Okay, I know that they’re almost the same thing, but I was reading a newspaper article tonight and it said that the current price of jet fuel was $1.40/gal. So why the heck did I pay $1.79 for kerosene the last time I bought some for my heater? And what would happen if I put jet fuel in my kerosene heater? (Not that I have any intention of doing this, I’m just curious.)
The most common jet fuel is type Jet-A which is mostly purified, filtered kerosene with a few additives to enhance combustion.
From the Chevron Jet-A MSDS:
Because jet fuel is sold to airports & airlines the same way gasoline is, by the thousands of gallons. Its a commodity.
Kerosene sold by stores (or gas stations) for space heaters is just a little side business so the markup is higher.
I work at a gerneral aviation facility and we run Jet A in the running tanks of our fuel trucks, some of which are over 30 years old and running strong. By the way, we charge in the nieghborhood of $3.60 for a gallon of Jet A (dispenced into an aircraft, of course) As far as I can tell, Jet A can be used anywhere diesel/kero is used.
Except there ARE additives in Jet A that are toxic to humans. Not such an issue in a fuel truck, which, like the jets, are run outside and are thus “well ventilated”. Running it in something like a space heater could be a problem.