kerosene

The demand of kerosene in the domestic market will continue to increase in 1999 and the total amount will reach around 8.2 million tons. According to the data from the State Statistics Bureau, the kerosene output in domestic refineries was 773 500 tons in February, a rise of 4.45％ over the output in January. As a matter of fact, the crude oil processing amount in February was 4.43％ less than the amount in January, but due to the increase of the kerosene yield from 3.84％ to 4.2％ the kerosene output in February was up. The future of kerosene depends on the discovery of new applications as well as the development of new methods of production. New uses include increasing military demand for high grade kerosene to replace much of its diesel fuel with JP-8, which is a kerosene based jet fuel. The diesel fuel industry is also exploring a new process that involves adding kerosene to low sulfur diesel fuel to prevent it from gelling in cold weather. Commercial aviation may benefit by reducing the risk of jet fuel explosion by creating a new low-misting kerosene. In the residential sector, new and improved kerosene heaters that provide better protection from fire are anticipated to increase demand.