09-10-2006, 01:51 PM
That may simply be a comment on the energy content and density Jim- the same kind of thing as the fact that alcohol (ethanol) contains more energy, biologically-speaking, than does sugar (glucose). The statement is 'per unit VOLUME'- coal is porous, olive oil is liquid, so there's a lot more oil in a given volume (coal coke is even more porous, thus less dense). I use olive oil in my little lamps but the flame it produces isn't particularly hot- no more so than that of a wax candle. And being a liquid, certainly there's no easy way to pass air through it to the flame to raise the temperature as one does with a bed of coal or charcoal- so it's not exactly suitable for a forge :wink:
Just FYI, I found that various seed oils (sunflower, soybean, sesame, corn, cotton, rapseed and peanut- curiously no listing for olive oil) all have a very similar heating value averaging 39.6MJ/kg (range from 39.2-39.8 ), whereas coal has a rating of 24MJ/kg and coke 29.6 MJ/kg. So the oils do indeed win out by 1.65x.
Just FYI, I found that various seed oils (sunflower, soybean, sesame, corn, cotton, rapseed and peanut- curiously no listing for olive oil) all have a very similar heating value averaging 39.6MJ/kg (range from 39.2-39.8 ), whereas coal has a rating of 24MJ/kg and coke 29.6 MJ/kg. So the oils do indeed win out by 1.65x.
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