How do we distinguish pure fuel (alkanes) from fuel having impurities?
Blue flame without soot
Pure fuel usually burns with a blue flame whereas fuels having impurities could end up with a mix of blue or yellow flames or sometimes only yellow flame. The color of a flame depends on the material being burned. There are lots of fuels that will produce blue flames when burned; the most commonly available one in the household is natural gas. Some flames are yellow because of the presence of a small amount of sodium atoms in the fuel. Blue flame also signifies the complete combustion and that can happen only with pure form of fuel.