Kerosene froze - does this mean it's too diluted?

E.T.

Our kerosene froze over Christmas and we didn't have any heating for a few days. When the plumber came he said that the heating was actually working but that the fuel had actually frozen into a jelly. I had the tank filled a few days before Christmas by the same company that filled it last Spring. Since then a few people have told me that there's no way kerosene should have frozen and that it means the fuel that my tank was filled with is poor quality. Is this true? I'm in Cork and definitely didn't have as severe weather as a lot of other areas.

Ryan T

I thought that the freezing point of kerosene was about -30 C- and thankfully we didn't get any where near that.

Wonder was the fuel 100% ?

Plombier

There is more than likely water in your oil tank.

Kerosene wont freez in our conditions but water droplets carried from the tank will freeze blocking filters and burner parts.

E.T.

Could water in the tank have made the kerosene go jelly-like as the plumber described? How would water get in there - would it be when the tank was filled?

danjo-xx

Plombier wrote: »

There is more than likely water in your oil tank.

Kerosene wont freez in our conditions but water droplets carried from the tank will freeze blocking filters and burner parts.

interesting analysis but how would these water droplets find their way to the tank outlet at bottom of tank as water floats on oil if the tank was not left run next or near to dry of oil?

Pete67

Kerosene floats on water, not the other way around. Density of Kerosene is 817kg/1000ltr, water is 1000kg/1000ltr

danjo-xx

E.T. wrote: »

Could water in the tank have made the kerosene go jelly-like as the plumber described? How would water get in there - would it be when the tank was filled?

I don't buy that at all. I imagine water can build up over time due to condensation and also probably due to tank being filled in rainly weather.

danjo-xx

Pete67 wrote: »

Kerosene floats on water, not the other way around. Density of Kerosene is 817kg/1000ltr, water is 1000kg/1000ltr

jebus my apologies of course your right, oil floats on water, got it the wrong way round (past my bedtime)

ArseBurger

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=kerosene+gelling

Doesn't sound like it's kerosene that you have.

E.T.

Thanks for that Arseburger! I've already googled, and it didn't sound like it was behaving like proper kerosene should, that's why I posted here! A few people have told me they've heard of companies diluting kerosene with diesel, I was hoping someone here could tell me if this is an urban legend or not?