A while ago I decided to see how well Biodiesel would burn in one of our small wick style Biodiesel lamps. I loaded it up with Biodiesel, installed the wick, lit it up & let it burn.
My goal was to see how long it would go. Along the way I snapped several pictures of it.
I started burning the lamp at 1:50 pm and away we went!
3:44 pm and it was still burning really well and seemed to have barely used any fuel.
By 4:55 pm I could see that it had burned up about 1/4 to 1/5 of the fuel in the lamp but it was still burning great!
5:40 pm, roughly an hour later, it was still burning well but the flame had gotten slightly shorter. Fuel level still looked to be about 1/4 down.
6:11 pm and it’s still burning strong, fuel level was just below the 1/4 mark. At this point it’s been burning for about 5.5 hours.
7:34 pm rolls around and it’s still burning great!
8:06 pm, roughly 6 hours of burn time and it’s still burning quite well. We’re now a 1/4″ down from the 1/4 full mark.
9:51 pm, 8 hours from the time I started, and it’s still burning, but the flame is starting to get noticeably shorter nd the fuel level is nearing 1/2 full.
10:50 pm, a full 9 hours of burn time, and the flame is starting to dwindle. It’s looking more like a small candle flame at this point and the fuel level is nearing ever closer to the 1/2 full mark.
At this point, I put the flame out & called it a success! The flame burned a full 9 hours without any problems at all.
Things noted:
Little to no smoke:
– The lamp burned VERY clean and produced zero smoke! There was a slight smell emanating from it, but nothing stronger than say what a candle might smell like.
– I repeated the same experiment using kerosene in the lamp and the smoke & smell were so bad that I immediately had to move it outside.
Long Burn Time
The lamp easily burned for a good, solid 9 hours. I’m guessing Kerosene would probably burn equally as long, but it would’ve made a much bigger mess & left a nasty smell in the room
Bad Wicking At Half-Way
After the fuel level was down to 1/2 way, I noticed that the Biodiesel had a pretty hard time wicking on the wick and my flame size dropped down quite a bit. Also, due to the lack of wicking happening, I noticed that my wick was starting to burn up as well.
Overall, the test was a success. It showed that Biodiesel can definitely burn well in a wicking lamp, however, the fuel level has to be watched if you want a decent sized flame. Pretty neat stuff!
Pingback: Can You Make Kerosene At Home? | With 3 Alternatives – Survival Freedom