Re: Re: Re: Can I make Diesel fuel out of Kerosene and Motor Oil?

Posted by Steve - IN on September 17, 2002 at 12:34:23 from (12.222.132.139):

In Reply to: Re: Re: Can I make Diesel fuel out of Kerosene and Motor Oil? posted by know your facts before spreading them on September 17, 2002 at 10:45:54:

Might ask the same of you -- whoever you may be.

Here are some facts:

The energy content of petroleum fuels: No.1, No. 2 and gasoline is fairly constant per unit of mass. The density of these fuels differs greatly however. Therefore it is easier to keep less dense gasoline in suspension with air than it is kerosene. The reason for intake manifold heating on all fuel tractors is that the greater density of kerosene means a greater propensity to condense - or fall out of suspension with air - in the manifold. Heat raises its effective "dew point" as do vortex or "swirl" generators in the passage and on the intake valve. Don't take my word for it, read the discussion of fuels from Oak Ridge National Labs -- http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/

Fact: All fuel - kerosene burning - tractors have lower compression ratios than gas tractors. See any spec listing. If kerosene isn't more volatile - that is, has a greater propensity to burn more rapidly - than gasoline then were the tractor designers stupid, or did they know something about the relative octane or cetane properties of gasoline versus kerosene?

Fact: Kerosene and Diesel are rated in cetane. Gas is rated in octane. Cetane rating is a measure of combustion speed characteristics of a fuel in a compression ignition engine. Octane is a measure of the combustion speed characteristics of fuel in a spark ignition engine. Two different words. Two different scales. Exactly the same concept. To say octane has NOTHING to do with the idea is equivalent to saying that 40 degrees Centigrade doesn't mean it's hot outside.

Fact: The delay between the time the fuel is injected into a Diesel cylinder and ignition is expressed as a cetane number. Usually, this is between 30 and 60. Fuels that ignite rapidly have high cetane ratings, while slow-to-ignite fuels have lower cetane ratings (sounds a lot like the octane idea, yes?). The lower the temperature of the ambient air, the greater the need for a fuel with a higher cetane number.

Fact: Diesel fuel has a cetane rating of about 40. Most kerosene ranges towards the 50 - 60 end of the scale. They are very different. Ether, with a very high cetane rating of 85-96, is often used for starting diesel engines in cold weather. If the volatility of the fuel makes little difference -- mix in some ether as well? No, because:

Fact: any fuel that ignites before or after it should in any engine -- gas or Diesel -- can damage the engine. Preignition or detonation -- pistons don't like to be pushed when they're not ready for it.

So the original question was mixing kerosene with motor oil. I still say don't do it. I'd tell you not to use 80 octane gas mixed with 104 octane booster in a 10.5:1 gas engine as well because I've seen it shrapnel an expensive engine. Getting stuff blended right before it goes in the tank isn't easy. Multi weight oil with expanding polymers or even single weight oil is even more difficult to blend with a less dense fluid like kerosene. Mixing kerosene with No. 2 in cold weather -- OK. Do it varying ratios depending on the temperature -- but No. 2 is a lot more similar to kerosene in terms of density than motor oil.

Here's one last fact: I've been around long enough and seen enough engines explode to err on the side of caution at times and not to advise somebody to put some witch's brew in their engine and hope for the best -- the worst being a few thousand dollars out the window to save a few cents on fuel.

Steve

Follow Ups:

• Re: Re: Re: Re: Can I make Diesel fuel out of Kerosene and Motor Oil? Bus Driver 05:41:09 09/18/02 (1)
  • Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Can I make Diesel fuel out of Kerosene and Motor Oil? Steve - IN 14:51:38 09/18/02 (0)

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