What Is “Gelling”?

If you live in a cold climate like ours here in Rhode Island and have an outdoor heating oil tank, using common heating oil can cause a number of problems for your system.

That’s because when heating oil drops to a certain temperature, it begins to freeze – but unlike water, which freezes into a solid, heating oil simply thickens into a kind of sludge. This thickening is commonly called gelling or waxing.

Gelling can affect several your heating system in multiple ways – here are just some of the components in your system that can be compromised by thicker heating oil:

• Your heating oil tank — Heavier gelled oil settles to the bottom of your tank; as more oil settles, less interior tank space and less burnable oil remains.
• Your heating oil lines — As gelled oil is pumped through heating oil lines it builds on the walls, narrowing the passageway (sort of like a clogged artery). With less fuel reaching the igniter, efficiency suffers.
• Your atomizing nozzle — To burn, your heating oil must first be vaporized – a process that occurs in the atomizing nozzle. Although the atomizing nozzle is very small, it is designed to allow heating oil to pass through. Gelled fuel, however, will block that nozzle, allowing less oil through to convert to heat.
• Your fuel filter — As gelled oil is forced through the filter, it clogs quickly and needs more frequent replacement.

Cold weather solution: Fuel additives from Vaughn Oil

If you have an outdoor heating oil tank – or if conditions subject your indoor heating oil tank to freezing temperatures – we highly recommend including a fuel additive to mix with your winter heating oil deliveries. A $15 bottle of anti-gelling additive will treat a full 275-gallon tank, offering an economical, efficient, and safe solution to fuel thickening.

Kerosene is also available as both a heating oil additive and as a standalone fuel for your mobile home or other outdoor heating application.

Need a gel-resistant additive for your outdoor oil tank or kerosene for your mobile home? Vaughn Oil delivers. Contact us today to learn more!