[TheForge] Diesel Gas Question

[dann at wctatel.net]

Dan,

"making kerosene"

I've been lucky and welded a bunch of old 55 gallon oil barrels without an
explosion.  I squirted some dish soap in the bottom of the barrel, and put
a hose in and filled the barrel up with water.   Then, without draining
the soapy water, I welded.

Rather than get water in your barrel, and then waste 4 gallons of diesel,
why not make a chain sling to hoist it?  Or think of the chain keepers
that hold your oxy acetylene tanks to the cart.  Shouldn't be hard to a
barrel lift hook bar with a foot under the barrel and a couple of chains
that hold it that way.

There are also special hooks made for moving 55 gallon barrels. Maybe even
Harborfreight probably sells them.  Your friend that sold you the barrel
probably has something you could look at for an idea.   Maybe you could
make one like it, easier than worrying about welding on the barrel?

A 55 gallon drum of oil weighs over 300 pounds, but they rock and roll.
I've moved a lot of them alone, with just muscle while they were full.

**
We lost electricity for about 80 hours with last weekend's ice storm. We
are having  another ice storm as I write this.

At my local hardware store, I bought the last gallon kerosene jug, and it
was  -synthetic kerosene- last week.  We had power lines down, and my oil
lanterns were half full from perhaps 6 or 7 years ago.  I blended the
"new" synthetic kerosene with the old stuff in my lanterns.
Then thinking of the price of the new stuff: It was $9.99 for a gallon, I
remembered back nearly 30 years.

Note, Burning any unvented heater, or even a kerosene lantern in a modern
well insulated home in't wonderful for air quality. I've always had
kerosene laterns, in old drafty homes.  Our home now is so tight, that we
only burned the lanterns, even with new store bought kerosene,  for a few
hours at a time.

First off, diesel fuel, gas, kerocene, are all vegetable soup carbon
compounds, but the product has a blended -mean- average- flamability.

Back in the  oil crisis days of the late 1970s,  my local fuel guy told me
that the kerocene that he sold was a blend of 90% #1 fuel oil ( #1 diesel
) and 10% unleaded gas.  ( Mix well before initial use).

The point is that the new, ( pale green )  low-sulfer diesel fuel that I
get at pumps in Iowa is a winter blend of approximately 50% #1 and 50% #2
diesel.   I took a gallon -gas can- and poured 12 ounces of unleaded gas
into. Then I filled it with my winter ( low sulfer) diesel blend.  In my
opinion, it looked like kerosene, and burned like kerosene in my lantern.
 I Shook it up, let stand, and shook it up again  before pouring in my
lantern and lighting the wick <grins>.

I did my experimentation in a well ventilated area, as I was satisfied
with the results.  As they say, "Don't do this at your kitchen table"

Dann

> Hey Folks,
>
> I just picked up a 55 gallon drum and a hand crank fuel pump so I can buy
> kerosene in bulk.  I planned on welding on some sturdy rings (1/2 stock)
> around
> the top of the empty barrel so I can load/unload onto/off of my pickup
> using a
> block and tacklle hanging from a beam.
>
> The problem:  The kerosene dealer thought he was doing me a favor when he
> gave
> me a used drum rather than having to buy a new drum.  The used drum
> contains
> about a 4 gallons of Diesel fuel.  I am going to drain the drum but I know
> if
> it had been filled with gasoline, the fumes alone could blow up in my
> face......So....How volatile is this sutff? I'll drain it first, but
> should I
> fill it to overflowing with soapy water before I weld it?  I would do that
> if
> it had been filled with gas.
>
> Comments?
>
> Dan
>
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