The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-03-11
COAL OIL.
Conditions of ExpIOsI0ns-Fire Test
When there is Danger-High Test

| When there rs OehSer-hiShf ICE
Oils.
A correspondent of the st, Louis Repub
lican, who is evidently posted fully IN tn
matter of coal-ods, gives valuable lnforma
ton for every person who has occasion t
/ buy refined petroleum and its products 70
| Illuminating purposes. We copy the mos
interesting portion of his communication
Everything made from petroleum is men
toned in this market as ''eoal oil, though
the term Is little used IN other markets, ant
hence coal oil is saddled with the blame o
every accident or fire that occurs, whether
| from refined oil, or its refuse, naptha anC
gasoline. Your article fails into the com
mon error of attributing to coal oil what il
true only of naptha or gasoline.
In refining crude petroleum volatile
| fiery element is run off In the form of 6
vapor, and condensed into a liquid. The
refined oil remaining is thereby given &
'sfire-test" The hghtest in decsity of this
volatile LIQUID is known as gasoline, and
ranges in gravity from say "a to So degrees
The lowest gravity commonly scld as so q
81 degrees. and is known as naptha or ben
zine About fifteen per cent of these light
liquids is obtained in the refining process.
The IS degrees gravity gasoline is used ir
t1gas machines, " and several houses in this
city are thus lighted. 1t is the safest way
to use it, and yet it has been known to blow
up house, through defective meter, as
any gas may do. The "a degrees gravity is
used IN portable gas lamps. NaPtha of
IS deg. gravity is used in common lamps,
under the disguise of 'tAurora Oil, "Petro
Oil, "Petroline, DC. Other gravities are
used by painters, and for various CONNER
cial purposes. 1t is claimed by the owners
of these patent light coils" that some chem
ical ingredient is put in them that takes
away their explosive quality, but chemists
pronounce the claim impossible. They are
all intensely infiammab e, having no fire.
test, and cannot be manipulated without
danger of catching fire. There is penum-
bra vapor always on the surface, and escap-
ing, so that it is not necessary for Light
to come in actual contact; and when can
is left open it will i'll room with an ex-
plosive gas. These tfoils" are dear at any
price.
Refined coal or carbon oil, having been
freed of these volatile fluids, has fire
test, and is made TO stand all the way
from 10 degrees Fahrenheit, which is New
York test. to 100 degrees, the choicest oil
made. None is Intentionally made below
100 degrees test. By '.fre test" we mean
the degree of heat necessary to be given the
oil before IT will ignite and continue to burn
on applying lighted match. The vapor-
izing point is the degree at which it will
emit tapor, which will simply fash, but
not continue to burn on applying match.
The writer has never seen any coal oil in
this market, in the hands of wholesale deal
ers, that would ignite, even on plunging a
lighted match into it. At ordinary tenn
perature, 100 or ITO degrees, test oil even
will put out lighted match when applied.
as If water, and will do it as often
as applied, until the oil has thereby been
heated to its 'vaporizing point, which is
10 to Is deg. below its fire test 1t will
then, in an open vessel simply flash and go
out. Hence carbon oil of 10 deg test is
handled with perfect safety. 1t set on fire
by retailers or servants, it must be from
gross carelessness. Many ridicule this as
sumption, but as any man or woman can
try the harmless experiment by putting a
lighted match into cupful, there is no
use of ffoolishly arguing against a state
ment so easily verified. Ifit should ignite,
it is not even 100 deg. test oil, and should
be discarded. Oil is refined to attain this
very end.
Now, it will be asked, if coal oil OF ITO
deg. fire test, will not emit vapor under
say 80 deg. to 110 deg. temperature, whence
the recent explosion, and explosions else
where? 1t must be presumed that the tenn
perature of the oil in the lamps, from the
warmth of the room, and the internal radi-
alton of heat from the burner, must have
been above its vaporizing point, say 80 deg.
and it is possible for it 20 rise above 100
deg. Yet unless air and fire combine no
d.
combination will, or does sometimes occur,
and hence the writer holds that ITO deg.
oil is not absolutely safe, in every kind OF
burner, handled byevery kind of servants,
and in the hot months, the fire test should
be at least ten degrees higher to be entire
" safe.
But if people want a better oil, and are
willing to pay for it, they can get it. A
pure white oil of 160 to 100 degrees fire
test, is, and can be had for 60c by the five
gallons. Such an oil will not emit yapor
under 140 to US degree temperature, a de-
gree of heat never given the oil in any
lamp while burning and hence must be ab-
solutely safe against any contingencies that
causes explosions. 1t is also secure against
accidents that happen from tipping over
lamps and spilling out oil. 1t should be
more genelally useu. AS chedp llSHl is
such an oil gives, at 60 cents, any man
having visible means of support can afford
to buy.
1t is asked: Why such variance in the
inspection by different inspectors? First
there is difference in the thermometers
used; second, the bulb of the thermometer
may be immersed by one inspector lower
in the Gil than by another. and unless the
oil be heated slowly and allowed toperfect-
ly equalize in temperature, a marked yari-
ance in first test will appear. 1t is very
easy to so heat the oil and adjust the ther-
mometer as to make difference of ten,to
twenty five degrees, % t.f-s.. ----..,-