Petrol and diesel are petroleum-derived liquid mixtures used as fuels.

Though both have similar base product but

have different properties and usage.

Comparison chart
Differences Similarities </> Embed this chart

Uses
Made from

Diesel

Petrol

In diesel engines, heating systems

In petrol
engines

Petroleum/ Crude oil

Petroleum/
Crude Oil

Energy content 38.6 MJ/litre

Made by

34.6 MJ/litre

Fractional distillation

Fractional
distillation

Torque (for 10L 1000 Nm @ 2000 rpm

engine)

300Nm @
4000 rpm

Power (for 10L 490Hp @ 3500 rpm

engine)

600Hp @
5500 rpm

Power = More torque at low speeds

torque*RPM

Runs at
higher RPM

Auto-ignition 210C
temperature

246C

More than gasoline(petrol). Diesel fuel

produces approximately 13% more CO2
CO2 emission
gas per gallon of fuel burned, compared
to gas (petrol) engines.

Lower than
diesel.

Viscosity increase at lower temperatures

US 50 Billion gallons
Consumption
(2006)

No change
148 Billion
gallons

Types of Direct ( by compression )

ignition

Spark

Contents

1 About diesel and petrol

6 Global consumption of petrol vs diesel

2 Production of petrol vs diesel

7 Uses of petrol and diesel

3 Chemical composition

8 Cost of petrol vs diesel

4 Volatility of petrol vs diesel

9 Energy Efficiency

5 Energy Content of petrol vs diesel

10 Video explaining the differences

11 References

About diesel and petrol

Petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly of aliphatic hydrocarbons and enhanced with
aromatic hydrocarbons toluene, benzene or iso-octane to increase octane ratings, primarily used as fuel in internal
combustion engines. Diesel is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum fuel oil or a washed form of vegetable
oil that is used as fuel in a diesel engine invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel.

Production of petrol vs diesel

Petroleum is refined to produce petrol and diesel. Fractional Distillation process is used on petroleum and at
various temperatures, different by products are formed from it. Petrol and diesel both are derived at varying
temperatures during refining process. Petrol is produced at temperature between 35 degrees to 200 degrees while
diesel is produced at a boilingpoint of 250-350 degrees. After distillation, in order to use these byproducts as
commercially acceptable petrol and diesel, some blending with other elements has to be done. Petrol is produced
first in this process as it is produced at a lower temperature than diesel.

Chemical composition
Diesel is composed of about 75% saturated hydrocarbons (primarily paraffins including n, iso, and cycloparaffins),
and 25% aromatic hydrocarbons (including naphthalenes and alkylbenzenes). The average chemical formula for
common diesel fuel is C12H23, ranging from approx. C10H20 to C15H28. Petrol consists of hydrocarbons with
between 5 and 12 carbon atoms per molecule but then it is blended for various uses. Overall a typical petrol sample
is predominantly a mixture of paraffins (alkanes), naphthenes (cycloalkanes), aromatics and olefins (alkenes). The
ratios vary based on a variety of factors.

Volatility of petrol vs diesel

Petrol is more volatile than diesel, not only because of the base constituents, but because of the additives that are
put into it.

Energy Content of petrol vs diesel

Gasoline contains about 34.6 megajoules per litre (MJ/l)while diesel contains about 38.6 megajoules per litre. This
gives a higher power to diesel.

Global consumption of petrol vs diesel

The U.S. used about 510 billion litres (138 billion gallons) of petrol (called "gas") in 2006, of which 5.6% was midgrade and 9.5% was premium grade. The U.S. annual consumption of diesel in 2006 was about 190 billion litres (42
billion imperial gallons or 50 billion US gallons).

Uses of petrol and diesel

Diesel is used to run diesel engines that are used in cars, trucks, motorbikes etc. Some varieties of diesel are also
used in running heating systems in houses. Bad quality (high sulfur) diesel fuel has been used as a palladium
extraction agent for the liquid-liquid extraction of this metal from nitric acid mixtures. Petrol is primarily used to
run petrol engines in cars, motorbikes etc.
Paraffin, another byproduct of crude oil produced at 190-250 degrees is used as airline fuel.

Cost of petrol vs diesel

In countries like India, diesel is subsidized because it is heavily used for transportation. There is almost a Rs.30
difference between petrol and diesel prices in India. In the international markets both are almost equally priced. In
the US, petrol was priced at $3/gallon in December 2007, diesel was priced at $3.39/gallon.

Energy Efficiency
When discussed in terms of motor fuel, diesel is said to be more fuel effecient, giving almost 1.5 times the fuel
efficiency of petrol.