower buning than
>92 etc, and 100 octane, which is pure iso-octane gas, burns slower yet.
>Anyone remember AvaGas?  Yes, 115/145 octane rating, that stuff didn't ping.
>The higher the octane # the slower the burn rate, and the more boost you can
>push before pinging/denonation.
>
>Regards,
>Phil
>
>'90 Audi 200 Quattro Avant.
>1.9 Bar, burning 93 octane (M+R octane number rating)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>From: "R Mangas" <porter_dog at hotmail.com>
>>To: ron_01056 at yahoo.com, quattro at audifans.com
>>Subject: Re: Toluene is it really safe?
>>Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2003 14:09:08 -0500
>>
>>
>>
>>   Very popular in the 944T and turbo Miata circles.  No joke.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>From: Ron Wainwright <ron_01056 at yahoo.com>
>>>To: quattro at audifans.com
>>>Subject: Toluene is it really safe?
>>>Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2003 10:12:49 -0800 (PST)
>>>
>>>   Listers,
>>>
>>>   I just for shits and giggles went to the local
>>>Sherwin Williams paint store and found a can of
>>>Toluene,
>>>I asked what it was used for and the guy saied that
>>>they sell it as a paint thinner.
>>>  Anyway's I bought a can only $6.00 what I want to
>>>know is is this going to affect the coating in the gas
>>>tanks of the type 44 cars?
>>>  I looked at the web site that Jan? mentioned
>>>(http://www.elektro.com/~audi/audi/toluene.html) and
>>>from all accounts it seems safe this isn't an April
>>>fools joke is it?
>>>  I'd like to hear from Mark or anyone who's tried it
>>>or going to try it.
>>>  If it's safe I will try it.
>>>Thanks
>>>Ron
>>>87 5ksq many mods
>>>90 200tqa many mods
>>>
>>>__________________________________________________
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>>
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____

I've been wondering...  Who would Jesus bomb?

Bob
*****
  Robert L. Myers  304-574-2372
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