Octane renaming to isooctane (gasoline requires high octane rating)

[Andromalis]

Your GTNH Discord Username

Andromalis

Your Pack Version

2.6.1

Your Proposal

Octane to Isooctane

Internal combustion engines based on burning petroleum fuels require high octane ratings in order to function properly. Some engines burning the incorrect octane-rating fuels might experience damage to fuel burning compartment and other nearby compartments.

Octane rating of a fuel component is measured based on the amount of branching on the molecule - the more branching occurs, the better the octane rating.

In GTNH octane is just plainly called "octane" - unfortunately, there is no discernment between n-octane (a straight n-alkane with 8 linked carbon atoms surrounded by hydrogen atoms) and isooctane (also called 2,2,4-trimethylpentane).

I propose a simple name change: from Octane to Isooctane. It would add some more realism, other than that it's basically flavour.

Both octane and isooctane (or 2,2,4-trimethylpentane) have the same amount of carbon and hydrogen atoms in their structure, so the name change would not suggest any potential changes in the chemistry observed ingame. Reactions basically stay the same for the sake of simplicity.

Your Goal

More realistic approach to combustible fuels, whose value should be derived from their high octane rating

Your Vision

It would simply be a flavour change; in terms of "growing the pack" perhaps this change would lead some people to googling why exactly is isooctane, and not octane, used. This potentially leads to other benefits, such as people reading up on octane ratings and other fuel related information.

Final Checklist

• [X] I have searched this issue tracker and there is nothing similar already. Posting on a closed issue saying I like this change please reconsider adding it will prompt us to investigate and reopen it once we confirm your report.
• [X] I understand this change request may not attract enough attention and thus not be implemented.
• [X] I understand this change request may be rejected due to other community members think it's inappropriate.
• [X] I believe this feature would make the pack better.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue is stale because it has been open 90 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 3 days

[Andromalis]

This issue is stale because it has been open 90 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 3 days

Not stale

[BlueHero233]

Realism jumpscare jokes aside we cant claim octane (vaguely distilled from hydro cracked light fuels) is iso-octane (alkylation of isobutene with isobutane)

[Andromalis]

Realism jumpscare jokes aside we cant claim octane (vaguely distilled from hydro cracked light fuels) is iso-octane (alkylation of isobutene with isobutane)

Putting all claims aside - the general and usual purpose of including any extra components into gasoline is to increase its' octane rating. Quick googling reveals to me that there are 18 isomers of n-Octane (C8H18); each slowly increasing in complexity (or branching) as we go "further down the list".

Judging by the fact that:

1. we aim to improve the octane rating
2. we aim to make the fuel "burn better"

we cannot add just any random C8H18 hydrocarbon into the mixture.

Of course it makes little sense to assume only isooctane out of all the possibilities comes out of the distillate, but in reality it should be very close. Basing on the closest logic and knowledge I currently possess as a petrochemistry engineering major, hydrocracking processes generally lead to obtaining significantly branched hydrocarbons. That is a result of quite a large amount of free radical reactions which don't necessarily result in obtaining strictly the most branched hydrocarbons possible. Oftentimes those processes lead to obtaining significantly shortened hydrocarbon chains as well (for example in-game we can observe a lot of tail gasses being produced - n-C1 through n-C4, as is in reality).

As a result, hydrocracking diesel fuel yields some C8H18, and most of it is definitely not n-octane - a lot of it is branched, saturated, alifatic and non-cyclic C8 hydrocarbons.