Distillate fuel, also called tractor fuel, was a petroleum product that was commonly used to power North American agricultural tractors from the early and mid-20th century. The product was crudely refined, akin to kerosene chemically, but impure.
North American distillate is broadly described as a fuel with heavier molecular weight than gasoline, and similar to or lighter than kerosene or No. 1 fuel oil. However, both usage of the term and formulation of the product varied widely. Octane ratings varied similarly, between 33 and 45. [1] [2]
Early railroad motor cars and tractors were offered with kerosene or gasoline-powered engines. Beginning in 1925, distillate-powered versions were offered, persisting until 1956, when the last "all-fuel" tractors were sold, while diesel-fueled tractors increased in popularity. Kerosene-engined tractors were phased out by 1934. Distillate fuel was used in machines with specific provisions for distillate, as well as all-fuel tractors which could handle kerosene, gasoline or distillate. Tractors designed for distillate could operate on gasoline, and were usually started with gasoline, but since they operated at a much lower compression ratio than gasoline-engined models, they developed less power on gasoline, and had to be warmed up with the more easily-volatilized gasoline before they could switch to distillate. Compression ratios for distillate could be about 4.7:1, while gasoline engines would run at 7:1 or more. Such machines were provided with small gasoline tanks for starting and warming up. However, distillate was often substantially less expensive than gasoline in farming regions, either because it was a less-refined product or because it was taxed at a lower rate or untaxed. "Power fuel" was a higher grade product that was somewhat short of gasoline in effectiveness. [1] [3]
Distillate was withdrawn from the market as cheaper and higher-grade gasoline and diesel fuels reached the markets. In time, "distillate" came to describe lighter fractions of diesel and fuel oil, with "No. 1 distillate" and "No. 2 distillate" referring to the lighter fractions of both products, albeit with different characteristics between fuel oil and diesel fuel. [4]
The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values.
Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from Greek: κηρός (kērós) meaning "wax", and was registered as a trademark by Nova Scotia geologist and inventor Abraham Gesner in 1854 before evolving into a generic trademark. It is sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage.
Gasoline or petrol is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When formulated as a fuel for engines, gasoline is chemically composed of organic compounds derived from the fractional distillation of petroleum and later chemically enhanced with gasoline additives. It is a high-volume profitable product produced in crude oil refineries.
Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil or historically heavy oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and then injection of fuel. Therefore, diesel fuel needs good compression ignition characteristics.
RP-1 (alternatively, Rocket Propellant-1 or Refined Petroleum-1) is a highly refined form of kerosene outwardly similar to jet fuel, used as rocket fuel. RP-1 provides a lower specific impulse than liquid hydrogen (H2), but is cheaper, is stable at room temperature, and presents a lower explosion hazard. RP-1 is far denser than H2, giving it a higher energy density (though its specific energy is lower). RP-1 also has a fraction of the toxicity and carcinogenic hazards of hydrazine, another room-temperature liquid fuel.
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum. Such oils include distillates and residues. Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), furnace oil (FO), gas oil (gasoil), heating oils, diesel fuel, and others.
Natural-gas condensate, also called natural gas liquids, is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields. Some gas species within the raw natural gas will condense to a liquid state if the temperature is reduced to below the hydrocarbon dew point temperature at a set pressure.
Liquid fuels are combustible or energy-generating molecules that can be harnessed to create mechanical energy, usually producing kinetic energy; they also must take the shape of their container. It is the fumes of liquid fuels that are flammable instead of the fluid. Most liquid fuels in widespread use are derived from fossil fuels; however, there are several types, such as hydrogen fuel, ethanol, and biodiesel, which are also categorized as a liquid fuel. Many liquid fuels play a primary role in transportation and the economy.
Crack spread is a term used on the oil industry and futures trading for the differential between the price of crude oil and petroleum products extracted from it. The spread approximates the profit margin that an oil refinery can expect to make by "cracking" the long-chain hydrocarbons of crude oil into useful shorter-chain petroleum products.
Tractor vaporising oil (TVO) is a fuel for petrol-paraffin engines. It is seldom made or used today. In the United Kingdom and Australia, after the Second World War, it was commonly used for tractors until diesel engines became commonplace, especially from the 1960s onward. In Australian English it was known as power kerosene.
The hot-bulb engine, also known as a semi-diesel, is a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignites by coming in contact with a red-hot metal surface inside a bulb, followed by the introduction of air (oxygen) compressed into the hot-bulb chamber by the rising piston. There is some ignition when the fuel is introduced, but it quickly uses up the available oxygen in the bulb. Vigorous ignition takes place only when sufficient oxygen is supplied to the hot-bulb chamber on the compression stroke of the engine.
A carbureted compression ignition model engine, popularly known as a model diesel engine, is a simple compression ignition engine made for model propulsion, usually model aircraft but also model boats. These are quite similar to the typical glow-plug engine that runs on a mixture of methanol-based fuels with a hot wire filament to provide ignition. Despite their name, their use of compression ignition, and the use of a kerosene fuel that is similar to diesel, model diesels share very little with full-size diesel engines.
The Hesselman engine is a hybrid between a petrol engine and a diesel engine. It was designed and introduced in 1925 by Swedish engineer Jonas Hesselman.
The Allis-Chalmers D series is a line of tractors made by the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company from 1957 to 1969.
The Standard wet liner inline-four engine was an inline four cylinder petrol engine produced by the Standard Motor Company. Originally developed concurrently for passenger car use and for the Ferguson TE20 tractor, it was widely used for Standard passenger cars of the 1950s, most notably the Vanguard. Later it was successfully used in Standard's popular early generation Triumph TR series sports cars.
Petroleum refining processes are the chemical engineering processes and other facilities used in petroleum refineries to transform crude oil into useful products such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline or petrol, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil and fuel oils.
A petrol-paraffin engine, TVO engine or gasoline-kerosene engine is an old-fashioned type of dual-fuel internal combustion engine with spark-ignition, designed to start on petrol (gasoline) and then to switch to run on paraffin (kerosene) once the engine is warm. The grade of paraffin used is known as tractor vaporising oil in the UK.
The Oliver 70 series of row-crop tractors was a series of large agricultural tractors produced from 1935 to 1967 by the Oliver Farm Equipment Company. Oliver tractors were known for their powerful engines compared to competitors, and their attention to styling. The Oliver Hart-Parr 70 marked the beginning of a strikingly-styled series of tractors that were produced under both the Oliver and the Cockshutt names. Oliver's emphasis on styling strongly influenced offerings by competing brands such as Farmall and John Deere.
The Oliver 60 series of row-crop tractors was a product line of agricultural tractors produced from 1940 to 1964 by the Oliver Farm Equipment Company. The 60 series was a four-cylinder follow-on to the six-cylinder Oliver 70. As the 70 was outsold by the less-expensive Farmall A, Allis-Chalmers Model B and John Deere Model B, Oliver introduced the 60 to compete.
The Oliver 80 row-crop tractors was a model of agricultural tractors produced from 1938 to 1963 by the Oliver Farm Equipment Company. The model 80 was a development of the Oliver Hart-Parr industrial tractor, for agricultural use. The initial 80 was rated for three 14-inch plows, making it a medium-sized tractor. By the time the Super 88 development was introduced, it was rated for six plow bottoms, making it a heavy tractor.