toluene as an additive/ cleaner (tech stuff)

[ricochet]

Thanks guys. Info and knowledge are here, maybe sometimes discussed and asked too often. Randy, this is info I looked for, in my limited days left. Aromatics may kill us all, sadly we all die of something (many times what our employers expose us to). Thanks for your input, and we are often exposed to combinations of unknown (ask me about hydrazine, HF, SO2,SO3, and too many others). I see deadly stuff daily, WILL be the death of me, I still ask, what it techroline?

[randywebb]

Well, don't be too paranoid -- turns out that is also bad for your health. I'd avoid additional exposures, and deal with any low sperm quantity issues by simple repetition....

re techroline - dunno -- no one has posted what it is yet. There is bound to be some database that it's listed in. You just have to find that database somewhere. There ought to be a MSDS on it too.

[Jim Garfield]

When I was in college one summer job that I had was painting in an oil refinery. The maintenance foreman showed all of the college kids where to clean up at the end of the day.... there was a fifty gallon drum of toluene with a tap and he showed us that if you soaked a rag with the stuff it took the paint right off of your skin......which is what we all did all summer. None of us being chem majors, gave it a second thought. This was the early '70s and there wasn't the awareness that is prevalent now.

Ummm, what was I talking about???

Actually the thing that did scare me was painting under the hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid pipelines, where they had high pressure showers every 20'!

[Mike Kast]

back in the 60's, gasoline was gasoline. (Still is, really.) You had your three grades and that was about it. And all petroleum companies sold gas that contained the same additives, techroline being one of them. But then one day Shell and its ad agency realized that, hey, nobody was saying anything about techroline because, well, everybody had it. Lightbulbs go off in heads, and Voila! USP! They started shouting ``Shell with Techroline!" They made a big deal out of it. They made it seem proprietary. Special. Sales grew. Meanwhile, all the other petroleum companies were mumbling, ``Well, gee we've got Techroline, too." But they knew. It was too late. Shell was there first, stole the thunder and ran with it. Shell found something everyone else had, and made it theirs. Oddly, they found the power of being ``firstest with the mostest" long after the marketing wars had begun.

[ricochet]

BUT, what is techroline? It's gotta be related to the aromatics, it is ??? Injector cleaners state it is THEIR SECRET stuff, their cleaner, but what is it? I may take some and have my lab run it through the gas chromatagraph. I'd hoped for an answer here, I still believe it is partly toluene. Thanks guys.

[Mike Kast]

I've been searching around, I'm no web monkey but everything I see about Techroline seems to assume I already know what it is. It Techroline Man! Can't you just accept it!

[ricochet]

nah, I cannot accept it as that! It is not just what you accept. It is a solvent, techroline is just it's name. I'll dig till I find more, you can accept what you want. I'll find more before I quit. I'll look high and low, this was just my first effort.

And, gasoline is more than just 3 grades, it is a blend of hydrocarbons that meet the minimum standards. They meet that minimum standard by mixing many blends, just gotta make the knock motor accept their blend (as a minimum). There is A LOT MORE TO GASOLINE than just one, or even 3 standards. Regular and ethyl have quite a difference, not just a mid grade between them. I am no chemist, but I remember long conversations with our head chemist (knock man) back 20+ years back. I wished I'd not forgot most of these conversations, I drank a few beers since then.
And I found this site about solvents in gasoline, techroline is mentioned. http://www.oldgas.com/info/additive.htm notice, solvents are a big part of gasoline even from the start... and now (techroline is old news)

TECHRON
Technical Backgrounder

Chevron has been a leader in gasoline additive technology for more than 25 years. During this time, Chevron introduced revolutionary new additives in 1970 and 1980, and a significant additive improvement in 1989. Now, Chevron has reformulated its gasoline deposit control additive to further improve its ability to clean up and keep clean intake valves, while maintaining combustion chamber deposit performance at the highest level of any gasoline sold.

Chevron is celebrating its latest innovation in gasoline by introducing new Chevron gasolines with Techron. No gasoline sold provides vehicles with smoother acceleration, more power or lower emissions than new Chevron gasolines with Techron. Chevron's new gasoline formulation delivers the best possible performance and the lowest possible emissions to virtually every car on the road today.

[RoninLB]

fwiw,
My fuel pump went down in New Mexico on I-10. I'm hanging at a Chevron Sta on&off for a couple of days. I ask the owner about techron.

"Oh Yeah, the Chevron guy was just here to test the gas. I can't use any other gas in my tanks. He has this meter that senses the techron in the gas to confirm I'm using Chevron. He keeps staring and taping his meter. The quantity of techron is so low that it hardly registers."

whatever

[Mike Kast]

For what it's worth ricochet, that gasoline post was a cut and paste I thought was sort of funny. I can accept what I don't care about. This thread was interesting to me for a few posts but I'm not that interested anymore. Your not very entertaining. So, have a good time researching to what end or why I have no clue. And I can accept that too.

[ricochet]

Thanks Mike,
was not really meant as entertainment, is meant as something I'd learn from. I appreciate your input, I am just trying to answer a question I have asked myself for many years. Am not trying to entertain. I have bottles of Berryman injector cleaner, have also bought others. Was looking for info on solvents, I believe most injector cleaners offer solvents. Is not that important, but I believe we can learn from others. I do.

[R Wilco]

I've worked at a chemical plant for 25 years. We make some bad mofo stuff. One acid we make is called acryllic. If one speck of it touches your skin you are burned even if you are standing by with a water hose. Some other stuff burns till it hits the bone. Me I work in a unit that creates mucho H2S. Hydrogen sulfide breathe over 100ppm and you go down. It is heavier than air so it is down low too. Bad stuff. Oh, and the plant blew up 18 years ago with a blast equal to 25k of tnt. But hey the pay is good.

[randywebb]

richochet - I did a little checking -- it is not listed in the Toxics Release Inventory database, and I didn't see it come up in any technical searches reachable from my home. However, searches in technical databases from a university science library would likely turn up something. I'm not motivated to do that considering my real workload, but if interested you can go there and tell the science reference librarian (use _that_ term to find one at a desk) you want to find out about the stuff. If they can't find info or point you to it, ask if there is somebody specializing in chemistry - best if they have a big science and engineering emphasis at that univ. That is bound to find the info.

I'll bet it is some sort of trade name, and the exact make-up may be a trade secret. I did find the term in Google / Google Scholar in some pay to see them articles & on a Jaguar pdf file, it took too long to load and search so I went to fix my bathroom instead....

Good Luck.

[no substitute]

Many of the additives in question say naptha solvents on the bottle.
Milk thistle is supposed to be good for liver support/health. It's available in capsule form.

[RarlyL8]

I told you (although not specifically) what techroline is on page one.
It is a blend of various aromatic hydrocarbons that you may have heard your peers at the chemical plant refer to as "high boilers". I suspect the highest % by volume ingredient is toluene. Nothing would perform the intended function without harm for a cheaper price. The company I worked for bought it by the tankload for under $1 a gallon @ 99% pure.

If you plan to run a gas chromatograph you'll need a column with a high plate count and peak sharpness levels in order to accurately sepparate the train wreck of bi-products and non functional additives. I used to do that for fun. You wouldn't beleive all the crap in various additives and fuels.

[no substitute]

That was weird, the post vanished and returned.

[Willem Fick]

Toluene plus nitric acid gives trinitrotoluene, also known to us common folk as TNT - wonder what that'll do for performance in my '70T?

Cheers!

Willem Fick

[dc96819]

Originally posted by Willem Fick
Toluene plus nitric acid gives trinitrotoluene, also known to us common folk as TNT - wonder what that'll do for performance in my '70T?

Cheers!

Willem Fick

70T rocket

[KCPSG]

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts56.html

found that web site describing Toluene pretty clearly,and its affects on health...I also did a MSDS search on techroline..and according to the latest MSDS there is no such animal. I would imaging Techroline is a chemical or product containing many different chemicals.

on a personal note, I will say that as a commercial Diver I am terrified of Toluene and xylene...that stuff dissolves plastic and rubber parts instantly.

[RarlyL8]

Techroline is a generic name. It likely contains multiple additives, as stated above.

[sammyg2]

Techron and techroline are secret and patented mixtures, even if someone here knew what was in it they prolly wouldn't post it.

I too played in the refining industry for a while (24 years).
In the late 80's the lab blended some racing fuel for my blown hemi drag boat, best they could get to was 118 octane.
It was a little platformate, mostly alkylate, with as much tetra-ethyl lead as they could keep suspended, and about 10% toluene.
Burned your nose from 5 feet away.

H2S is not fun stuff, nether is HF. Been there done that. 2ccs of HF on your skin left untreated is considered a fatal dose. Eats stainless steel and glass like butter.

If you want to play with toluene in your tank (and I advise against it) you could prolly get away with up to 20% concentration by volume, IF you keep the fuel wet. By that I mean adding some lubrication, my favorite is 2 stroke low ash oil at around 150 to one. Sure it'll smoke.
Like I said, I advise against it.