Coleman Fuel Substitute - Dry Cleaning Fluid?

Sorry I'm late to this thread. When in France I buy "essence C" from the cleaning aisle to burn in my petrol stoves.
So the logic does follow.

Like this
Mind you it's usually cheaper than that.

 

Great result, and all the better that you can now really enjoy the camping.

 

I use to buy Heptano in Spain. And "Essence C" in France

 

I also use Heptane. Sold in 20 liter drums so it lasts...

 

And 'dry cleaning fluid' can often be tetrachloroethylene, which is not only a health hazard, but it doesn't even burn, so you definitely can't use just any brand.

 

(WARNING - Long post for late night/weekend reading only!!!)

Yes, I think that's the right approach. Not all "home dry cleaners" will be the same, so it's important to research and gather as much information as possible before trying it out in a Coleman or other camp stove or lantern.

I believe that the product available here in the local markets, listed as home dry cleaner fluid, is really just a "specialty naptha" / white gas variant with it's own particular additives/chemical composition. It is labelled "Naptha petroleum (hydrotreated light)." I can't for the life of me find an MSDS sheet on it, but based on the following information that I link to below, I believe it is in the same family as Coleman fuel, and probably diverges from Coleman fuel chemically less so than Coleman fuel would differ chemically from pump gas/petrol. I'd be very curious to know what others think about this or if anyone has additional information.

I can say from personal use and experience that the product I am using here is an exceptionally clean and efficient burning fuel for my 413G. So much so, on a recent weekend trip to a local campground, I had someone come over with their single burner Coleman 533 and observe in disbelief how cleanly and efficiently my stove was burning. He used petrol for his 533, assuming it's all he could find/use here in EA. He showed me the soot build up on his burner and explained how he has to store it in a sealed plastic container during transport because of the fumes. He was grateful that I introduced him to this product, again, available widely in every supermarket here: Century Home Dry Cleaner - 500ml

This product, Century Home Dry Cleaner, is labelled "Naptha Petroleum (hydrotreated light)." Here is what Wikipedia has to say about "Petroleum Naptha" - Petroleum naphtha - Wikipedia

Most notably, the article says:

"Some petroleum refineries also produce small amounts of specialty naphthas for use as solvents, cleaning fluids and dry-cleaning agents, paint and varnish diluents, asphalt diluents, rubber industry solvents, recycling products, and cigarette-lighter, portable-camping-stove and lantern fuels. Those specialty naphthas are subjected to various purification processes which adjusts chemical characteristics to suit specific needs.

Specialty naphtha comes in many varieties and each are referred to by separate names such as petroleum ether, petroleum spirits, mineral spirits, paraffin, benzine, hexane, ligroin, white oil or white gas, painters naphtha, refined solvent naphtha and Varnish makers' & painters' naphtha (VM&P). The best way to determine the boiling point and other compositional characteristics of any of the specialty naphtha is to read the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for the specific naphtha of interest. Safety Data Sheets can be found on a chemical suppliers websites or by contacting the supplier directly."

I might still try to contact the producer of Century to see if they can give me some detailed information on its chemical constitution.

In further support of this approach, I also recently came across another home dry cleaner/solvent at a hardware store here, but it turned out to be something different, and I avoided using it in the Coleman. It is available in the US as AFTA or Guardsman Spot Remover/Professional Strength Cleaner/Degreaser. According to its MSDS it contains Xylene.
MSDS - https://ilrc.ucf.edu/documents/ILRC 00000170/MSDS 00000170.pdf

Here are some other relevant MSDS sheets on comparative products. I'd be very interested to hear if there is a chemical engineer (or someone else knowledgeable) out there who could contrast and compare these products for us. Interestingly, it appears that Coleman fuel made in the UK is chemically different than it's US-made counterpart.

Coleman Fuel is listed as "Light Hydrotreated Distillate"
US Coleman Fuel MSDS - https://pimproductmanuals.coleman.com/documents/ColemanAU/Camp-Fuel.pdf

UK Coleman Fuel is mostly heptane?
UK Coleman Fuel MSDS - http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1700915.pdf

Looks like Crown Camp Fuel is also mostly "Petroleum Distillates, hydrotreated light."
Crown Camp Fuel - https://zenstoves.net/MSDS/CrownCamp.pdf

Here is some more information on "Naptha Petroleum, Hydrotreated Light."
EU Chemicals Agency - Substance Card - Naphtha (petroleum), hydrotreated light - Substance Information - ECHA
NIH - ChemIDplus - 64742-49-0 - Naphtha (petroleum), hydrotreated light - Searchable synonyms, formulas, resource links, and other chemical information.

Here are some additional MSDS sheets from some different manufacturers of "Naptha Petroleum, (hydrotreated light)."
ANPEL - https://www.anpel.com.cn/UpFile\Stock\201405\MSDS-4.105666EN.pdf
FAGRON - https://fagron.com/sites/default/files/document/msds_coa/64742-49-0_(USA).pdf
THERMO/FISHER - https://www.fishersci.co.uk/chemicalProductData_uk/wercs?itemCode=10676841&lang=EN
COMET/COMSOL - http://www.cometchemical.com/MSDS/Comsol 1520EN.pdf
PRO-FORM (Weld Activator - containing heptane) - http://ca.proformproducts.com/userfiles/files/msds/msds_en/PF 725-3 SDS 4-12-18 EN.pdf



Finally this information seems to indicate that "Petroleum Distillates" and "Naptha Petroleum" are terms that can essentially be used interchangeably and refer to "two or three different types of petroleum distillation fractions."
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topic...d-pharmaceutical-science/petroleum-derivative

"Petroleum Distillates
Stephen R. Clough, in Encyclopedia of Toxicology (Second Edition), 2005

Background Information
The term ‘petroleum distillates’ generally refers to petroleum naphtha or petroleum ether, which contain the lower boiling fractions (boiling point range, 86–140°F) of petroleum, principally pentanes and hexanes, with minor amounts of paraffins ranging up to 13 carbons. Petroleum naphtha is also known by the following synonyms: Amsco H-J, Amsco H-SB, Benzin B-70, HI-Flash naphtha, hydrotreated naphtha, naphtha coal tar, naphtha, petroleum naphtha, solvent naphtha, petroleum benzin, petroleum-derived naphtha, petroleum oil, Super VMP, UN1255, UN1256, UN1270, UN2553.

A solvent obtained from higher boiling distillates (boiling point range, 203–320°F), generically known as ligroin or ‘varnish-makers’ and painters’ naphtha’ (VM&P naphtha), may also occasionally be referred to as ‘petroleum distillates’. Other synonyms for this solvent include benzin, benzine (light petroleum distillate), benzoline, canadol, ligroin, painters naphtha, petroleum ether, petroleum spirit, refined solvent naphtha, Skellysolve F, Skellysolve G, UN1271, varnish makers’ naphtha, VM and P naphtha, VM&P naphtha.

Mineral spirits, also known as petroleum spirits, is another commonly used solvent that distills at an even higher temperature than naphtha (boiling point range, 302–392°F). It is also known as Stoddard solvent, refined petroleum spirits, white spirits, Amsco 140, Soltrol, Soltrol 50, Soltrol 100, or Soltrol 180.

Thus, the term petroleum distillates may be used generically and interchangeably for two or three different types of petroleum distillation fractions. It can be confusing in that many commercial products will list the term as an ingredient even though it does not contain petroleum naphtha (e.g., the label of a solvent may say ‘contains petroleum distillates’ simply because some of the components were derived from crude oil)."

 

From an old post:
here in Italy, till ten or twelve years ago you could purchase white gasoline as stain remover, it was called "benzina avio" but since then the same name is now for a product that is a blend of exane (real white gasoline) and dichloropropane, a terrible, poisonus, clorinated hidrocarbon, that will corrode any stove in a matter of minutes, and poissibly kill the owner with toxic fumes.

 

I believe this is basically Stoddard Solvent, which is used as a dry cleaning solvent. It was included in the list of possible fuels in the instructions for my first MSR XGK stove. I suspect it will work fine in any white gas stove.

....Arch

 

Stoddard Solvent falls in between Coleman fuel and Kerosene. Stoddard Solvent is mixture of hydrocarbons, typically over 65% C10 or higher hydrocarbons. Coleman fuel is a mixture of smaller hydrocarbons in the C6 to C9 range. Kerosene is a mixture of larger hydrocarbons in the C10 to C16 range.

If a stove can run on a 50/50 mix of Coleman fuel and kerosene then will probably run on Stoddard Solvent as well.

Ben