What is 100 Octane Petrol?

The Indian Oil Corporation recently launched the first 100 Octane petrol. This is the first time 100 Octane fuel is being launched in the country. The fuel was manufactured in the Indian Oil Corporation Mathura Refinery located in Uttar Pradesh. According to the Ministry of petroleum and natural gas, the fuel is to be available at selected Indian Oil Corporation outlets. They are Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Agra, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Mumbai, Ludhiana, Pune and Ahmedabad.

What are Octane ratings?

Octane ratings are the measure of fuel stability. It is the ability of the fuel to avoid knock. Knock occurs when the fuel is prematurely ignited in the engine cylinder. This degrades the efficiency of the engine and damages the engine. Higher the Octane number higher is the resistance of the fuel to knock.  In other words higher the Octane number, the fuel can with stand more compression before detonating.

100 Octane Petrol

The 100 Octane petrol is usually used in luxury vehicles that demand high-performance. It is available only in six countries in the world namely Germany, United States, Greece, Malaysia, Indonesia and Israel. The 100 Octane fuel is usually used in race vehicles.

 Other Octane grades

In most of the retail stations in India only three Octane grades are available. They are
87 Octane petrol called the regular petrol, 89 octane grade called the mid-grade and 91 to 94 octane grade called the premium petrol.

Why do luxury vehicles require higher Octane grade fuels?

When the level of Octane is higher, that is, when the fuel is of higher-Octane grade, the cylinders do not ignite as quickly as that of a regular gas engine cylinders. The luxury vehicles require premium fuel due to their high performance engines that demand higher levels of Octane. Using a regular fuel in a luxury vehicle will lead to knocking hand eventual wear and tear of the engine.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2020