What do YOU use kerosene for?

[Leon]

Not really that long ago, I remember when I was kid, having a finger dipped in kerosene then I got cut. IIRC the blood would not mix and would glob up.

[Australopithecus scobis]

Some of them are, anyway. The cyclics are nasty, in general. The aliphatics aren't so bad.

[Australopithecus scobis]

No, vegetable OIL is a hydrocarbon. Go away, you idiot.

[carol]

Kerosene is a definate cure for head lice. Had to once for my daughter because nothing else was working. Purely safe enough if you are careful. Just do it the same way you do a treatment. Kill lice and eggs instantly.

[CW]

Wrong.

[CW]

Yes.

[Mark]

True, but it's refined a bit differently - like diesel has differnet grades ranging from the "hi-test" that you buy at the pump to sludge that needs to be preheated just to move the stuff as used in large motors such as ships. Mark

[Guess who]

Can't argue with that. The point is that hydrocarbon compounds are generally toxic and carcinogenous.

But then the chemical structure has been changed, and it is not what it was. Breaking and reforming bonds is all the difference in the world, and you must know that even seemingly small differences in chemical structure can make all of the difference in the human chemical factory, which takes us back to the main point again.

[badaztek]

If one knows their chemistry , they would know that diesel,gasoline and kerosene is all made from crude oil ,which is a prehistoric remains of oils from plant/animal materials which over time has aged to crude waiting for us to find it and put it to good use. On a side note the first successful internal combustion engine was built in Germany in the 1880's and the inventor was named Diesel but the engine ran off of either peanut oil or vegetable oil but they found out later it worked better with a refined crude that we all now know as diesel fuel

[CW]

Not always. M1 tank. Turbine engine, basically a jet. Runs on #2 diesel.

[Mark & Juanita]

... snip

Ummm, would there be a *reason* you know all this detailed information? [just askin'] :-)

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The absence of accidents does not mean the presence of safety Army General Richard Cody +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Mark & Juanita]

Wonder how grandpa felt about that.

Bet there were some grandkids who weren't too hip on getting kisses (or even holding close conversations) with grandma.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The absence of accidents does not mean the presence of safety Army General Richard Cody +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Noons]

and is great as a lubricant for "oil-sharpening" stones. In fact, IIRC Krenov used it. I've used it with the carborundum rough grey stones and it works a treat.

evaporation

I grew up with kero-fueled refrigerators, lamps and stoves. The old pressure lamps worked a treat with it. Back in those days in the middle of Africa there wasn't another readily accessible and cheap source of power aside from petrol.

"medicinal"

In Portugal, not too many years ago it was used to help people with a persistent cough. In cases of TB, asthma and others. Swallowed a couple of mouthfulls of it as a kid (mid 1950s) when I got into the fridge tank. Didn't harm much. Would I survive it again? Most likely not: OH&S being what it is nowadays, some well-intentioned moron has probably added poison to kero to make it unpalatable or disgusting, for "safety" reasons...

Yup. It is great on wheelnuts to make sure they don't "stick". And I do remember seeing it used on rags at the school in the machine shop, for all sorts of "quick wipes". It is a great "rust stopper": leaves an oily residue.

[AAvK]

I thought I saw on a TV doc that M1A1's are gasoline turbines, not diesel. Also an engineer told me that years ago.

[George]

Boy would _that_ be dumb, given the flammability of gasoline. We'd be back to the Molotov cocktails we drove at the outset of WWII.

One fuel does all is the objective. Helps the logistics planners a lot.

[LRod]

Nevertheless, that was my recollection, too. But, this is the internet, so I took a look. Read 'em and weep:

One fuel does all is the objective. Helps the logistics planners a lot. Nevertheless...

[Lawrence L'Hote]

FWIW the M60- A1,-A2-A3 were all diesel powered. They were the main battle tank up until about 1991 or so. You didn't want to be any where near the exhaust when they started up or you would be covered with soot. I know zilch about the M1Al. Larry SP4

3/51 Inf, 4th Armd Div '66-'68 Ferris Barracks, Germany

[Andy Dingley]

Diesel, kerosene or jet fuel. These days most large military vehicles use mutli-fuel engines. Diesel is favoured because of the reduced fire hazard, but they're set up to burn pretty much anything. The Abrams is unusual in that it's one of the few front-line vehicles that _can't_ mutli-fuel like this. As of a couple of years back, the British Army is gasoline-free for any engines other than motorbikes and chainsaws, and they were looking at those too.

He was a mechanic. An engineer would also know _why_ they don't run gas turbines on gasoline.

[gfretwell]

They are turbine powered but a turbine will run on anything that burns. Gas, diesel, alcohol, paint thinner, jet fuel, if you can light it an M1 will run on it.

[bremen68]

.........snip....

Ummm, would there be a *reason* you know all this detailed information? [just askin'] :-)

Let's just say experience and pain are wonderful educators. :-) Fortunately this lesson was light on the pain.