Combustible vs Flammable

[TomC]

Just in case some don't know the difference, Combustible lights off with heat, Flammable lights off with a spark or flame.  Hence-that's why a gasoline engine and Diesel engine cannot mix fuels.
Some examples of combustible fuels-Diesel, Kerosene, Vegetable oils, any fluid with a flash temperature of around 800 degrees.
Some examples of flammable fuels-Gasoline, Kerosene, Propane, Natural Gas, Butane, Methane, Acetylene, etc.

As stated in another thread, you can run propane or natural gas in your bus engine using the Diesel fuel as a spark plug.  It can be injected into the intake air and since it is flammable, it will not ignite until the Diesel fuel is injected lighting it off.  Good Luck, TomC

[wal1809]

Caught you looking into alternative fuels

[belfert]

Tom is a Freightliner truck salesman so his customers are probably looking for alternative fuels with the the cost of diesel.  I think Tom said he has sold some natural gas powered vehicles.

[Iceni John]

Tom, I assume you meant that kerosene is combustible, not flammable.   Aren't kerosene and diesel fairly similar in their combustability?   Last weekend I was dry-camping in the desert where I used my kerosene camping stoves and kerosene-fueled Coleman mantle lantern:  I have to use a priming liquid or paste in them before their burners get hot enough to correctly vaporise the fuel.   There's no way I can start them otherwise!

Just what is the difference between flammable and inflammable?

John

[Lee Bradley]

By DOT regulation Combustible is material with a flash point between 100 and 200 degrees F; Flammable is material with a flash point below 100 degrees F. However because EPA rules identify 'ignitable' as material with a flash point below 141 degrees F, the DOT has added a Flammable class for 'bulk' (that is containers greater than 110 gallons) of material with a flash point of 140 degrees F. It almost matches the EPA but that is government agencies for you. Makes writing load manifests/bills of laden and placarding so interesting. Add in UN, IMSO, and air cargo regulations .... I'm very happy to be out of that business.

[belfert]

Tom, I assume you meant that kerosene is combustible, not flammable.   Aren't kerosene and diesel fairly similar in their combustability?   Last weekend I was dry-camping in the desert where I used my kerosene camping stoves and kerosene-fueled Coleman mantle lantern:  I have to use a priming liquid or paste in them before their burners get hot enough to correctly vaporise the fuel.   There's no way I can start them otherwise!

A coleman kerosene stove and lantern?  Are you sure they don't use white gas?  The white gas stuff we have to use priming paste when it gets around zero degrees.

[Lee Bradley]

Inflammable was the old DOT/ICC designation for Combustible. In normal English, Inflammable would mean not flammable. The director of the DOT (some years ago) had a head-on photo of a tractor/trailer tanker fully engulfed in flames but still visible was the yellow front bumper with 'INFLAMMABLE' in black letters. Inflammable no longer appears in the DOT regulations (49 CFR).  

[Iceni John]

A coleman kerosene stove and lantern?  Are you sure they don't use white gas?  The white gas stuff we have to use priming paste when it gets around zero degrees.

Nope, they're definitely not "white gas"!   I bought the stoves for worldwide use  -  kerosene is the most universally-available fuel once you're off the beaten track.   Ever try finding naptha ("white gas") outside of North America?   One stove is a venerable brass Optimus 00, still going strong after forty years (and it was a museum piece when I bought it!), and the other is an Optimus Nova that will burn just about anything, and it's so small it fits in my hand.   The only reason I bought my Coleman kerosene lantern is to avoid needing two different fuels when I'm camping.   A gallon of kerosene from Home Despot is cheap and will last weeks.   I can also run the stoves off Jet A, diesel, heating oil, lamp oil, AvGas, automotive gasoline, naptha, Stoddard solvent, paint thinner, alcohol (if you're careful), methylated spirit, probably even brandy or moonshine!   The 00's jet needs to be cleaned more often on weird fuels, but the Nova has a self-cleaning magnetic jet (those Swedes are clever!)   They burn very hot, even at high altitude (the old 00 even boiled water at over 17,000 feet in Nepal), and they have never failed me once, ever, anywhere.

John

[luvrbus]

Coleman has a multi/fuel stove will burn anything

good luck

[Utahclaimjumper]

WATER??>>>D

[Len Silva]

Flammable and inflammable mean exactly the same thing.  Inflammable is the original word and probably more correct but has been modernized to flammable because of possible confusion.

From Wiki:
Flammable and inflammable are synonyms and mean capable of burning. The word "inflammable" came from Latin "'inflammāre" = "to set fire to," where the prefix "'in-"' means "in" as in "inside", rather than "not" as in "invisible" and "ineligible". Nonetheless, "inflammable" is often erroneously thought to mean "non-flammable". In the United States, this safety hazard is typically avoided by use of flammable, despite its not being the proper Latin-derived term, on warning labels referring to physical combustibility.

The antonym of flammable/inflammable is non-inflammable, incombustible or non-combustible

Don't y'all just love a smart @$#?

[Oonrahnjay]

Flammable and inflammable mean exactly the same thing.  Inflammable is the original word and probably more correct but has been modernized to flammable because of possible confusion.

From Wiki:
Flammable and inflammable are synonyms and mean capable of burning. The word "inflammable" came from Latin "'inflammāre" = "to set fire to," where the prefix "'in-"' means "in" as in "inside", rather than "not" as in "invisible" and "ineligible". Nonetheless, "inflammable" is often erroneously thought to mean "non-flammable". In the United States, this safety hazard is typically avoided by use of flammable, despite its not being the proper Latin-derived term, on warning labels referring to physical combustibility.

The antonym of flammable/inflammable is non-inflammable, incombustible or non-combustible

Don't y'all just love a smart @$#?

Irregardless of all this, I still don't understand the difference flammable and combustible