I normally use Coleman fuel but purchased some Heptane based on a comment by Murf and some MSR Superfuel I saw in an outdoor store. I've been researching and testing them for the past couple of days and want to share my findings: Coleman Fuel Cost: $3.50/quart USD Color: Light Green Rust Inhibitor Added: Yes Benzene Content: .25% (typical) Approx. BTU/pound: 17900 MSR Superfuel Cost: $12.95/quart USD Color: Clear Rust Inhibitor Added: Yes Benzene Content: .005% Approx. BTU/pound: 17900 Heptane (Reagent Grade) Cost: $25/quart USD Color: Clear Rust Inhibitor Added: No Benzene Content: 0% Approx. BTU/pound: 20082 Comments: Both Coleman and Superfuel are light petroleum napthas. These are mixtures composed primarily of pentane, hexane, and heptane. They contain other compounds as well. For instance Coleman typically contains .75 mg/100 ml existent gums, 100 ppm sulfur, and .25% benzene (source: http://tinyurl.com/kyyshq9) I could not find a specification sheet for MSR Superfuel so I had to determine BTU content by experimentation. Using the same stove under the same conditions, I raised the temperature of 9 pounds of water 140 degrees Fahrenheit using first Coleman Fuel and then MSR Superfuel. In both cases the stove used precisely the same weight of fuel measured to an accuracy of .05 oz. Therefore, their heat content is the same. The big difference between the two is their Benzene content and by inference their total aromatic hydrocarbon content. Aromatic hydrocarbons are extremely stable, burn poorly, and produce sticky sooty smoke. Benzene also causes cancer which is why its content is listed on a fuel's Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). There is about 4.9% benzene in untreated light naptha. Both Coleman and MSR Superfuel are hydrotreated to remove aromatic compounds including Benzene. The Coleman Specification sheet say it contains a maximum of .5% benzene and typically .25% benzene. I found another source that says the Coleman benzene content is a mere .001% ( http://tinyurl.com/qh7yzt4 ). The MSR Superfuel contains .005% and is advertised as "the highest-performance white gas on the market, more refined and cleaner-burning than any comparable fuel and unmatched for reducing clogs, cleanings, and maintenance with no dyes or additives to solidify and hamper performance." As stated earlier, heat wise I found no difference between the performance of Coleman and Superfuel. To the extent that Superfuel contains fewer aromatic hydrocarbons their claim of reduced clogs, cleaning, and maintenance is probably true. Aromatic hydrocarbons are the primary cause jet clogging soot. Whether this is worth paying four times the cost of Coleman is another question. The answer might be "yes" if you are preheating your stove with petrol instead of alcohol. Superfuel would produce less soot. It might also be a good choice for older stoves that do not have built in prickers like a SVEA 123 or Optimus 8. The fewer aromatics the less pricking necessary. My stove has a pricker and doesn't have a clogging issue with Coleman so that's what I'll stick with. That brings me to heptane. Heptane is a pure substance not a mixture. It is a saturated hydrocarbon containing 7 carbon atoms and 16 hydrogen atoms. It contains nothing else. The BTU content I calculated using the test method I mentioned earlier. It took less fuel to heat the water than did Coleman or Superfuel. This is to be expected since the primary constituent of Coleman is hexane which contains less carbon and hydrogen. However, it took forever to raise the water temperature on my Vesta stove. Vesta's are self-pressurizing and heptane has a lower vapor pressure than Coleman and Superfuel. Hence the flame was smaller and took much longer to heat the water. Because of this AND its expense AND its lack of rust inhibitor, I won't be using it again. Sorry for the long post and technical nature but I found it interesting and I hope others will as well.
I remember till the 80-tis we (in Poland) can buy pure mixture of pentan hexan heptan everywhere - price was similar the autos fuel.
I doubt that you could cook for enough decades with a stove to notice a difference in "clogging" between Coleman and MSR "Superfuel". When I found CCS and started posting here, in April 2001, Coleman fuel was $3.99 per gallon. We recognized it as an amazing bargain back then, and I speculated more than once that the great price was in service of stove sales. Back then (not so long ago, after all), liquid fuel stoves were still abundant on retail shelves. All that changed, and CF began its steady climb in price within a few years. That said, it is still reasonable considering its specialized use. But the MSR fuel, and the other proprietary non-Coleman "white gas" fuels, are a total and complete rip-off. It amazes me that anybody buys the stuff (always excepting fellow stovies for research purposes 8) ).
BTW, Crown Camp Fuel contains less than .01% benzene and it's sold in gallons like Coleman for a reasonable price. I think I'll try that next.
MSR seems to have a penchant for ripping off their customers when they market non-stove products. They sell a water purifier which is listed on the bottle as Sodium Hypochlorite. A 2 ounce bottle is $15 but it takes only a few drops per quart of water to treat it. Sodium Hypochlorite is the main ingredient in ordinary household bleach that sells for a few dollars per gallon.
If you want 100% n-heptane, here in the US you can get Bestine solvent and thinner, used for rubber cement, works VERY well in stoves, IMO! http://papercement.com/msds_bestine.pdf Murph
Bestine Solvent is certainly a cheaper source of n-heptane than the chemically pure n-heptane I bought on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/nq9hbnp . In fact, Bestine is about the same price as MSR Superfuel.
I got a pretty good deal on a few Gals. of " pure naphtha" from an Amish friend @$3.45 / gal. I have no idea what is in the stuff but it is clear. I am a little anxious about it rusting thru the cans or going bad before I get around to using it up. it does burn well. buzz
Didn't optimus market a heptane based arctic fuel? Does anybody here use vm&p naphtha? Someone on another forum was mentioning that it could run well in coleman appliances. If so is it available in the UK? I understand that coleman fuel incorporates a rust inhibitor. This would seem important for steel tank stoves but less so for brass or aluminum.
Optimus did make a pure heptane arctic fuel. I use VM&P naptha here when I can find it on sale, works the same as Coleman fuel in my gear. I'll wager the panel wipe they have in the UK is the same stuff. Murph
Here they give for heptane 19,163 BTU/lb: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_of_combustion I have used heptane in my gasoline stoves. It burns as well as gasoline in Omnifuel, Nova, 123 and also in Primus priming torch. Heptane cheap 2,5 eur/ltr compared to Primus Powerfuel that costs 4-6 eur/ltr. Coleman and MSR fuels is not sold here...
Wow! I got 20,082 by weighing the amount of heptane required to raise 9 lbs. of water 140 degrees then calculating the BTU's based on the amount of Coleman Fuel it took to do the same job. Given the Wikipedia figure of 19,163 that's not bad for a guy sitting on a couch watching television while boiling water on the ottoman to satisfy his curiosity. I'm going to have to try heptane again based on your and Murph's recommendations.
O.K. I tried pure n-heptane in my French Vesta again and got the same results. Nothing wrong with n-heptane as a fuel but the design of my stove just doesn't burn it efficiently. It's frustrating not being able to post photos to illustrate this. I dropped my camera a while back and the new one is back ordered. I'll try to explain. The Vesta is a self-pressuring stove like the Optimus 8R or the Svea 123. However, it has a thick steel fuel tank located in close proximity to the burner bell similar to the Optimus 10 Ranger. As the stove burns the tank heats up and its internal pressure increases forcing more fuel to the burner. Coleman fuel has a vapor pressure slightly higher than, but similar to, hexane which is its primary constituent. The vapor pressure of heptane is about half that of hexane and Coleman fuel. The chart below shows the vapor pressures of hexane and heptane at various temperatures. My stove has to be primed twice with meths just to get it burning when using n-heptane. Once it is going the fuel tank heats up so much that it can't be touched yet the vapor pressure inside never increases enough to really get the thing going. Even though Coleman fuel has fewer BTU/pound my stove runs much hotter on it because the higher vapor pressure inside the tank forces so much more fuel to the burner. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but my camera is broken so you're stuck with the thousand words. My apologies.
Ben, you hit on a big part of it when you commented on the design of the stove. Here in the US, camp stoves are almost all run on naptha (Coleman fuel) and are pressure independent. The heat of the stove isn't an issue, you pump up the fount to pressurize the fuel feed, and Bob's your uncle. It's why you see members burning kero, naptha, and even alcohol in a Coleman 502, because you can. (Alcohol is rather disappointing, though.) The 8R, 99, 123 and the like are a lot more fussy about their fuels, you need a fuel rich in low boiling point fractionates to make them run right. Optimus caught on to that when they made the mini and midi pumps and pump caps for the above stoves, sometimes the climate could make using the stove all but impossible without external pressure. Not much, mind you, but enough to carry the day as needed. Murph
@z1ulike Wow! Great info! Thank you! I don't know how you know all that stuff? But I believe 100% you know what you are talking about! I bet even if I were to research this online I would not get anywhere near this technical info on CF. Much great info from all contributors! I appear to be 9 years late to this party! EEEK!
I was in charge of a dedicated hazardous materials response team the last 20 years of my fire service career. I was certified to teach chemistry of hazardous materials to the new Haz Mat responders. So, this is stuff I was exposed to at work. I retired as a fire captain 15 years ago and I'm not as sharp on this stuff as I used to be. Ben
OK! That explains a lot! I looked into it online and got into fractional distllation and it all started to fall into place and make sense... at a novice level!
