Kerosene burns cleanly in most diesel engines and causes no harm. As a result, kerosene burns cooler than diesel and lacks the lubricating additives found in diesel. This means that if you use kerosene in your diesel engine, it will place a strain on your injector pump unless you use the proper lubrication.
How much kerosene do you add to diesel?
To improve winter fuel operation, kerosene is combined with diesel fuel. Depending on the severity of the cold weather, kerosene blended diesel fuel is mixed in ratios ranging from 80 parts diesel to 20 parts kerosene to a maximum of 50 parts to 50 parts combination. While kerosene has a similar igniting quality to #2 diesel fuel, it is too thin to be used as a standalone engine fuel and lacks the lubricating properties of heavier #2 diesel. The vehicle owner or operator can combine kerosene with diesel fuel.
Can you mix kerosene with diesel?
If you go about on the internet, you can come across a forum question like this:
In most cases, the responses are mixed. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be OK,’ said half of the people. “Watch out for ________,” the other half will warn.
Regular diesel is referred to as #2 diesel fuel oil, whereas kerosene is referred to as #1 diesel fuel oil. Some people believe it is similar enough to conventional (#2) diesel fuel that they may try to use it interchangeably. What would motivate them to do so, and what problems may they face?
What Makes Kerosene What It Is
The qualities of kerosene determine what happens when it is burned. Because kerosene is a lighter diesel oil than #2, it is referred to as #1 diesel. Because of its smaller weight, it has somewhat less energy roughly 135,000 BTU per gallon vs. 139,000 BTU for #2.
Aromatic compounds are often concentrated in #2 and heavier diesel fuel oils; kerosene does not have extremely significant levels of them. This is one of the reasons why #2 diesel burns drier and with less lubricity than kerosene.
Drier burn
The most prevalent worry is kerosene’s dry burn, which can harm gasoline pumps. In comparison to #2 diesel, kerosene has extremely little lubricity. When running on kerosene, gasoline pumps without lubricity suffer a lot of wear and may burn out. Additional wearable pieces, such as rings, gaskets, and valves, are mentioned by some. Adding some automatic transmission fluid to the kerosene is a simple cure for this. In this case, 2-cycle oil can also be used.
Hotter burn?
Some will argue that kerosene burns hotter than #2 diesel, resulting in worries about rings being burned out. Others argue that because kerosene has a lower energy value, it will not burn at a higher temperature.
The fact that kerosene has less total energy than #2 is undeniable. However, having less total energy simply means that a gallon of kerosene produces less total heat than a gallon of standard on-road diesel.
Kerosene has a lower viscosity than gasoline, which allows it to burn at a higher temperature in an engine.
Cutting Diesel with Kerosene
Kerosene can be combined with diesel fuel for a few advantages. Kerosene is particularly beneficial in the winter for modifying the cold weather handling temperatures of diesel fuel. The rule of thumb is that adding ten percent kerosene to a diesel fuel blend lowers the cold filter plugging point by five degrees. It may be more cost effective to use kerosene as a mixer than than a cold flow polymer in extremely cold climates.
To reduce emissions, kerosene and #2 are mixed together. According to the theory, kerosene “burns cleaner” than #2, resulting in lesser pollutants.
What fuels can a diesel engine run on?
My car can run on diesel (the fossil fuel version), SVO (straight vegetable oil), biodiesel (modified SVO), or any mix of the three. That’s not unusual: anything with a diesel engine can run on diesel, SVO, or biodiesel, including planes, boats, and motorcycles. SVO is a broad word that encompasses a variety of materials other than vegetable oil, such as animal fats (chicken, tallow, lard, and omega-3 fatty acid leftovers from fish oil) and algae. SVO can come from either virgin feedstock (crops planted expressly for fuel) or recycled feedstock (spent cooking oils) (WVO for waste vegetable oil).
What’s the difference between kerosene and diesel fuel?
What’s the difference between kerosene and diesel fuel? Diesel is a solid molecular structure with 34 hydrogen and 16 carbon atoms that is utilized as a fuel. Kerosene, on the other hand, does not have a fixed structure; rather, it is made up of hydrocarbon chains ranging from 12 to 15 carbon atoms.
Which cleans better diesel or kerosene?
Diesel is quite acceptable. It will evaporate more slowly and leave a thicker residue on the metal, which will preserve it. Kerosene is “cleaner” because it leaves less residue, but it also leaves the metal “bare.”
Is kerosene cheaper than diesel?
Because kerosene has a lower viscosity than diesel, it burns hotter. This can assist heat the house, but it can also cause issues if the heater isn’t designed to manage heat that’s hotter than regular heating oil heat. The heat from a kerosene heater may readily heat a standard home in a warm environment if your furnace is suitable for kerosene, according to “The Decatur Daily News.” When diesel is unavailable, kerosene heating oil K-1 is typically utilized; nevertheless, it is more expensive than its diesel cousin. Installing a fuel oil heater also makes it comparable to standard No. 1 heating oil, which is useful if you choose to swap oils later.
Will a kerosene heater run on diesel?
Yes, diesel can be used in a kerosene heater. Kerosene heaters are multi-fuel heaters that can operate on a variety of fuels, including diesel. In a kerosene heater, you can even use pure vegetable oil! However, some fuels operate better in a kerosene heater than others.
Can you put heating oil in a diesel engine?
It will run on paraffin, with a little engine oil added to keep the fuel pump lubricated. Around a 10/1 mix. However, I wouldn’t recommend doing that for an extended period of time because the fuel pump will ultimately wear out. In comparison to regular diesel, the car may also feel a little dead.
What we mean by ‘road vehicle’
A vehicle designed or modified for use on roadways. Buses, vehicles, trucks, vans, motor homes, and motorcyclists are just a few examples. For the purposes of this notice, vehicles that meet the characteristics and use criteria for excluded vehicles are not road vehicles – see section 8 for further information on excepted vehicles.
Fuel that can be legally used in petrol or diesel engine road vehicles
You must always use duty-paid fuel unless the circumstances specified in this paragraph apply. This is often gasoline or diesel sold as road fuel at a gas station.
Producers and users of biodiesel and fuel substitutes who fit the definition of ‘exempt producers’ are allowed to utilize a certain amount of duty-free fuel. Section 4 of Notice 179E Biofuels and other Fuel Substitutes has more information.
Rebated oils
Because they are not designed for use in road vehicles, some oils and fuels are taxed at a lower (rebated) rate. They are as follows:
Using rebated oils as fuel in a road vehicle is illegal unless you obtain a license from us and pay the difference in fuel duty between the full rate and the rebated rate actually paid on the rebated fuel used. Section 7 details the conditions under which we will allow this and how to apply.
How rebated oils differ from fully duty paid fuel
The excise duty on diesel and petrol for use in road vehicles is significantly higher than the rates on gas oil (which is taxed at a partially rebated rate) and kerosene (taxed at a fully rebated rate of duty). Gas oil and kerosene have chemical indicators to separate them from road gasoline. Kerosene is tinted a pale yellow color while gas oil is dyed red. The current fuel duty rates can be seen here.
Vehicles that can use rebated oils as fuel
Red diesel can be used in vehicles that are specifically exempt from the legal definition of a “road vehicle.” ‘Excepted vehicles,’ as they are known, are described in section 8. A vehicle is a “road vehicle” if it fits the specifications and is used as indicated in that section. It must always utilize duty-paid fuel.
Preserved vintage vehicles
To function effectively, several old tractors and autos require a mixture of kerosene and fuel or diesel. Kerosene is a heating fuel that is exempt from excise duty (reducing the excise duty to nil). As a result, unless you obtain a license from us authorizing you to do so, it is prohibited to use kerosene in any vehicle or to mix it with road fuels.
Can you mix cooking oil with diesel?
Cooking oils are made from a range of plants, including corn, soya, rapeseed, and olives, so they’re not all that different.
Those who have tried it claim that a regular diesel engine cannot run on 100% pure vegetable oil because it is too thick and gloopy to pass through the fuel pump and injectors.
One solution is to have the engine altered such that the oil is heated to thin it, but this is pretty involved and expensive, so we’ll leave that to the specialists for now.
Another option is to combine it with something runnier, such as ordinary diesel. Simply combine your veggie oil and diesel.
The best method to achieve this, according to those who have tried it, is to run your tank almost empty. Fill up with diesel and then add the vegetable oil when you go to the supermarket. The drive home is a good way to shake it all up.
How much vegetable oil should you use?
These aren’t my calculations because I haven’t tried it properly yet – but online fans say you should start with a light blend and gradually increase it as you refill. That way, if your car begins to sputter, you’ll know you’ve exceeded the limit and should use less next time.
They believe that a 10% vegetable oil blend will work for everyone, and that there will be no discernible difference in the way your car drives.
Your exhaust stops smelling like a cab and starts smelling like a doughnut fryer when you use 25% vegetable oil in 75% diesel.
The heaviest sensible mix for the British winter (the oil grows much thicker in colder weather) is 33 percent one part vegetable to two parts standard diesel, but half and half is said to be a suitable running mixture for the rest of the year. Where the cost savings really show up is in half-and-half.
How much could you save?
Diesel prices range from 96p to £1 per litre. Cooking oil is available for around 55p per litre. As a result, you can save up to 45p per litre by doing it this way.
If you use half-and-half in a car with a 60-litre tank, you’ll save around £14 each tank.
The savings can be considerably greater if you utilize waste oil and filter it, as some people do, especially if you can get old cooking oil for free!
So why isn’t everyone doing it?
It used to be against the law. It wasn’t worth it to use cooking oil as a motor fuel because you had to disclose it and pay tax, which made it closer to the cost of conventional diesel.
Anyone who did so was breaking the law, which is why we didn’t hear anything about it.
All of that changed in July, according to Dave Gostelow of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Excise, who confirmed to BBC Radio Lancashire…
