My scheduled delivery is for Thursday but with the sudden drop to teens and single digits I think I may have pushed my luck, Can I put 5 gallons of diesel or Kero in there to make sure we make it to Thursday? I ask about diesel because my neighbor has ten gallons of diesel on hand for emergency fuel for his old diesel Benz. Thanks for any help and sorry for being a dumb ass.

 

You can... you just aren't allowed to do it the other way - no using home heating fuel oil in on-the-road vehicles.

#2 is the same as diesel

#1 is kero

 

When I run out of fuel oil I usually mix half kero with half diesel fuel.

Someone once told me that #1 was kero, #3 was diesel, so..if you mixed them the 'average' would be #2 which is fuel oil.

Was he wrong? Have I been misled?

If you pour diesel and then pour fuel oil, you will see that the diesel fuel looks and feels heavier than fuel oil.

Have I listened to incorrect advice for all these years?

Charlie

 

When I was a kid (many long years ago) we had a "circulating pot heater" in the house. This required #1 fuel oil and that stuff was definitely not kerosene. When we finally got central heat the boiler (with a pressure-atomized "gun" burner) used #2 fuel oil.

After I went into power plant operation work I found out that there were six grades of fuel oil, #1 through #6 although there were no refineries that actually produced #3 fuel oil. Numbers 4, 5 and 6 were also known as Bunker A, Bunker B and Bunker C oil.

Of course THAT was way too simple and what was available on the West Coast was designated PS 300, PS 400 and PS something or other. The PS stood for Pacific Standard but I was never able to find such a reference in any textbook.

PS #300 was a fairly light residual oil that would burn in rotary cup burners with minimal to no preheating. It required no preheating for transport. It still was a "residual" oil that came from the refinery after the gasoline, kerosene, and lighter fuel oils had been distilled off. It was black as tar but never got that sticky unless you put it in a freezer. In the winter it was sometimes blended with a PS 200 oil to keep it from congealing in really cold weather.

Everything "heavier" than PS 300 was generically known as Bunker C regardless of what its actual specifications might be. I've burnt "Bunker C" that was as light as PS 300 and some that needed to be heated to more than 100 degrees F just to pump. Normal burning temperatures (the temperature of the oil just before it ignites in the furnace) would run from a low of about 150 to as high as 190. I've read of some Bunker C that required a burning temperature as high as 250 degrees.

Most of the oil I have burnt during my lifetime (and it has been many thousands of gallons) was burnt in steam atomizing burners. My last boiler plant burnt #2 dyed ultra low sulfur oil with steam atomization. The burner was about six feet long and weighed in the neighborhood of 75 pounds. That is a fair amount of burner when it is inserted into the boiler at eye level.

 

We made it without adding any but I'm not sure how. He got 270 gallons in there and we ran out once before (hours before the delivery) and he only got 268 in there that time I always let it get pretty close since we started spot buying but that's the only two times I let it get quite THAT close. I should have just put five gallons in yesterday, I would have slept better last night.

 

That was very close indeed.

If it cold enough, the gallons are colder and denser and if they have the right equipment to correct it back to a standard temp (15 °C / 59 here) then that's why you may have got that much.

 

furd: I guess what you are saying is that a good substitute for #2 heating oil is
#2 HEATING OIL. Right?

Thanks for clearing things up.

BTW: I still remember the #6 stuff that had to be kept hot. I don't even know if they still use it any more.

Charlie

 

Trust me, there are hundreds of thousands of gallons of "that stuff" burnt every year.

I actually prefer "black oil" over Diesel. The smell of Diesel makes me sick whereas the "aroma" of heavy bunker fuel is almost perfume. What's worst is the hot Diesel that drains back from a steam-atomizing burner when changing the burner.

 

Furd, you should be out on a ship burning bunker crude. They'll be looking for more crews since many fleets are planning on slowing down and just adding more ships due to the high fuel prices...

(42 seconds later)

(12 seconds later)

 

Charlie,
You were indeed taught wrong. #2 fuel oil & #2 diesel were virtually the same thing, other than additive packages, until sulfur regulations came into effect. All I burn is ultra low sulfur dyed diesel. Boilers stay alot cleaner with the lower sulfur. Kero is lighter than even #1 fuel oil /#1 diesel.

Sorry Furd, I have to disagree about the "aroma" (more like stench to me LOL) of black oil. I swear I'll never get over that smell. When I worked in a local commercial analytical lab I had to test the #6 for a power plant. What a pain to work with.

 

The Port of Seattle is working on requiring the cruise ships to shut down their plants and connect to shore power to reduce smokestack emissions.



To each their own. All I know is that when working with Diesel if I get any on my skin it stinks for days no matter how much I wash. The black oil smell is gone after the second washing. When I worked in plants burning black oil I never smelled it at home whereas the Diesel-burning plants had me smelling it even if I took a week of vacation.

 

I was under the impression that home heating oil has also gone to much lower sulfur rates. That's what I was told by one of the local heating company owners. The smell when they fill the tank is down the past two years and my boiler is staying much cleaner.

 

We use diesel when we run out. 5 gallons will usually last a day even in bitter cold weather.

 

Sulfur content depends largely on where you are. Some areas have mandated lower sulfur others have not. Even in areas where high sulfur is still allowed, a few companies have taken it upon themselves to sell only the reduced sulfur.

Just FYI, there are 3 sulfur levels of fuel one can get. "High Sulfur" is 500 - 2000(?) ppm, "low sulfur" is <500 ppm, & "Ultra Low Sulfur" is <15 ppm.

 

No wonder regular #2 fuel oil tastes so much better than diesel fuel.............the SULFUR level!

Who knew?! (hehehehe)

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BTW------- I think the reason you are NOT allowed to use home heating oil in vehicles is because the TAX placed on fuel for vehicles would NOT be collected.

I know the owner of the company that delivers to my house and he 'mixes' in about 50% fuel oil with the diesel for his truck because it is cheaper (for HIM).

Charlie

 

This guy had better hope he doesn't get caught. He'll be big time ($$$$$) sorry he ever thought about mixing diesel & fuel oil. After DOT gets done with him, EPA & IRS will likely want to chat as well.