Mineral spirits in heated tank

[sbaker]

I have a two-tank WVO conversion and the WVO system is well heated. I happen to have a few gallons of used mineral spirits that I would like to mix with my WVO (maybe 5%).

Does anyone know if that's safe to do on a heated system? I'm worried that it might be too volatile for the heated system.

I prefer not to blend it for use in my primary tank.

Thanks for any advice,
Shane

[Clay Henry]

Mineral spirits! Are you kidding?

[sbaker]

I only considered it after reading about others using it to blend with VO (maybe even on this site) for use in their regular tank.

I take it that you think it's a bad idea .

[triplemoutdoors]

Most MS has a flashpoint of 148*. I would not do it.

[sbaker]

That's exactly what I was worried about. It's only about 5 gallons, I'll just find out how to properly dispose of it.

[sbaker]

I've done some research on this and thought I'd share what I learned in case anyone is interested.

The flash point of mineral spirits is actually lower than 148F. It's between 104F and 110F. But flash point is not the same as ignition temperature. Flash point is just the temperature at which a liquid can form an ignitable mixture in air. Put another way, its the lowest temperature at which the fuel can evaporate enough for produce a combustible vapor. But it has to be ignited by something else and, at this temperature, it may not continue to burn. The autoignition temperature is the lowest temperature at which the fuel can spontaneously ignite.

For comparison, below is the flash point and autoignition temperature of some common fuels:

Flash Point (degrees F) Ignition (degrees F)

Diesel 126-204 494
Kerosene 110-162 410
Mineral Spirits 104-110 473
Gasoline -45 536

I found some different numbers, but they were all pretty close to this. I read a couple of people that say that Diesel Secret is nothing more than mineral spirits.

This is the URL I got the numbers above from:

Fire and Arson Accelerants

[triplemoutdoors]

sbaker,

I understand...You were asking about putting MS in a heated WVO tank. If I were you I would stay away from that.

[AFBLUE]

Originally Posted by sbaker

below is the flash point and autoignition temperature of some common fuels:

Flash Point (degrees F) Ignition (degrees F)

Diesel 126-204 494
Kerosene 110-162 410
Mineral Spirits 104-110 473
Gasoline -45 536

Fire and Arson Accelerants

According to these #s it looks about as safe as kerosene is, I wouldnt use it as any kind of standard practice, but I think at very small dosage you can put it in your tank to get rid of it. But I would say for sure take a sample of WVO and mix it with the MS to make sure you dont get some type of Biodiesel reaction going on where its splitting the oil up.
Its not a good idea, but I know why you are doing it, with gas prices the way they are I have run into that same thought too "hell it'll burn might as well will throw it in my tank."

[AFBLUE]

I just thought of something what is the chemical different between MS and Acetone? Because I know people mix acetone with diesel or gas for mileage improvements.