Octane booster and why they contain kerosene ?

[Zimnismoboy34]

Hello all im new to the forums, here to ask and contribute as much as i can .
Any ways i have been investigating the octane boosters properties.
And i wanted to ask why do they contain Kerosene?
Why are would they use kerosene in fuel ?
Does it make it more stable ?
Does it make the flame burn slower ?
Its also called iso paraffin, and heavy aromatic as its classed and also an alkane .
Hope to hear your thoughts.
thanks in advance.

 

[Boomer]

Some thoughts on octane ratings from a chemist:

1. Linear, non-branched alkanes have very low octane values. Low octane means the substance ignites very easily under compression heating (either by the cylinder or spark ignition falme front) to produce pinging/knocking.
2. Aromatics like toluene have very high (above 100) octane ratings. However, they contain less energy per volume than hydrocarbons.
3. Alcohols such as ethanol and methanol have high octane ratings
4. Pure kerosene has a low octane rating as it is composed of mainly linear hydrocarbons. However, in a diesel engine, you want this and low octane rating generally equates to a high cetane rating which is desirable for diesels.

Overll, you have to look at these octane boosters with a careful eye as you are doing. It is generally FAR cheaper and FAR more effective to buy higher octane gasoline than to add this stuff which may at best give a few tenths of a point increase in octane value.

 

[Boomer]

I should also note that highly branched alkanes such as 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (iso-octane) have very high octane values. This material is assigned a value of 100.

One reason higher octane fuels are more expensive is that there is usually a lower yield of the higher octane components from a given volume of crude oil entering the refinery.

 

[Zimnismoboy34]

thanks Boomer, so essentially is the higly refined kerosene really strong and there fore makes the fuel more stable ?
Or yeilds better octane gain per litre ?
It just seems weird as kerosene is not something i would use ?
I do understand that yeilding higher octane fuel is harder and requires more crude oil hence the cost of high octane fuel goes up .
But with octane boosters we can all safely say that we can get a better fuel .
please if u can shed some more light on what effects a a highly branched alkane has on fuel directly it might help me understand better and maybe teach me too

and other readers .
im confused for lack of a better word .

 

[Zimnismoboy34]

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100403084158AAKlR4P

 

[Zimnismoboy34]

where we live we have the lowest octane fuel u can buy cheapest IMHO so essentially when turbo cars are driven around they suffer badly from the low grade bad quality fuel.
So i have to be forced to use the octane boosters and i find them expensive especially after shipping and dutys.
Easier to make them up and add them to a tank here, then to think about importing and paying a landed price of 60 usd a bottle of torco!!!!!
So back to the topic at hand .

It would seem petroleum distillates seem to be the common ingredient with one being mineral spirits .

8052-41-3 white spirit (neo clear Xylene substitute) or turpinetine substitute or white mineral spirits !!!

Hydrotreated Paraffinic used as 90%

64742-94-5 naptha heavy petroleum aromatic solvent naphtha commonly added in small QTY but can be used as 95% base

64742-82-1 naphta petroleum heavy hydrodesulfirised 60% base

8008-20-6 kerosene JP5 Jet fuel advertised as turpentine

small qty of 64741-88-4 heavy parrafinic 5-10 %

91-20-3 5% naphthalene

64742-94-5 small amount 5% heavy solvent naphtha

64742-95-6 pretroleum naphtha light aromatic 13%

iso alkanes 70024-92-9 used as a 90% base again .

 

[Clevy]

If you want to boost octane cheaply try acetone,toluene or xylene. I've used regular fuel and a 150 shot of nitrous with no timing adjustments by adding 1 or a combination of these products.
And acetone actually increased my mileage per tank when I tested these products driving across Canada.

 

[Zimnismoboy34]

hey thanks for that will give it a try, but im also looking at alternatives to making the octane higher as well.
How much acetone would u add to a tank of 10gallons?
I recon the alkanes are a strong shot at getting some really good results they not only slow the burn of the fuel but make it more stable .
And mixed with some MMT i think we will be on the right road .
Will be testing and updating the forum as i go along .
Any one else with some ideas for me to try .

 

[Boomer]

Add significant acetone to fuel and you will burn valves, screw up injectors` etc. Small amounts only. It is a very strong solvent and will fo after various plastics and rubber. If it was a great add, car manufacturers would be selling it to get the CAFE mileage numbers they all want.

You need to Google alkanes and octane rating. I am not going to give an organic chem course on this forum on alkane combustion characteristics; they are complicated. Suffice it to say that globular alkanes are harder to get burning and therefore have higher octane ratings. Most octane improvers are JUNK and that is why they contain kero. They are designed to separate you from your money. Just run higher octane gas. If you start brewing up your own, you can run afoul of getting the RON and MON too far apart and that causes MAJOR problems as Mercededs and others found out in Germany some years ago when fuel was allowed to get that way.

 

[Zimnismoboy34]

Hello thank you for taking the time to reply.
Sadly in upper regions of Africa we dont get higher octane gas .
The pumps sell one kind of fuel and that simply called unleaded.
It has no rating, but i am investigating the rating at the moment .
So simply put i cannot get high octane fuel any where in my country so I HAVE TO MAKE MY OWN, BECAUSE THERE ISNT ANY HERE!!!
i have no option if i did i would just spend the little extra and fill up nicely at the station with 98 or 97 .... You guys are lucky with having a variety of petrols at the pump.

 

[skyship]

Originally Posted By: Boomer
Add significant acetone to fuel and you will burn valves, screw up injectors` etc. Small amounts only. It is a very strong solvent and will fo after various plastics and rubber. If it was a great add, car manufacturers would be selling it to get the CAFE mileage numbers they all want.

You need to Google alkanes and octane rating. I am not going to give an organic chem course on this forum on alkane combustion characteristics; they are complicated. Suffice it to say that globular alkanes are harder to get burning and therefore have higher octane ratings. Most octane improvers are JUNK and that is why they contain kero. They are designed to separate you from your money. Just run higher octane gas. If you start brewing up your own, you can run afoul of getting the RON and MON too far apart and that causes MAJOR problems as Mercededs and others found out in Germany some years ago when fuel was allowed to get that way.


I work part time with a chap from a very serious engineering facility that even has a fluid analysis lab in Germany and I can assure you, every single octane booster is pure snake oil, most reduce engine power a few percent and can be very risky for some new generation fuel systems. One can tested even contained standard petrol with a blue dye in it.

 

[skyship]

Has anyone tried Liqui Moly fuel system cleaner?:

Diesel Purge

This type of cleaner is fed directly into the fuel line or fuel filter housing (I think) and I would be most interested in any comments about this product.

I am very anti oil additives of any kind, except where there is a well researched, very specific problem that can't be resolved by other means, some fuel additives do help, but not the cetane boosters that are real snake oil products.

One final anti additives rant: NEVER PUT SOLVENT FLUSH OIL ADDITIVES of the type that you drive around with (A 10 min flush at idle only just before an oil change is far less risky) in your oil.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: skyship
Has anyone tried Liqui Moly fuel system cleaner?:

LM DIESEL PURGE This type of cleaner is fed directly into the fuel line or fuel filter housing (I think) and I would be most interested in any comments about this product.

I am very anti oil additives of any kind, except where there is a well researched, very specific problem that can't be resolved by other means, some fuel additives do help, but not the cetane boosters that are real snake oil products.

One final anti additives rant: NEVER PUT SOLVENT FLUSH OIL ADDITIVES of
the type that you drive around with (A 10 min flush at idle only just before an oil change is far less risky) in your oil.


I too am a fan of liqui-moly products. They seem to be of the highest quality and they do what they are advertised to do.
Skyship,you mention liqui-moly products so often that I would almost think you are a paid poster. At one point I thought tig was an exxon paid poster because of how he "suggests" mobil 1 for everything. Now I just think he is serious fanboy.
So are you a liqui-moly employee the skyship?

 

[skyship]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: skyship
Has anyone tried Liqui Moly fuel system cleaner?:

www.liqui-moly.us/liquimoly/mediendb.nsf/gfx2/2005_Diesel%20Purge.pdf/$file/2005_Diesel%20Purge.pdf
(Cut and paste only)

This type of cleaner is fed directly into the fuel line or fuel filter housing (I think) and I would be most interested in any comments about this product.

I am very anti oil additives of any kind, except where there is a well researched, very specific problem that can't be resolved by other means, some fuel additives do help, but not the cetane boosters that are real snake oil products.

One final anti additives rant: NEVER PUT SOLVENT FLUSH OIL ADDITIVES of
the type that you drive around with (A 10 min flush at idle only just before an oil change is far less risky) in your oil.


I too am a fan of liqui-moly products. They seem to be of the highest quality and they do what they are advertised to do.
Skyship,you mention liqui-moly products so often that I would almost think you are a paid poster. At one point I thought tig was an exxon paid poster because of how he "suggests" mobil 1 for everything. Now I just think he is serious fanboy.
So are you a liqui-moly employee the skyship?


WISH I WAS!, I just use their engine oils as Castrol are far too expensive in Germany. They are a great company and good at answering tech questions, BUT THEY DO MAKE SOME SNAKE OIL PRODUCTS just to make money. Unlike other companies those products are fully tested and won't cause any harm, even if they don't work.
Some professional engineers I know do use LM idle only flush before an oil change. In a real emergency only, they will use a can of stop leak in an engine or radiator, AS for the rest of the engine oil additive range, DON'T USE THEM, just find a better quality or specialist oil etc.
If I was in the USA or UK, I would use Castrol oil and in an emergency Amsoil idle flush or stop leak. Second choice would be Mobil, then Shell. Not keen on many US oil companies due to very dubious advertising methods. They keep fooling people with filter efficiency ratings, synthetic groupings and terms designed to hide HC or part synthetics under the fully synthetic label. The Germans can't lie on their web sites due to local and EU laws.

 

[Zimnismoboy34]

Hey no offense we going off topic here, I've used torco octane booster and I've used nf octane booster both with very good results no det andntiming runing on full advance so they do work even its slowing thenflame burn down

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: Zimnismoboy34
Hey no offense we going off topic here, I've used torco octane booster and I've used nf octane booster both with very good results no det andntiming runing on full advance so they do work even its slowing thenflame burn down

Torco makes a fantastic octane boost. I read somewhere that it contains a compound that also helps fuel economy by helping the fuel burn more completely. Works wonders in my ope

 

[Clevy]

As far as acetone goes I put half a quart in roughly a half tank of fuel. I could adjust the timing with my tuner and found I could go 4 on the tuner before I heard a ping.
When the heads were removed from the engine my valves were not burnt whatsoever. I now use it all the time in a home brewed concoction that seems to improve mileage and has proven to me to extend the run times on my generators and air compressors that are gas driven.

 

[SteveSRT8]

This is a super platform-dependent topic.

Two of the exact same engines may even have different octane requirements. So your experience may not count here for the next guy.

In the Hemi community we know what retards knock well, as we have extremely sensitive knock sensors that pull timing at the mere suggestion of knock!

I suggest this product as a proven performer for me, but I cannot promise you anything...

http://www.bndautomotive.com/page/page/931760.htm

 

[Zimnismoboy34]

indeed what works for one engine might not work for another engine .
But this is a turbo application and i have found that using toluene helps but not enough and using ethanol based fuel also helps but not enough .
Thanks Steve it looks like this magic stuff aces is also solvent based petroleum distillate with more or less the same function of the rest of the fuel additives i have mentioned a few posts ago.
have a look at the msds sheet.

http://enviroaces.com/pdf/gasoline_catalyst_MSD.pdf

It has the same elements as all other octane boosters with the exception of MMT there isnt any metal particles in this one surpisingly .

 

[SteveSRT8]

Just remember there are products that are NOT in an MDS.

Doesn't reveal all their secrets!