Jim,
RE:"Can someone tell me if there's a difference between
kerosene, diesel, lampoil, and furnace oil? Lately I've seen some
of these used (in text) as though they're interchangeable."
The difference is principally in the additives. My dad
ran his Diesel car on leftover home heating fuel after he
converted the house to a heat pump. It's illegal in the US, since
no excise tax has been paid on the fuel (this is why we add dyes
to fuel in the US, for a visual confirmation that the tax was paid.)
If you do this regularly, you will get a tankful of slimy scum, since
Diesel engine fuel contains anti-bacterial agents. Also low-temp
additives to keep it from gelling after a long cold night outdoors.
By the way, you can add jet fuel to the list, it's just
Kerosene (Parrafin to you, I suspect) with additives for
extremely low temps. The additives determine the fuel
type (Jet-A, Jet-A+, JP-4,JP-8, etc), but you can run a jet
engine with any of these in a pinch. After the Gulf War, the
U.S. Navy conducted tank inspections on all its carrier-
based jets due to instances of bacterial contamination
from the "free" Saudi jet fuel we were getting from USAFR
tankers.
Best Regards,
Tom Marincic
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