I was watching one of Dave Canterbury's Youtube clips the other day and he was advocating the use of chaffing fuel because it has more heat energy than ethanol/methanol and is safer. That statement sounded fishy so I googled it.

Apparently, chaffing fuel if made of diethylene glycol has almost triple the heat energy of methanol (2155 kJ/mol vs. 726kJ/mol). Has anybody seen this product? (Magic Heat) It is NOT Sterno, which is jellied ethanol/methanol, but it does use a wick and is in a similar container.

Your opinions?

I see this all over the place, but I've never tried it. I always assumed it was another variant on Sterno (pass). If it's hotter, it might be worth a look.

In Canada, it appears to be stocked in Home Hardware stores. And I'm sure I've seen the refills at Canadian Tire. There seems to be a stove kit (pot stand and fuel can) available:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/SportsRec/Camping/PortableHeaters/PRD~0762103P/Emergency+Heat+Kit.jsp

Can diethylene glycol be purchased in a liquid form? I looked at some listings but couldn't tell.

Look at the first question on this FAQ page


http://www.hollowick.com/2012site/EasyFAQ.html

Hikin'Jim
Do you know anything about the use of diethylene glycol in non-traditional (think alcohol stove) burners?

Never seen the stuff, what brand is is, where is it found in WalMart, Home Depot, Smart n Final etc.

there appears to be some pretty serious health risks associated with diethylene glycol if ingested....

Ethylene glycol is usually used as antifreeze for car radiators

It is , shall we say , a "double alcohol" from chemical point of view.
Dr. Blast can educate us about that

Meanwhile , Wikipedia tells us this :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol

Well, it looks like diethylene glycol isn't necessarily safer than alcohol, just toxic in a different way. Instead of killing your retina, it kills your kidneys and some other important organs. Still, it can be used as a heat source and won't evaporate as quickly as alcohol.

not selling or anything-
http://www.scientificutility.com/prod_heat.htm

The large ones come with the vent/shield and the cross braces-

the smaller ones are just like sterno in shape.

rated run on stove is 8 hours; that is about what I got on my first one.

I have 4 sitting in my garage, and one in my carbox.

MUCH better than sterno- longer life, better design.

I think this one and the HEAT CELL brand are similar- found MSDS on heat cell via google http://www.heatcell.com/HEATCELLMSDS.pdf

HEAT CELL can actually be turned upside down and will not spill fuel- I have never tried this with Magic Stove......