Kerosene in oil furnace?


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Old 05-14-02, 01:55 PM
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Question Kerosene in oil furnace?

Hi, Can you burn kerosene in a furnace that normally burns #2 heating oil? I was told that it is ok but kero doesn't burn as efficiently. Thanks Tim
 
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Old 05-14-02, 02:55 PM
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Are we talking

K-1????Far as I know kerosene is more refined then fuel oil.PDF
 
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Old 05-14-02, 03:51 PM
TheZman
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I heard that either kerosine or diesel fuel can be burned in a furnace with no apparent problems.

I recently saw an old advertisement (circa 1952) for a Winkler burner where they showed their burner operating off of a mix of 80% used engine oil and 20% fuel oil. And as you probably guessed the furnace was heating a auto repair garage.

Regards TheZman
 
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Old 05-14-02, 05:43 PM
ahasbeen
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I can't give you any numbers on heat content and/or viscosity of either kero or #2 oil, but I'll give you a clue that kero will burn a lot hotter in the pot and may in fact, not vaporize as it should because of its lighter viscosity. My guess is, with the age or condition of your unit, which I don't know, you may be asking for serious trouble. In a pinch, maybe. I'm aware there are some guy's out here that will say its ok, but I would have never advised a customer of mine to use kero. You might want to ask the forums host and moderator for his input.
 
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Old 05-14-02, 06:08 PM
TheZman
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Hello Ahasbeen,

You are right that a burner would need to be optimized to operate efficently with kerosone. Burner temperature can be adjusted by altering the nozzle size and adjusting the airband on the blower.

If you go by the book, the stack temperature should be between 400 and 600 degrees F to ensure maximium heat transfer to the water jacket in the boiler.

TheZman
 
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Old 05-15-02, 05:05 AM
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Thanks everyone. It was just a thought. I use K-1 to heat my garage and had some left over this year. Thought maybe I would use it in my furnace. Tim
 
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Old 05-16-02, 02:45 PM
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TimH

Just a follow up to your ?-----Friends,relatives and neighbors have run out of fuel oil at the least convinent of times.We,us,they usually grab two 5 gallon containers and head to the local gas station for K-1,empty into their fuel tank,prime the system,and get them heat and hot water until a delivery can be made.Fuel oil in Maine likes to congeal at low temps.Most people go with K-1 or an additive to keep it from doing so..PDF
 
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Old 05-16-02, 05:39 PM
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Well I thought that if I mixed it (30 gals.) with the 150 gals in the tank it wouldn't hurt anything. AAWhat do you all think?
 
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Old 06-28-10, 07:59 AM
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I am also curious about this. I can get access to 300 gallons of very old (but still burns) kerosene. If I MIX this with Diesel (heating oil) will it burn ok? say 300 gallons of kero mixed with 200 gallons of diesel? I am hoping the fact that its old kero (IE burns less efficiently) and mixing with diesel might be a working combo?
 
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Old 06-29-10, 05:26 AM
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Old kero

How old is old? There shouldn't be any problem mixing the kero and #2.
 
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Old 06-29-10, 08:34 AM
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about 5-6 years old. still clear still burns on paper. I know little else about it. Don't really care about how efficiently it will burn just will it burn and will it harm the furnace.

I was hoping to mix it 50/50

I was figuring to mix 50/50 in a bucket and drop the feed line into it and "see" what happens before dumping it into the tank :-)

just wanted to be relatively sure it would not damage my furnace.
 
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Old 06-29-10, 03:40 PM
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"Old Kero" - it's the "old" part that worries me slightly.

Many moons ago, I became aware of a potential problem with fuel oil tanks of combustion turbines. (The fuel is a light oil like kero or jet fuel.) It seems that after a long period of time, some kind of bacteria or fungus or something can grow in the oil - which causes problems with flow, etc. Engines that are seldom operated experienced this problem. I believe the solution was to run the turbines periodically and use up the oil before it got too old.

I assume you have a fuel filter - so probably the worst that would happen is that the filter would have to be changed early.

I've told you everything I know, maybe more.
 
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Old 06-29-10, 04:34 PM
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so besides this bacteria or fungus it won't hurt the furnace? I will be sure to filter it as I pour it in.
 
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Old 06-29-10, 06:22 PM
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Filtering

Be sure also to have a good filter in line ahead of the burner. Some of the better ones are made by GarBer.
 
 

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