Please answer only if you have actual knowledge or have advanced degree in chemistry. Please list in order from strongest to weakest: paint thinner, lacquer thinner, gasoline, acetone, kerosene, disel fuel, jet fuel. I'm trying to determine what is the best way to clean the fuel system in my old chevy truck that run on high octane gas, and an old disel tractor that has been sitting idle for more than a year old. Thank you.
2007-07-07 00:40:11 · 2 answers · asked by Maikah 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
The best solvent for the job depends on what's in the gunk you want to clean out. If it's residue that wasn't soluble in the gasoline or diesel fuel you put into your tank in the first place, cleaning out your fuel lines with the same stuff that left it there won't do much good. Everything in your list, except for acetone, is some kind of chain hydrocarbon, and they vary in their degrees of viscosity (I think jet fuel may be the highest viscosity). Acetone, on the other hand, is a polar organic solvent that is good for dissolving polar and non-polar materials.
Actually, if you can flush out your system, I'd start out with water, then methanol, then acetone. Short of going crazy with pipe cleaners, that'll probably be your best bet. Oh, and I'd finish it off with whatever fuel you plan on using. No matter what it is, it will be miscible with acetone, so you don't have to worry about any residues of that sticking around.
2007-07-07 16:16:37 · answer #1 · answered by Art V 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The thinner the compound (less viscosity) better is it as a solvent.
2007-07-07 13:39:53 · answer #2 · answered by ag_iitkgp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋