Comparative analysis was carried out on five samples of gasoline in the Nigerian market based on octane number, sulphur content, Reid vapour pressure, specific gravity, boiling point characteristics and chemical content. The result revealed that, Nigerian and Kuwait gasolines have low octane numbers in comparison to others. The Nigerian sample has the least sulphur content while the Holland has the highest. The specific gravities were all within the acceptable range of 0.75-0.85. Likewise the boiling point characteristics of all the samples were within suitable values in favour of Nigerian weather conditions. Chemical composition analysis shows high proportion of aromatics, above acceptable limits and low oxygenated compounds. The findings revealed that the quality of some gasolines being sold in Nigeria is below the international standard.
Key words: Gasoline, hydrocarbons, octane number, sulphur content, specific gravity and API gravity
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