[AT] Fuel Oil vs. Diesel Fuel

[Ron Cook]

Same in Iowa, Ralph.  #5 is pretty thick.  Lots of btu's, though.  I 
used to work at a petroleum jobber.  The only place locally that I know 
of that used #5 was the brick yard to fire their kilns.  That arrived in 
tank cars.  In the winter I would deliver #1 to their storage with a 
tankwagon to thin the #5.  That was 40 years ago.  If that tractor had 
#5 in it, it likely could not atomize well enough to fire.

Ron Cook
Salix, IA

On 5/6/2011 10:39 PM, Ralph Goff wrote:
> On 5/6/2011 8:28 PM, Charlie V wrote:
>> I will most likely be corrected on this, Joe. since it may not be
>> accurate.  As I recall from a Diesel mechanics course that I took over
>> 50 years ago, heating oil is #5.  Diesel is #2 and Kerosene is #1.  I
>> believe these numbers derive from the cuts (after gasoline) in the
>> refining distillation process from crude.  I keep in mind that when
>> our local school district got the first real cold day with the new low
>> sulfur fuel a couple of years ago, they ended up with about 25 of the
>> buses not running at the same time.  The fix was found to be to add 15
>> percent Kerosene.  I did the same to my '86 Ford F-250 and that also
>> solved it's cold starting problem so I assume the kero not only
>> prevents jelling, but also improves volatility a little.
>>
>> Charlie V.
> To the best of my knowledge, in Canada anyway, the fuel oil you burn in
> your furnace to heat the house is the same fuel that goes into the
> diesel tractor and trucks. Only difference is the price.
>
> Ralph in Sask.
>