Power Kerosene
One of the problems facing old engine restorers is the correct fuel for
the engine. Many of our engines ran on what was
known as Power Kerosene (as distinct from Lighting Kerosene which is
all we can get today). Fortunately most of them will
operate just as well on petrol (gasoline). But from time to time an
engine just won't go right on modern petrol.
Recipe No. 1 50/50 Lighting Kerosene / Mineral Turpentine
Bruce
Paroissien ran into this problem in the course of his duties as a
volunteer at the Puffing Billy Preservation Society
Museum in Menzies Creek (Melbourne) Victoria. I've reproduced Bruce's
words below (with his permission):
I have been told that Power Kerosene can be made using a
mixture of kerosene and mineral turps in a 50/50 (or 1:1) ratio.
The way this came about is that I am involved with a TACL Rail
Tractor at the Puffing Billy Steam Museum. It has as its basis a
Petrol/Kero Fordson Major Tractor.
We were given this mixture by a person who was a mechanic looking after
farm machinery that we enthusiasts now restore. The tractor will run
smoothly all day on this mixture were as petrol used to cause rough
running and other problems
I am not an engineer and neither I nor Puffing Billy can give any
guarantees of any long term effects on the engine. All I can say is
that at this stage it is working better than petrol for this particular
tractor.
Please note that this is not official advice from Puffing Billy nor is
it sanctioned by them. I've heard of Bruce's advised
mixture previously and have had my Southern Cross running on it - I was
unable to tell the difference between it and petrol
except for the exhaust smell which is quite distinctive. You can reach
Bruce at
bruce.paroissien@au.unisys.com. I strongly recommend visiting the
Museum (and of course the PB Railway!). If you have some spare time
the PB railway is always in need of hands. This is the tractor Bruce
mentions:
A local fellow engine nut, Stan Gunn has pointed out that he told me
this same recipe about two years ago - yes Stan you did! Sorry I did
not publish it then. Stan is also the man who expertly looks after the
TACL rail tractor and keeps the old girl
running.
Recipe No. 2 Lighting Kerosene and Unleaded Petrol
Attempt to run the engine on straight lighting kerosene. If it will
not run or knocks, add 10% unleaded petrol. If it still knocks, add
another 10% unleaded petrol. The fuel mix can be up to 50/50. Mixed
kerosene and petrol is much more volatile than either product
separately and should only be mixed in the tank of the machine using
the fuel. This recipe is attributed to a Shell technical bulletin. There is an excellent
article discussing TVO fuel where I gleaned this mix from -
interesting reading and I recommend a visit.
Recipe No. 3 Power Paraffin
From Peter A. Forbes: Power Paraffin was made by BO in South Africa
until the mid 1990's with
the following characteristics:
Octane No (Motor) 65
Flash Point 37 Deg C
Colour Green
Gross Calorific Value 37.1 MJ/litre
Net Calorific Value 34.5 MJ/litre
Recipe No. 4 Helicopter Fuel
From Peter Ogborne: Make friends with your local Helicopter people
and ask them to give you the remains of the test samples and the out of
date fuel........that's what we do.
Recipe No. 5 Diesel Mix
From Bob Ronning in Il.U.S. The steam car guys in the U.S. are using a
50:50 mix of diesel fuel and gasoline for the burners and camp stove
fuel for the pilot light.
Recipe No. 6 Just use Petrol!
From Edd Payne Why do you need to use power kero.This is not what was
used in these engines.Just plain old ordinary Kero.I run all my oil
engines on kero and sometimes just for fun my other kero engines and
have never had any problems.No special mixes.Most of these engines were
being used long before anyone even thought of power kero.If you get
your engines hot enough there is no trouble with sooting but we run our
engines mostly no load and they take a long time to get hot enough to
run properly on kero.
Note that Edd makes a good point - look at Fuel
Types for more information as to why.
Recipe No. 7 Petrol & Lighting Kero
From David Bird: Only last year I asked Shell Tech Dept.(Oz) for
advice on a suitable alternative. They advised 2/3 lighting kero to 1/3
Regular unleaded petrol (92 octane). I run it in both my kero tractors,
a 1939 Case D and 1947 Fergie.Runs beaut and smells like the real thing
too.
Totally off topic but during the 2nd World War when fuel was severely
rationed, my father (an industrial chemist) ran our
Morris '8' tourer on paint thinners and dissolved moth-balls
(Naphthalene), both readily available and not subject rationing. The
only thing I remember was the revolting exhaust gas that made your eyes
water. It must have worked OK as he ran it on this brew for 3 years.
Recipe No. 8 Jet-A or 1K
<>From Rob Skinner: Your experiments make perfect sense. Running
a
kerosene engine on gasoline is like inviting Wolfgang Puck over for
dinner and serving him Hamburger Helper.
The Jet-A that is available from the airports is very similar to
kerosene. We've used this in the Rumely, but don't any more because
airports are not the friendliest places for weird guys who want to fill
the back of their vans up with fuel.
In our Hornsby, we burn 1-K which is readily available from petroleum
products distributors. Sometimes it's dyed red to discourage people
from using it in their Diesel engines on public roads. It would seem
silly though, to run $7 per gallon kerosene when Diesel is available
for a third that price.
The Rumely is thirsty and not economical to run on 1-K, so we mix
Diesel and gasoline. The mixture we use varies, but perhaps a mixture
of two parts gasoline and one part Diesel would be a good place to
start experimenting.
Since you already have kerosene on hand, you can try sweetening it up
with gasoline.
Recipe No. 9 Power Kerosene
From Brad Soward: I have seen two different approaches at recent
rallies. One enthusiast told me he still buys power kero from a local
Bitupave depot. Apparently they useit to prevent the product sticking
to their roller drums etc. Another uses jet fuel from a local airport.
It is known here as either Jet A-1 or Avtur. I'm sure many others use
the kerosene/gasoline mixture, but don't get caught out experimenting
with a gasoline/diesel mixture like I did at a show a while back in my
10 hp Inter - <cough> <gasp> <splutter>
<cough>! :-)
Recipe No. 10 Lighting Kerosene
From Peter Lowe: My Austral runs fine on heating/lighting kerosene from
the hardware store.
Also from Patrick Livingstone: I use lighting kerosene in my Austral
and we use the same thing in the various Blackstones, Hornsbys and
Crossleys up here. I have never bothered to try kero in my spark plug
kero engines for two reasons; they don't get hot enough; my spark plug
kerosene engines are thirsty buggers and kero is a lot more expensive
than petrol. The big R&V is petrol/kero but there is no way I could
ever get it hot enough to burn kero.
Also from Michael Young: I use the ordinary blue dyed kero available in
supermarkets to run my Allan. It runs no problems now although it did
take take a while to getthe settings right - fuel valve duration being
found to be important. 20 minutes of blow lamp to get started now and
it goes all day at about 150rpm provided I slow the water circulation
down a bit. If I forget to slow down the cooling water, it stops in a
smokey blue haze after a few hours!! I am told Hornsby's are a bit
fussy with fuel but I am yet to find out if helicopter juice is worth
the trouble with them.
Recipe No. 11 A tale of caution
From Brock Summerfield: I agree with Edd if the truth be known about
power kero needs a lot higher heat rate to burn fully thats why it was
used in tractors
i knew a guy who worked for Ronaldson tippett he told me during
the 1930,s 40,s farmer put power kero in there engines after a few
weeks they would gum up and lock up the engines had to be striped down
i have seen this
first hand a few years ago a guy in our club put power kero in his 16
hp Austral oil engine it gumed up after a days running it
locked up we had to take the piston out to clean it . and as far as TVO
fuel in the original hornsby akroyd hand book dated 1900 it
states that they used HVO , hornsby vaporising oil , that was made of
Russian crude that it is stated in the hornsby book.
Recipe No. 12 A memory of Power Kerosene
From Ray Freeman: I remember us having a International badged
Ronaldson Tippett N on the farm. It run a 2 inch pump everyday for as
long as I can remember. The fuel tank never had anything in it except
power kero. To start it we would dribble maybe 1/4 of a teaspoon of
petrol on the intake. It would start on that straight away and as soon
as it was up to speed there was nothing there but kero. The other thing
I remember about it was our shut off device. When the pump had filled
the tank it overflowed over the top of the engine and drowned it. I can
only recall once or twice having trouble starting it.
As always you have to do your own experiments and do something that
suits you.
Treat fuels and mixed fuels with the respect they deserve and take
care. All of the Power Kerosene engines I've ever encountered run
happily on Petrol. I have had trouble where the engine has a vapourizer
that you cannot control - for example, my Souther Cross 'P' Type has a
coil inside the exhaust manifold that the fuel passes through. On a 30C
plus day the petrol vapourises in this coil and the engine vapour locks
and stalls. The solution is to let it sit for a while (or rip the coil
out!) to cool down. My McCormick AW6 tractor runs all day working hard
on petrol with the vaporizor manifold "closed" so the hot air around
the exhaust manifold is directed away from the carby and cooler air is
drawn in.
...
This article is part of the Stationary Internal Combustion Engine Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ). This series is a combination of my views and knowledge
and the views and knowledge of other people - most of them members of the
Stationary Engine Mailing List (More info on ATIS).
Those articles which were written by others are © Copyright to the
author. Those articles written by myself are © Copyright to Paul
Pavlinovich.
Got comments?If you would like to comment on any part of the FAQ please do so by using the
Disclaimer:It should be noted that the information
given in this document is considered to be good advice by the people who give
it, however any legal liability lies strictly with the reader. The contributors
are hobbiests not professionals.
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