How does that clarify? The Wikipedia article is interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphtha It would appear from that article that from ancient times to the present, "naptha" means "flammable petroleum product". To me, "naptha" means Coleman Fuel, and lighter fluid (i.e., Zippo lighter, not bbq lighter fluid). It's smell is distinctive-- to me, anyhow. But what is a better definition of "naptha"? (If there is one.....)
It clarifies that not all naphtha is coleman fuel. Coleman fuel is naphtha from the c5 to c9 range. I'm not trying to start an argument, just simply pointing out that naphtha does necessarily = coleman fuel or ronsol lighter fluid.
I meant to work in there that refineries produce a wide range of naphthas that are used as feed stock for different applications.
Easy explanation. Coleman fuel is Naptha, but Naptha is not necessarily Coleman fuel. Like a thumb is a finger, but a finger is not necessarily a thumb.
Yes, but what is naptha? That's my question; it's not an argument, it's just a question. Is naptha something more precise than "flammable petroleum product"? And if so, is it amenable to a brief general definition? Say, perhaps, in terms of how it differs from certain other flammable petroleum products. I get the idea that there are other "napthas" than Coleman fuel. But that is not an explanation of what naptha is....
Hi, Ed, I'm not a chemist nor involved with the petroleum industry, but someone who was once gave me a "quick lesson for dummies" that I'll try to repeat here in hopes it helps. This is way overly simplified, of course! Imagine you have a barrel of crude oil. As you refine it, the lightest, most volatile, compounds come off first, followed by medium and then heavier compounds. So if we visualize the "products" as "layers" in the barrel, the top layers would include the various napthas. The next layers would go thru gasoline, kerosene, diesel, heating and fuel oils. As we continue to pull off the layers, we'd find lubricating oils and eventually get to asphalt at the bottom of the barrel. (There are actually 1000s of products which can be obtained from that barrel of oil, and the refining process may concentrate on one more than another at different times, depending on needs and demands, but you can get a rough picture.) So "naptha" as we use the term today would be one of those cleaner, faster burning, products taken off near the "top" of the barrel. And though they burn faster, as we see the difference between Coleman fuel and kerosene, they have less heat content per unit volume/weight. Does this help? Rick C
If the show I watched was accurate, there was a time when naptha was thrown away as a dangerous by product. Some chemist for Rockefeller suggested the use for it.
I've burned coleman white gas that dated from the 1950's. It did what it was supposed to do. I bought 20 gallons of coleman fuel when a local business went south in 1997. It burns like it is supposed to, a 1/2 gallon being used at a Boy Scout event this weekend. Never had any problems with old coleman fuel.
Ummm, just a thought, you know how unleaded petrol goes off and at great expense some additive can be bought to make it good again, I am talking about small motors stored over winter. Could this Coleman fuel be used in the petrol ? Cheers Rob
G,,day . i am NOT trying to start an arguement . i have never experienced unleaded fuel going off !!!!!!!!!!!!! Stihl chainsaw left sitting for several years , only a few pulls to start . Kubota 1.8 KVA generator , regularly not started , over a year and only 2 or 3 pulls to start . i think it may be the addition of ethanol , i would like to know more . it is only recently that E10 has been available here . just my experiences with unleaded . also i did post elsewhere that for people using Shellite , ( Aussies ) it does not have a shelf life , lasts forever apart from evaporation that info is from the manufacturars cheers kerry
Kerry, that's interesting, you may have different petrol in Tas. So not to have condensation I leave small things eg chain saw and fire pump full. At the new season won't go until new fuel is put in. Not a big problem but it started with the introduction of unleaded. Cheers Rob
@Robert Bruce No difference in petrol down here... These days almost all the fuel comes from the same place. I've never noticed ULP going off, but that's maybe because when something doesn't start, I spray a bit of "Start-You-Bastard" in the carburettor... (When I run out of S-Y-B, I spray a bit of acetone...). Shellite (Recosol) will work just fine and keeps forever. Cheers Tony
Excuse the drift here. Picking up on something Kerry said about ethanol... I do a lot of work with chainsaws. About 15 years ago there was a lot of unexplained seizures of chainsaws. I am told by a dealer that both Stihl and Husqvarna put out service bulletins advising NOT to use ethanol based fuel when mixing 2 stroke fuel. Evidently as soon as it stands, the oil separates from the fuel. I was advised to use non ethanol premium petrol when mixing 2 stroke fuel. About the same time, there was a lot of failures of ultralight aircraft engines, planes were falling out ' the sky everywhere. They traced it to the ethanol based fuel reacting with the sunlight that comes through the clear tanks and formed a precipitate. There is now a warning for aircraft not to use ethanol based fuel. Many chainsaws also have plastic fuel tanks - semitransparent. I now only use ethanol base fuel where there is specific directive that the design is suitable.
I've had chain saws more difficult to start in spring. I've had more than a few fuel lines replaced, too. I got a small emergency generator, from a family member, that wouldn't start. My repair guy cleaned/replaced the fuel lines that were plugged from fuel because ... "It hadn't been run often enough." I have been switching to high octane unleaded gas without alcohol for all my small engines.
Old school things will run and start on just about anything but modern small engines especially chain saws need high octain unleaded in the mix. Even this if left too long goes off. Caught inbetween the devel and the blue water, leave it with no fuel and it gets condensation and leave it full of fuel , no condensation and have to replace the fuel. I agree leave the ethanol bared fuel alone. Cheers Rob
