Is Kerosene (sometimes called paraffin in UK) corrosive?

Question

I read on Wikipedia:

'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.'

Now, that reads to me like distilled crude oil kersosene has some corrosive properties. But that doesn't make sense! It could be a bit of a pain in metal fuel tanks!!!! Please, someone set me straight.

Answer 1

No the problem with kerosene, paraffin, petrole, is that it supports corrosion or rusting. It is also known to have particles in it like sand.
As such it does not corrode in itself but I gather that is also likely to be hygroscopic.
The above is the reason that car part washers should be used with care on parts that are being stored. Oil the parts well after cleaning. I personally wash bits in diesel as there is no sand or rust supporting elements in it.

Answer 2

Wowage! This is an excellent question. If there is sulfur in the kerosene, then in the presence of water it would form sulfuric acid. Water in itself is corrosive to unprotected ferric metals (iron). There is a possibility that the water would get into the tank of kerosene due to condensation.
To allay your concerns somewhat, I have a lot of very old kerosene fired equipment around and have no problems with tank corrosion, even on some lanterns which date back to the 1880's. One of these lived in a barn for most of its life. If these have not rusted out, the chances are that if you maintain the equipment by keeping the water out of it and using the kero out of it on a regular basis, it will last a long time. The kerosine has rust prevention qualities which probably will offset the corrosive qualities of the sulfur..

Answer 3

Essentially, the answer is NO.

The nature of being corrosive can be read to mean that a substance is acidic, ( lower end of the Ph scale,) or caustic, which is on the opposite end of that scale.

Kerosene is usually only mildly acidic (5.2 to 5.8 Ph) and that would not harm a metal fuel tank.

A type of kerosene is used for jet aircaft, called Jet "A", . It is a liquid kerosene, but it is a higher grade than you would buy at a retail outlet.

Kerosene does not mix with water, so only the water itself would harm the fuel tank, by causing rust.

Answer 4

Same stuff unless you're American. Their name for paraffin is kerosene. I think paraffin is something else in the USA (they're like that). As long as the flame is buring clean and not yellow you should be ok regarding carbon monoxide. But you must have good ventilation in the room because the heater uses oxygen as it burns. If you use it in a near-airtight room then the oxygen level in the room will go down and the heater's exhaust (mostly CO2 and water) will increase. This DOES cause headaches and drowsiness which can become serious if not relieved by increasing ventilation. For peace of mind get a Carbon Monoxide detector. They're available from most hardware shops for a few ££.

Answer 5

The MSDS sheet for kero does not indicate that it is corrosive. PH is not applicable.

Water contamination is most likely to support corrosion. Bacteria living at the oil/water interface will feed on the oil and create bio mass that will clog filters. Also waste products of bacteria can shift PH of water thereby enhancing corrosive effects of H2O. Its possible that water in combination with sulfur products in fuel could create acidic conditions as well.

Keep the water out of the fuel tanks...

Answer 6

Not in the same way that acid is corrosive. It would be impossible for you to use metal containers to store it if it was.
It is not a jelly either it is a highly inflammable liquid and apart from it's uses as a fuel it can also be used as a solvent.

Answer 7

hi...have worked with a different sort of kerosene...it is also used in the offshore oil exploration industry, in underwater electronics cables, to dampen down noise levels...and i found it 'was' corrosive to the skin especially...gives you nasty rashes and dermetitis...also found it corrosive to 'rubber'...makes it swell up and become soft, which then leads to it breaking down.

other than that, 'never' found it corrosive to the metal storage tanls we kept it in, nor to the 45 gallon steel drums they shipped it out to us...so, i wouldn't worry about a metal fuel tank at all.

Answer 8

Jet aircraft use kerosene for fuel but it is a jelly like substance and is heated to make it liquid so i am told.

Answer 9

it may only be corrosive to some materials. anyway acids must be very strong to corrode metal.

Answer 10

Don't know. What is Kerosene?