Froze solid it was 6 above zero

[Blakers]

Something to think about

Something to think about... . does the jelling of fuel oil have a freezing point like water? Or does it have a freezing range, say like a wax? What I'm getting at is, will it suddenly turn to a jel (or gel) at a certain temperature, or does it slowly start jelling and become progressively worse with temperature drop?

 

[GIT-R-DONE]

Blakers, My . 02 is that the diesel slowly begins to gel. I don't believe that at one certain temperature it all of a sudden gels. It does it slowly with the wax formation and the composition deteriorates from there. What I don't know is at what temperature all of this actually happens.



Don

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

Re: Something to think about

Originally posted by Blakers

Something to think about... . does the jelling of fuel oil have a freezing point like water? Or does it have a freezing range, say like a wax? What I'm getting at is, will it suddenly turn to a jel (or gel) at a certain temperature, or does it slowly start jelling and become progressively worse with temperature drop?

All fuel oil has different spec based on what was done to it by the manufacturer and then the distributor and what mixing has been done to it but to answer your question fuel oil in general has a Cloud point (starting to thicken and gel) and a cold filter pluggage point (basically when it ain't gonna flow no more) You can call a distributor and get this information but don't expect your local 7/11 attendant to have a clue as to what you're talking about if you ask them. Type in winterized fuel in Google.com and see all of the different information you can come up with, you'd swear the info was written by congress because it is all different but is supposed to be true.



On edit: I had found some information on Coastal fuel oil #2 a while back that said the cloud point was +10f and the cold filter was -12f and the straight point was -30f but I have no idea what straight point is. Hope this helps

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

Here is some good reading taken from this page



Panther industries



I had been told by the manufacturer of the product I use that it needs to be in the fuel prior to reaching the cloud point to do any good and this backs it up (different source). As long as you're getting your fuel from an underground tank it should be pretty warm and cloud point shouldn't be an issue

POUR POINT: The Pour Point of a petroleum oil is the lowest temperature at which oil will pour or flow under prescribed conditions when it is chilled without disturbance at a fixed rate. To determine Pour Point, a sample of oil is cooled in a test jar under specified conditions; the temperature is observed in increments of 5oF. until no movement is apparent on the surface of the oil when the test jar is held in a horizontal position for 5 seconds. This temperature is recorded as the Solid Point. By definition the Pour Point is 5oF. above this temperature.



Pour Point is of importance in establishing the lowest temperature at which a diesel fuel is still sufficiently fluid to be pumped or transferred. However, many fuels can be pumped or transferred at temperatures below their Pour Points.



Low Pour Points may often be obtained by increasing the volatility of the fuel. This can result in a reduction of the BTU valve on a volume basis (which is not desired).



ANTI-GEL does not affect the Cloud Point. It only changes the Pour Point. As mentioned earlier, the anti-gel works by modifying the wax crystals.



The first treatment of the fuel with ANTI-GEL will show the greatest results and subsequent treatments will show lesser results. We expect, on a fuel that has no anti-gel added, a 20oF. drop in Pour Point when treated at a recommended rate of one gallon of ANTI-GEL to 1000 gallons of fuel. Now if you treat this 1000 gallons with another gallon of ANTI-GEL, we would only expect an additional 8 to 10oF. lowering of the Pour Point. The subsequent treatments would be even less, which illustrates the fact that the wax crystals can only be modified a certain amount, regardless of the type of treatment.



When should the ANTI-GEL be added? For the ANTI-GEL to be effective, it must be added before a cloud point appears in the fuel; the fuel must be bright. Once the cloud (wax) starts forming, the anti-gel cannot modify the wax crystals.



How should it be added? For best results it should be added to the storage tank before adding the fuel. As the fuel is added, it will mix the anti-gel into the fuel. The same method can be used for adding to fuel tanks. Again, the fuel must be free of wax crystals at the time of addition of the fuel anti-gel for effective performance of ANTI-GEL.