Kerosene is an important petroleum product, used chiefly as fuel. Kerosene lamps were once a common form of artificial lighting. In the petroleum industry, kerosene is spelled kerosine.
Uses.
Kerosene’s greatest use is in jet aircraft engines. Commercial jet aircraft and many military aircraft use kerosene-type jet fuels. Kerosene supplies lighting and cooking fuel for people far from sources of electric power. It is also used as a fuel in some types of portable room heaters. Kerosene operates the electric generators that charge storage batteries on farms and in small villages. It is also used as a solvent for weedkillers and insecticides.
Properties.
Kerosene is a mixture of hydrocarbons, compounds containing the elements hydrogen and carbon. Aromatic hydrocarbons—molecules with alternating double carbon bonds—make up some of those compounds. Weedkillers and insecticides usually contain kerosene with a high aromatic hydrocarbon content. But in kerosene used for lighting, a lower content is desirable because aromatic hydrocarbons provide a poor flame and much smoke. Kerosene boils between 300 and 575 °F (150 and 300 °C). Its specific gravity (density relative to the density of water) is about 0.800.
Production.
Petroleum refining processes produce kerosene. Refiners then treat the kerosene to remove such impurities as sulfur compounds and some aromatic hydrocarbons. Refiners use liquid sulfur dioxide, amines, or other solvents to dissolve impurities. Refiners may also treat kerosene with hydrogen at high pressure to remove aromatic hydrocarbons. The United States produces millions of barrels of kerosene, and hundreds of millions of barrels of kerosene-type jet fuels, each year.
History.
Abraham Gesner, a Canadian doctor and geologist, patented a distilling process for refining oil in 1854. He produced an improved lighting oil which he called kerosene. He derived the name kerosene from the Greek word keros, which means wax. He refined the oil from coal, and for this reason kerosene was also called coal oil.
