Coleman fuel expiration dates?

[doug hodder]

while Coleman fuel is a very refined naptha distillate containing HIGH levels of octane.

Coleman fuel has an octane rating of 50-55. That's not all that high compared to the typical unleaded gas which many gas appliances can be run on. I guess it all depends on what you think is high.

Is condensate as flammable as Coleman?....I dunno. I did light up a mud pit in Texas after the drill rig left with about 3 inches of very very light crude on it at night. It was a mineral project, not oil. Only took 1 match...and it went for 1 hour...boiled the water in a 20x40' pit. Glad I did it at night...when you're the project geologist, you can get away with a lot! I was crapping my pants till it went out!

Slowcowboy has been a roughneck in Wyo. I'm sure he's seen lots of very interesting happenings/situations on a drill rig/site, gotten a lot of knowledge from "old hands", and you don't get to be an "old hand" if you're clueless. I'm sure he's learned a lot of different things than many of us never will. Doug

[teardrop_focus]

Hey fellas... I think we're misunderstanding the word "octane".

Octane as a rating means "resistance to pre-ignition" in internal combustion engines... nothing more.

91 octane gasoline will burn SLOWER than 87 octane... and 91 octane has no more heat energy per volume (BTU) than does 87 octane or even 55 octane naptha.

White gas/naptha also has a low vapor pressure, meaning it will evaporate quickly... combined with it's low octane it will ignite more easily.

Perhaps that's what slowcowboy was referring to when talking about "conseate"... what others are calling "condensate". Whatever.


Now on the other hand there's jet fuel. Very similar to kerosene and diesel... and I don't know too much other than that about that except to say that when reading about the SR-71 reconnaisance aircraft, the fastest air-breathing jet aircraft ever produced, I learned that it's huge Pratt & Whitneys ran on a class of jet fuel called JP7.

We've all heard the story about how the SR-71 leaked fuel when it was sitting on the ground; no adhesives had been invented to seal the gaps in the craft's titanium skin panels (most of the space within the wings and airframe were fuel tanks). The skin would expand from the heat generated in supersonic flight, sealing the gaps in the skin.

Ground crews used to sometimes smoke while working on the big jet parked in the hangar, dripping fuel, etc... and one could toss their lighted cigarette onto the JP7 laying in puddles on the ground and the cigs would go out.

[teardrop_focus]

doug hodder

slowcowboy has been a roughneck in Wyo. I'm sure he's seen lots of very interesting happenings/situations on a drill rig/site, gotten a lot of knowledge from "old hands", and you don't get to be an "old hand" if you're clueless.

Like the saying in aviation circles, "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots... but there are no old, bold pilots". ('ceptin maybe Chuck Yeager... and Scott Crossfield [X-15 test pilot]. Yeager's still with us and Crossfield passed in old age).

Chuck Yeager

I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit.

If you want to grow old as a pilot, you've got to know when to push it, and when to back off.

Please pardon the threadjack. By all means, carry on.

[happy_camper]

I would agree that being a Wyoming "former oilfeild worker" has been a colorful life, filled with dramatic moments. Lucky for those who listened to the jumpy old timers about the dangers of "consesate".

For the rest of us, the lifespan of modern Coleman fuel seems to be a fluid (no pun intended) number, based upon exposure to temperature changes and its rapid biodegradation when exposed to the environment. In a sealed can stored in a stable environment, its lifespan would seem to be nearly indefinite otherwise.

YMMV in Wyoming.