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Kerosene or paraffin oil (British English, not to be confused with the waxy solid also called paraffin wax or just paraffin) is a colorless flammable hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek "keros" (κηρός wax). more...
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Kerosene releases heat when burned, making it useful as a fuel. Its heating value, or heat of combustion, is around 18,500 Btu/lb, or 43.1 MJ/kg, making it similar to that of diesel.
Distillation
Kerosene is obtained from the fractional distillation of petroleum at 150 °C and 275 °C (carbon chains from the C12 to C15 range).
Typically, kerosene directly distilled from crude oil requires some treatment, either in a Merox unit or a hydrotreater, to reduce its sulfur content and its corrosiveness. Kerosene can also be produced by a hydrocracker, which is used to upgrade the parts of crude oil that would otherwise only be good for fuel oil.
Kerosene was first refined from a naturally-occurring asphaltum called Albertite by Abraham Gesner in 1846, founding the modern petroleum industry in the process. Gesner went on to establish his Kerosene Gaslight Company to market kerosene around the world in 1850. Scottish chemist James Young built the first truly commercial oil-works in the world at Bathgate in 1851, using oil extracted from locally mined Torbanite, shale and bituminous coal. Polish chemist Ignacy Łukasiewicz discovered the means of refining kerosene from the less expensive seep oil in 1856. The widespread availability of cheaper kerosene was the principal factor in the precipitous decline in the whaling industry in the mid- to late 19th century, as the leading product of whaling was oil for lamps.
Uses
At one time it was widely used in kerosene lamps and lanterns. These were superseded by the electric light bulb and flashlights powered by dry cell batteries. Now it is mainly used in fuel for jet engines (more technically Avtur, Jet-A, Jet-A1, Jet-B, JP-4, JP-5, JP-7 or JP-8). A form of kerosene known as RP-1 is burned with liquid oxygen as rocket fuel. These fuel grade kerosenes meet specifications as to smoke points and freeze points.
In the early 1900's, kerosene was used as a cheap fuel for tractors. The engine would start on gasoline, then switch over to kerosene once the engine warmed up. A "heat valve" on the manifold would route the exhaust gasses around the intake pipe, heating the kerosene to the point where it can be ignited by a electrical spark.
It has been used to treat pools of standing water to prevent mosquitoes from breeding, notably in the yellow fever outbreak of 1905 in New Orleans.
Its use as a cooking fuel is mostly restricted to some portable stoves for backpackers and to less developed countries, where it is usually less refined and contains impurities and even debris. It can also be used to remove lice from hair, but this practice is painful and potentially very dangerous.
Read more at Wikipedia.org
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