Recently, one of LECO’s Separation Science Application Chemists, Christina Kelly, took an overseas trip to Europe to provide in-person training to some current and potential customers. Many of the trainings were focused on fuel and other petrochemical applications, which has been a specialty of Kelly’s for some time now. As she journeyed on her trip, she couldn’t help but think about all the ways the petrochemical industry helps the world go ‘round, especially when it comes to the analysis of fuels.
Fuel analysis ensures that whatever is being pumped into a vehicle, a plane, a train—or anything else that needs fuel—is safe, of good quality, and effective. Without this kind of research and quality control, the world of fuels would be a much more dangerous and riskier place.
However, just because a fuel may be safe and of high enough quality to be sold, it does not mean that it is the best fuel for a particular circumstance, nor does it mean that it is sustainable or friendly to the environment. In order to produce more fuels that can also meet those standards, there is much research that needs to be done. This type of research is becoming increasingly important as we are faced with the challenge of fossil fuels being a non-renewable resource.
While Kelly was on her trip, she traveled from:
- St. Joseph, MI, US to Chicago, IL, US by car – 118 miles
- Chicago, IL, US to Manchester, UK by plane – 3,811 miles
- Manchester, UK, to Sheffield, UK, by car – 38.3 miles
- Sheffield, UK, to Hull, UK by car – 67 miles
- Hull, UK, to Sheffield, UK by train – 68 miles
- Sheffield, UK, to London, UK by train – 167 miles
- London, UK, to Berlin, DE by plane – 599 miles
- Berlin, DE, to Chicago, IL, US by plane – 4,406 miles
- Chicago, IL, US, to St. Joseph, MI, US by car – 118 miles
You can see a graphic of this below.
Doing some quick math using the average fuel mileage for all of the methods of transportation listed above, the amount of fuel used for Kelly’s trip would equal around 62,985 gallons. And this is just counting getting from town to town, not all the trips taken to get around, like, to a restaurant and then back to a hotel, then to a customer’s site, then back to a hotel, etc.
Now, to put that into some perspective, although that is a lot of gallons of fuel, many of those were used to transport a lot of people, not just Kelly. But, regardless of the people transported, that much fuel was necessary in order to make this trip. Hopefully, this helps you to see that our daily lives result in burning a lot of fuel—there is not a second that goes by that someone, somewhere, is not using fuel for something.
This is why research into synthetic and sustainable fuels is so important. Not just because we are constantly burning through a nonrenewable resource, but because we are constantly using fuels (at a high rate) that have the potential to impact our environment.
LECO supports synthetic/sustainable fuels research by providing the reliable, highly sensitive instrumentation necessary for the job. Our GCxGC software and tools ensure you get the most from your data. When it comes to important research, it pays to work with a company that you can rely on. Not only will we provide the best equipment for your lab, but we provide stellar customer service as well. And, as you read above, we’re always willing to help our customers with their workflows, even if it means going to them! You can explore our solutions for petrochemical analyses by visiting our website.
For further learning about the GCxGC tools LECO offers for fuels analysis, attend our webinar, put on by Christina Kelly herself!
