Re: synth vs. Sino Manufacture Techniques

[Robert Myers <rmyers@inetone.net>]

>
>Hi Doug et al,
>
>	I'm a geophysicist, not a chemist; but a few years back I asked an
>Amsoil sales type how THEIR product was made as he was running on about the
>Mobil 1 of the time having a 25% petroleum based carrier so it wasn't 100%
>synthetic. He claimed that they (Amsoil) mixed sulfuric acid with ethyl
alcohol
>to create their base stock 

This would produce gaseous ethylene, the monomer from which polymeric
polyethylene would be made.  It could be used as feedstock for a variety of
syntheses.

Could "they" be trying to cover their actions with mumbo-jumbo?  Remember
some years back when Shell Oil was advertising that they and only they had
an additive in their gasoline which made their product superior to all
other gasolines.  They called the stuff Platformate (tm).  It was produced
by platinum catalyzed reformation of petroleum feed stocks.  Now, the fact
that virtually all other producers of gasoline included platinum reformate
in their gasoline was of no significance.  They couldn't use the term
Platformate because Shell had registered it as their trademark.

>and then buffered it back to a neutral pH 

Huh?  Run that one by me again.  Why would this be necessary since the
ethylene produced would come out of the reaction mixture as a gas?  If you
are talking about disposing of spent sulfuric acid then this might be one
possibility.  Probably the least attractive possibility, at that.

>and added
>their additive package. I can't prove that this is true and maybe it was
methyl
>alcohol...

Methyl alcohol makes little sense here.

>I prefer to think that my car is lubed with ethyl...like its owner...
>on occasion. Notice that I didn't say driver:-) So, if this is true you do
not
>need a deep hole in Mother Nature to get your base stock from; just some
nasty
>ol' sulfuric acid(we've got huge piles of sulfur layin' around make acid
runoff
>in Louisianna), so using that stuff up is good. 

This is, of course, debatable.

>And some alcohol; we've got lots
>of surplus corn

Not so much anymore.  The world has a population which is just barely
sustainable in good crop years.  Ever increasing amount of fertilizer and
insecticides are r3equired to maintain current levels of production.
Resistant strains of insects are showing up (like antibiotic resistant
bacteria) which creates even more havoc.  Corn is not the solution to all
our environmental problems.

>; and, every drop of the stuff that goes towards our cars is a
>drop that can't be drunk...hopefully, and some would say that that is good
too.

That's a point for you.

>And that is why synthetic oil has environmental benefits:-)

>HTH,
>
>Shef
>
>P.S. Where's our resident retired chemist; was it Doc Meyers???

Rat cheer is whar Ah is at.  :-)


___
   Bob
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