Don Bruder wrote:
Diesel is, quite simply, garbage left over from turning crude
into gasoline, and because of the way the cracking process works,
it's actually cheaper to make than gasoline - heat the crude to the
temperature to boil off the mess of compounds we pump into the tank
as gasoline. Let the leftover "gunk" cool a bit, and you're left with
a puddle of diesel standing on top of (or is it laying underneath?
I've
forgotten which one floats on the other) a slab of wax and what
amounts to tar.

All true, if Refiners were still only using thermal cracking like
they did 80 years ago. But that gives you too much low octane
gasoline and Naptha. during WWII, more High Octane Gasolines were
needed, so Alkylation and Catalytic Cracking were added to Refineries

So now your barrel of Crude now gives less Tars, heavy Oils
and Naptha, but more useful fuels like Jet Fuel, hi-Octane Gasoline
_and_ Diesel are made than straight Thermal does.

Those processes also allow the Refiners to select for more
Gasoline or Heating Oil, depending on the season.

However, technology doesn't cover the addition of the 'Magic Dye'
that seperate the very similar Home Heating Oil and Diesel into
different cost products.

Thats a Government thing.

**
mike
**