Thread: Old Fuels

I did a bit of a clean up and found a fair amount of Record "Home Kerosene". The only issue is that the bottling date on the base is 1993.

I tried some out in a Tilley and it is burning quite dimly. Would it be an issue if a small amount (ie. 5%) pure petroleum (Shellite in this case) was added to resurrect it enough to be used in a multifuel stove?

Probably not - it may have lost some light fractions (volatiles).

If you think about what can happen to kerosene over fourteen years? -

If it is sealed, and free from water and bacterial contamination, the answer is nothing! After all, it probably spent millions of years sealed in the earth without change.

If it contains both bacteria and water, it may contain some scum or varnish, but this should be obvious, but use of the fuel is likely to gum up your Tilley, and it is possible that this is the cause of the poor burning. In this case adding shellite will not help..

If the seal is not perfect, some components of the kerosene may have leaked out, and the most volatile (smallest molecules) will have preferentially leaked. Replacing these would be a reasonable practice, the only problem would be guessing quantities.

John