Antiknock agent
Agent used to increase a fuel's octane rating / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An antiknock agent is a gasoline additive used to reduce engine knocking and increase the fuel's octane rating by raising the temperature and pressure at which auto-ignition occurs. The mixture known as gasoline or petrol, when used in high compression internal combustion engines, has a tendency to knock (also called "pinging" or "pinking") and/or to ignite early before the correctly timed spark occurs (pre-ignition, refer to engine knocking).
Notable early antiknock agents, especially Tetraethyllead, added to gasoline included large amounts of toxic lead.[1][2] The chemical was responsible for global negative impacts on health, and the phase out of leaded gasoline from the 1970s onward was reported by the UN to be responsible for $2.4 trillion in annual benefits, 1.2 million fewer premature deaths, higher overall intelligence and 58 million fewer crimes," the United Nations Environmental Programme said.[3][4] Some other chemicals used as gasoline additives are thought to be less toxic.