VictoriaBRONZE Member
member
29 posts
Location: Ontario, Canada


Posted:
ok...can someone please tell me the difference between kerosene and paraffin!!!
The way you guys talk about it on here it sounds as though they are the same thing....but my chemistry notes tell me differently.
They tell me that kero is a liquid until it gets into chains that have more then 17 carbon atoms and that paraffin is only a solid (chains of carbon from 20-30 C long)
so is the paraffin you guys are talking about a solid or a liquid?
I'm really confused and everyone I've asked so far has no idea what I'm talking about
(most havn't even heard of paraffin)
thanks for the help

FireMikeZLaguna dude
1,438 posts
Location: Laguna, California, US


Posted:
the paraffin is a liquid at room temperature, maybe more viscous than kerosene, and its residue is considered by manufacturers to be hard to remove from containers, which aren't clear for consumer recycling. i know, Pele & i have it in our lungs right now from fire-breathing.

in the U.S., paraffin is the primary, usually 90%+ to 100%, of "lamp oil" or "candle oil," including the scented "citronella" variety which burns smokier and is foul in the mouth.

here's our regional website's chem/ tech data, on msds (manufacturers' safety data sheets), Victoria, since ya ask for tech details, find them in the left sidebar of our

Safety section main page (<--click it)

there are some notes on where stuff like paraffin turns up in your kitchen & etc.

& then pop over to our Fuels section for a real brief overview, which we haven't fleshed out yet.

after ya get the exact details & chemistry, HoP has mainly more general discussions, from a working pyro's point of view, on the different fuels in spinning:

HoP article - Which Fuel? (<--click it)

& from there, follow the link to Fuel safety which has some comments on the types too.

& if if ya wanna go into da dungeon, plenty of previous discussions, all highly opinionated, of course, including some going on right now.

howzat, Victoria?

~ Mike

[ 01 October 2002, 11:48: Message edited by: FireMike ]

molten cheers,

~ FireMike

FireMikeZ@yahoo.com (personal messages welcome, no promo spam, please!)
Laguna, California, US


VictoriaBRONZE Member
member
29 posts
Location: Ontario, Canada


Posted:
thanks for your help
that clears up a lot of things!!!

DomBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,009 posts
Location: Bristol, UK


Posted:
In the UK we have paraffin fuel which is listed as containing 100% kerosene (no, I don't know why it's not just called kero!) and there's also paraffin wax which is a wax, funnily enough.

So paraffin can= kerosene.


Similar Topics

Using the keywords [kerosene v * paraffin] we found the following existing topics.

  1. Forums > kerosene vs. paraffin [3 replies]
  2. Forums > What's your fuel? [1 reply]

      Show more..

HOP Newsletter

Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more...