Tank & old fuel question

[cstrudwicke Biofuels Forum Newbie Find all posts View Profile Close cstrudwicke]

Hi all,

I'm buying an old oil heater tank of a friends neighbour and went there today to remove it only to discover it has about 320L of fuel in it.
Good news is that there is no sign of discolouration or sediment in the stuff that came out the bottom and no observable gunge on the dipstick. However, the fuel is yellow in colour and hence I don't know what it is.

Does anyone know if this may be heating/fuel oil ? If so, could it be used either straight/treated/blended (with bio or other diesel) ??

Are there any simple tests I can do to determine what this is more accurately ?

It is intended to be used in a stationary 1.6L Diesel generator.

regards,

Craig

[tillyfromparadise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tillyfromparadise]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

Hello Craig,
If it is fuel for a Vulcan oil heater it is probably kerosene.
I got a tank once that had a lot of fuel in it and the fuel was clear like water and smelled like kerosene and did all the other things kerosene does.
Does it smell like kerosene?

Tilly

[cstrudwicke Biofuels Forum Newbie Find all posts View Profile Close cstrudwicke]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

Seems to smell like diesel and is yellow.

Any other tests I can do to confirm what is is ?

[gwalker Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gwalker]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

Seems to smell like diesel and is yellow.

Any other tests I can do to confirm what is is ?

Put a small quantity in a dish outside and throw a match in it.
If it goes out, it isn't as much fun as if it doesn't.
George

[fantom Member Find all posts View Profile Close fantom]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

hey goerge great post but not sure what that would prove.

cheers Fantom

[cstrudwicke Biofuels Forum Newbie Find all posts View Profile Close cstrudwicke]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

Thanks guys.....

How about testing if it is miscible with either bio or dino diesel ?

I can also compare SG with these two for comparison yes ??

[Fat Man Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fat Man]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

Hi All

If it burns how about using it as heating fuel to heat your WVO or in the BBQ area in winter, I picked up a few hundred litres as well from an old oil heating tank, that's what I'm going to use it for as soon as I build a suitable heating unit. I'll post the plans one day when I have finished it.

also does anyone remember a guy that posted some picks of his oil burner some time ago, he used it to heat wood for his pizza oven ?? I've got the pics but can't find the original post.

Fat Man

[Guest Close David]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

Umm, I think that would have been yours truly with that post and it took me 15 minutes to find it again!

The Link

[Chev28 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chev28]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

This is what I use. A Hy-Lo Hardhat Heater. Seems to burn anything.

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

Chev28,
Where do you get them from? How much?
Tony

[Chev28 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chev28]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

I am not sure Tony, this is the manufacturer's label if it is any help.

[tillyfromparadise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tillyfromparadise]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

It is a Smudge Pot
used to keep california's orange groves from freezing in the winter.

The environmental joys of Smudge Pots

[Guest Close David]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

I did have a link to a company who makes them locally but it was lost with so much else in my last HDD crash.

I thought they were called "lil Dragons" or Devils but I haven't been able to find them again on google. From memory there were 2 sizes. One was about $300 and the larger one about $500. I remember the website was pretty amateur so they may not have real good search engine rankings on their site which would make them harder to find and the domain may be just a . com instead of a local .au designation.

When I was much younger I worked in a car yard for a while detailing the vehicles and they had one of those heaters in the large shed. It burnt cleanly enough on diesel and kicked out plenty of heat but did go through fuel at a pretty decent rate. I think we used to put about 20-40L a day in the thing.

I was thinking of one to use as a patio type heater for winter get togethers instead of those gas things.

[yorta2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close yorta2]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

I use an old 100 gallon oil heater tank for biodiesel storage and when I got it, it was 3/4 full of heating oil. I put about 20 litres in my Surf's fuel tank (about 30% of the tank's full capacity), topped the tank with bio, and I used it until it was all used up and without any problems. I feel that I could have used it straight, but wasn't quite game to do it. Of course, I now use 100% bio.

[darren leonadas Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close darren leonadas]

Re: Tank & old fuel question

I have burned this stuff in my car (Merc.3lt TD) with biodiesel , .
Heating oil is usually any thing from Fossil Diesel to a mixture of kerosine and fossil oil and everything inbetween . It will burn. Put a match to it and observe the carcenigent black macromolecules in the smoke.
Burn it with biodiesel mixed and observe a cleaner burn.
And those old heater tanks, with a dipstick measuring gallons, are a great home fuel storage for BD.
Mine gravity feeds to the level of my car filler cap.