TVO Fuel information and substitute
PAForbes
in touch with BP again, as already advised, and now have the following
information which was supplied by two very helpful ladies at BP Oil UK:
1) TVO was apparently an Esso trademark, although most of the fuel companies
used it as a generic name.
2) Specifications were close to each other within the UK suppliers, and some
was supplied from a common processing point.
3) BP South Africa were still marketing a product called 'Power Paraffin' as
late as 1995, which had the following characteristics:
Octane No (Motor) 65
Flash Point 37 Deg C
Colour Green
Gross Calorific Value 37.1 MJ/litre
Net Calorific Value 34.5 MJ/litre
A working substitute can be made from mixing heating oil (28 or 32 second) and
petrol in a 9/1 ratio of heating oil to petrol. It must be well mixed, and used
fairly quickly as the petrol will evaporate off if left standing in vented
containers.
A lot of this information was made available to BP by a chap named Raymond
Wainwright, who coincidentally lives only a few miles north of Luton. Ray was
in South Africa on business when he came across the Power Paraffin product
there, and asked BP Oil UK if they would consider importation. I do not have
their response, but would imaging that it was negative.
There was not much else available from the other companies I contacted, and as
usual it was the personal endeavours of the two BP ladies that turned up the
information, my thanks to Rita Gibson and Stephanie Harper.
Regards, Peter
Peter Forbes Home Fax: +44 (0)1933 355557 Work Fax +44 (0)1582 416000