I was reading the letters page of Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead", and there were a couple of letters that highlighted the importance of knowledge/research when writing plausible fiction.
One pointed out that early issues showed it snowing, despite the story being set in and around Atlanta, Georgia. It's generally too hot there to ever snow. Kirkham owned up to the mistake, and put the anomalous weather down to 'erm - climate change'.
Another letter writer raised a very interesting point relating to the condition of petrol in the post-apocalyptic world. The survivors have been managing by siphoning petrol from the tanks of abandoned cars; but the letter writer points out that they won't be able to do that forever, because petrol oxidizes over time. I looked it up via google, and apparently petrol has a shelf-life of up to 12 months, and diesel 18 months to 2 years.
Does anyone have any expertise in this area, that they could shed light on the matter? What makes petrol go off, how long can it be stored successfully, and what can you do (industrially, now; not after the apocalypse) to preserve petrol for longer?
Planning for the apocalypse, Ush?
Keep it in your bath tub, and stir it daily with a stick except for the first thursday of every month, when you must use rhubarb.
You can tell you lot did GCSE's and not o-levels...kids today, what do they bloody know!!!
No! I've no intention to survive such an event at all! I might try to keep going as long as I can, but with the proviso that I'd be expecting to succumb to the inevitable before very long.
What makes petrol go off
- Oxidization
how long can it be stored successfully
- Infinitely, in a 100% de-oxygenated environment
what can you do (industrially, now; not after the apocalypse) to preserve petrol for longer?
- Don't let any air get to it.
Does that keep it safe from anaerobic bacteria too?
James is completely correct. Sealed in a unit ie a petrol tank, it would probably last more than 18 months. Oxygen is pretty much minimum there so shouldt oxidise too quickly. Obviously the more petrol is removed the more Oxygen is available....
I could be really sad and write the equation but its been 10 years sincd I used my degree for anything other than answering trivia questions like this....
Slips BSc (Hons) Applied Chemistry
I just found this in Wikipedia:
"When gasoline is left for a certain period of time, gums and varnishes may build up and precipitate in the gasoline, causing "stale fuel." This will cause gums to build up in the cylinders and also the fuel lines, making it harder to start the engine. Gums and varnishes should be removed by a professional to extend engine life. Motor gasoline may be stored up to 60 days in an approved container. If it is to be stored for a longer period of time, a fuel stabilizer may be used. This will extend the life of the fuel to about 1-2 years, and keep it fresh for the next uses. Fuel stabilizer is commonly used for small engines such as lawnmower and tractor engines to promote quicker and more reliable starting."
I can see what it says, but I'm interested to know about general rules and exceptions.
did you know that if your petrol tank is leaking you can use soap (the hard kind not liquid) to seal (a small) hole, and it will set as it reacts with the petrol.
Also, egg white in a radiator can be used to fix a small leak in the cooling system, as the egg cooks as it is pushed out through the gap.
Also you can make a bomb out of a chocolate bar and a sachet of salad creme, eh McGuyver?
Also IIRC, there's supposedly some kind of pocket you can keep petrol in, between Geological strata, where it keeps for millions of years, allegedly...
Related question:
Link: Can I hoard gasoline?
This ones even better...
Link: How long does gas last?
Spoiler.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Michonne is a super-hero!!!!!!!!
Thanks Slips and Art for the info. I feel quite reassured about the shelf-life of motor fuel in the event of the apocalypse. Can't say I'm all that confident of the condition of motor vehicles that one might find abandoned at the side of the road or parked up a year or two down the line, but at least if you had a car that worked when thw orld went down the toilet, it ought to keep going as long you can find petrol for it and you maintain it properly. I'll sleep more soundly now for that.
Spoiler.
.
.
.
.
.
.
That's not even funny!
You can remove impurities from petrol by filtering it through chamois leather.
My grandpa was both a champion trails rider (so was used to improvising with mechanics on the fly) and tight as a gnats chuff so when someone poured sugar into his petrol tank we spent a fun afternoon with a length of pipe, a funnel and some chamois leather (and not many young boys could say that without being taken into care soon after).
In a post-apocalyptic scenario diesel would be your stopgap solution while you started creating biodiesel. As scary as it sounds there is a big subcilture of books, courses and sites all teaching about permaculture, biodiesel and the like as people prepare for the coming troubles and tribulations especially as we pass Peak Oil (as one might expect it is awfully popular on the other side of the Pond).
http://www.biofuelssolutions.co.uk/
http://www.officialbiodiesel.com/products/book.htm
So what they should really be doing in TWD is planting up areas of oilseed rape and collecing animal fats (one wonders if zombie fats might work!!!) and working on getting a source of something like methanol for the transesterification process.
I'd have to check but I think TWD is still pretty much in the stage 1 part of the apocalypse. That stage is a harsh filter but you can see them moving on from just running to trying to establish a base which is stage 2. Either the farm or the prison would have been good for creating biodiesel (with minuses to the pluses - it also shows that you may have to move base a few times in stage 2). As has been shown you get a window of a year or two to move on to stage 3 which is having a well-reinforced, self-sustaining stronghold as even canned goods will start to go off by this point too.
and Rick's hand is the hand found in the briefcase in Dredd, eh?!
...and collecing animal fats (one wonders if zombie fats might work!!!)
Would giant badger-eating lamprey oil work?
The more important question, is come the apocalypse, where would you be bothered moving all the cars that'll block the roads to?
Spooky co-incidence of the month was the letter in that issue that mentions both UrbanDead and a Zombie book I got for 99p the day before buying that issue.