Is there a difference in how many gallons in a barrel of oil or a barrel of wine?

Not sure about wine
- but there are 42 Gallons of oil in a 'barrel'
- I wonder whether Douglas Adams had that in mind

Hi Mike and Frde,

Now that's an interesting question. May I confuse your question
further Mike? I will anyway! Or at least confuse myself?

I'm presuming that gallons refer to volume. A gallon of lead by volume
will be heavier than a gallon of wine. But they both still fit the
volume of the gallon. So, I think we might be talking about specific
gravity. Fuel is about .89 specific gravity for example, using water
as the yard stick of 100%.

If I'm on the right track, then I would think that you will get more
money for your volume gallon with wine. Only because, oil floats on
water.

Can you suggest how we might now turn water into wine?

Phil

Yep, mike60, there sure is! Go to
http://www.eresonant.com/pages/history/history-barrels.html and read
up on everything you didn't know you needed to know about wine
barrels, such as...

"Barrels used in the California wine industry are primarily of two
main styles, the 59 gallon French Bordeaux barrel and the 60 gallon
French Burgundy. Early American made barrels were 50 gallon capacity
but current American barrels, or cooperage, are constructed in the
form of the traditional French Bordeaux barrel. Much of the Whiskey
industry still uses the 50 gallon barrels..."

With oil, there are approx 159 litres, or 42 US gallons, or approx 35
imperial gallons per barrel (bbl).

Hi Phill

Looks like you have completed the science and maths course in record
time, although maybe you could still do with a bit of brushing up from
stressedmum-ga.

Why not revisit:

Why are there three types of gallons?
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=451419

You should remember this one since you commenter on it!  And a *****
answer from Pink.

Norman.

Hi Norman,

Thank you for the reminder of the poem. I must have had a scotch too
many that night to have composed that online. I must have been struck
by nostalgia.

No crash course at all Sir, as I need verrryy loonngg courses of
repetition to make things sink in to my head. Someone agreed with me
that at age 42 I'm far too old to learn anything new. :) My reference
to .89 specific gravity refers to aircraft fuel.

Phil

Hi Phil,

Ahh. Nostalgia ? it?s not what it used to be!

As for learning things at 42, yes it does get harder as you get older,
but don?t be psyched out by any mutual cyber acquaintance with one
hand outstretched and another with two fingers stuck up behind their
back.

You already have the definitive ?barrel? answer from both stressed mum
and Pink. However if you are still interested in playing with the SG
thing just for fun, then you can find the density of all sorts of
liquids at:

http://www.simetric.co.uk/si_liquids.htm

Ethanol has a SG of 0.789, so 15% alcohol wine by VOLUME would have a
SG of (0.789 * 1.5) + (1.0 * 8.5) / 10 = 0.9684
(Ignoring the colouring and flavouring etc). 

Seven different values for crude oil are given depending on their
source. The gravity of 48°API crude is 0.79 whilst that of Mexican
crude is 0.973 which means that for this one you get more weight per
volume. This however is not necessarily a better deal since the extra
weight is probably made up from impurities, particularly vanadium.
This is concentrated in the residues after fractionation and is
usually used to fire steel furnaces, since they use great quantities
and it is relatively cheap. This volatile vanadium then condenses in
the pores within the cooler regions of the ceramic lining of the
furnace where it reacts causing the front face of the lining to slough
off. The process then repeats itself with the newly exposed face. It
then becomes a juggling act between the price of the fuel and the cost
of shutting down and relining the furnace.

I give you this (unasked for) lengthy explanation, to demonstrate that
although the volume of a barrel of oil is fixed, the weight can vary,
BUT it is not a simple question of how much bang you get for your
buck.

Norman.

Norman,

Thank you for the info. A gentleman indeed. "More bang for your
money". I like that. No doubt the contents of both oil and wine
barrels would produce a "bang" dependant upon their applied use.  :)

Phil