Natural gasoline

Natural gasoline is a natural gas liquid with a vapor pressure intermediate between natural gas condensate (drip gas) and liquefied petroleum gas and has a boiling point within the range of gasoline. The typical gravity of natural gasoline is around 80 API.

This hydrocarbon mixture is liquid at ambient pressure and temperature. It is volatile and unstable but can be blended with other hydrocarbons to produce commercial gasoline.

The natural gas hydrocarbons mixture is mostly pentanes and heavier (smaller amounts of C6 and C6+), extracted from natural gas, that meets vapor pressure, end-point, and other specifications for natural gasoline set by the Gas Processors Association.^[1] Includes isopentane which is a saturated branch-chain hydrocarbon, (C5H12), obtained by fractionation of natural gasoline or isomerization of normal pentane.^[2]

Natural gasoline is often used to denature ethanol produced for E85. Natural gasoline has a lower octane content than conventional commercial distilled gasoline, so it cannot normally be used by itself for fuel for modern automobiles. However, when mixed with high concentrations of ethanol such as mid-level blends, like E50 or E85, the octane content is raised high enough to be used easily in flex-fuel vehicles. It may be sourced from production of natural gas wells (see "drip gas") or may be produced by extraction processes ^[3] in the field, as opposed to refinery cracking of conventional gasoline.

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