RogueRose
International Hazard
Posts: 1593
Registered: 16-6-2014
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Need flammable hydrocarbon to replace animal fats in fuel source
I made some fire starters that worked really well that consisted of paraffin, palm or coconut oil (both relatively solid under 75F) and lard or tallow
- into which sawdust was mixed (the hydrocarbons were liquefied/melted and then sawdust added). The problem is that they start to smell bad b/c of
the tallow/lard after a while at room temp so I'd like to remove them, but it seems that they were the best fuel in the mix - they burnt more
vigorously than the other oils/HC's.
So I was wondering if there was some of other kind of hydrocarbon that I could add to this, even if in lower amounts, such as kerosene,
biodiesel/diesel, lampoil, nathpha (or naptha oil/ something or other), possibly toluene/xylene, IDK what would work.
I thought the HC's I listed had relatively high BP's so they shouldn't evaporate from the mix of paraffin and palm/coconut oil and if it helps the mix
burn more vigerously than that is a major benefit.
When I melt everthing I don't get the temp above ~130-140F so I don't think ignition would be a problem, especially if the HC was added to the melted
oil/paraffin and then the carbon source (saw dust or similar - ground nut shells). These are poured onto a cardboard egg carton to about 1/2 full.
One unit lasts about 10-15 minutes and can start a fire w/o kindling using normal firewood logs making starting a fire every morning much less work
than before.
I just need to get rid of the smell of the animal fats as after about 2-3 months a nasty rancid smell emanates from them.
Can anyone suggest a different HC or would one of the ones I suggested be a good alternative to the lard/tallow?
As for proportions, each was about 1/3, so IDK if I would need less of the HC b/c it is a liquid and might dissolve the paraffin/oils and keep them in
a liquid state, so I can use less to keep the mixture a solid once cooled.
Any suggestions on this?
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Ubya
International Hazard
Posts: 1247
Registered: 23-11-2017
Location: Rome-Italy
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Mood: I'm a maddo scientisto!!!
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the smell comes from the animal fat, just change it with something else: mineral oil, vaseline jelly, stearic acid, tree resin, bitumen
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feel free to correct my grammar, or any mistakes i make
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XeonTheMGPony
International Hazard
Posts: 1640
Registered: 5-1-2016
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Mood: No Mood
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take your animal fat in a large pot, add 3 table spoons of salt and boil and stir every so often!
Once don allow to solidify and peel off the solid cake and boil again in fresh water and stir.
after this it should last for years with no smell
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