Kerosene lamps and cookstoves—The hazards of gasoline contamination
- Creators
-
Shepherd, Joseph E.
- Perez, Frank A.
Abstract
Gasoline contamination of kerosene has been implicated in accidental fires associated with the use of kerosene illumination lamps and cook stoves. We have investigated potential causes of accidental fires in lamps and lanterns filled with contaminated fuel through controlled tests using typical appliances and varying amounts of contamination. Studying reports of accidents, it is apparent that a common cause of fires is filling hot appliances that are in operation or close to an open flame. The role of contaminated fuel vapor in creating a hazardous situation is shown to be crucial. We evaluate miscibility assumptions and quantify the hazard through flashpoint measurements for mixtures of kerosene and gasoline as a function of the amount of gasoline (up to 10%). A simple model for predicting the flashpoint of an arbitrary mixture is presented.
Additional Information
© 2007 Elsevier Ltd. Received 7 March 2007, Revised 11 July 2007, Accepted 8 August 2007, Available online 17 September 2007. We thank Romy Parcons of Mobil Oil Micronesia for his work on the flash point measurements in Pohnpei. Dr. Eric Wintenberger carried out the flash point measurements and the GC-MS analysis was carried out by Kathia Devouge using instrumentation at the Environmental Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology. We thank the reviewers for their suggestions and bringing several important references to our attention.Attached Files
Accepted Version - KeroseneLampCookstove.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 105217
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20200902-124249116
- Created
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2020-09-09Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- GALCIT