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Dear Tony <br>
<br>
By "energy density" I mean heat of combustion per unit mass of fuel. The following table (from Wiki) illustrates the general trend as you increase the length of a hydrocarbon chain. <br><br><table id="sortable_table_id_0" class="wikitable sortable" align="left"><tbody>
<tr>
<td align="left"> Fuel<br></td><td>Megajoule per kilogram (MJ per kg)<br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane">Methane</a></td>
<td>55.50</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethane">Ethane</a></td>
<td>51.90</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane">Propane</a></td>
<td>50.35</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butane">Butane</a></td>
<td>49.50</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline">Gasoline</a></td>
<td>47.30</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene">Kerosene</a></td>
<td>46.20</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin">Paraffin</a></td>
<td>46.00</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_fuel" title="Diesel fuel">Diesel</a></td>
<td>44.80</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal">Coal</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthracite">Anthracite</a>)</td>
<td>27.00</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal">Coal</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignite">Lignite</a>)</td>
<td>15.00</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood">Wood</a></td>
<td>15.00</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peat">Peat</a> (dry)</td>
<td>15.00</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peat">Peat</a> (damp)</td>
<td>6.00</td>
<td><br></td></tr></tbody></table><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Combustion of the short chain alkanes liberates relatively more energy per unit mass - which is critical when you are trying to get an aircraft off the ground. <br><br>Cheers<br><br>X<br><br><br><br><hr id="stopSpelling">From: tony@tony-barry.emu.id.au<br>Subject: Re: [Peakoil] Saudi crude can't replace Libyan<br>Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 19:52:17 +1100<br>To: X; peakoil@act-peakoil.org<br><br>
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<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft SafeHTML"><br><div><div>On 01/03/2011, at 7:47 AM, X wrote:</div><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline"><blockquote><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Monaco; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;">Avgas, I believe. Aviation fuel must be as energy dense and as light as possible. I suspect the specifications for aviation fuel would be much stricter than for terrestrial transport - where you can get away with heavier substitutes and additives.<span class="ecxApple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></blockquote><br></div> The energy density would be much the same and the density. While it might be a fraction lighter in deensity it is more a matter of the higher temperature it burns at and the lower temperature of the fuel tanks although I am guessing a bit.<div><br><div>Tony</div><div><br><div>
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Monaco; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Monaco; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Monaco; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Monaco; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Monaco; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Monaco; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Monaco; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word;"><div><div>Phone: 02 6241 7659, Mobile: 04 3365 2400, Skype: antonybbarry</div><div>Email: tony at <a href="http://Tony-Barry.emu.id.au" target="_blank">Tony-Barry.emu.id.au</a>,<span class="ecxApple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:antonybbarry@me.com">antonybbarry at me.com</a>,<span class="ecxApple-converted-space"> </span>antonybbarry at <a href="http://gmail.com" target="_blank">gmail.com</a></div><div><a href="http://www.facebook.com/people/antonybbarry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/people/antonybbarry</a></div><div><a href="http://tony-barry.emu.id.au" target="_blank">http://tony-barry.emu.id.au</a></div><div><br></div></div><div><br></div></div></span><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline">
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