Fuel oil

From Freepedia

Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation.

Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash point of approximately 100 °F (about 40 °C) and oils burned in cotton or wool-wick burners. The oil may be a distillated fraction of a crude petroleum, a residuum from refinery operations, or a blend of these [1]. In this sense, diesel oil is a type of fuel oil.

Fuel oil is classified into six classes, according to its boiling temperature, composition and purpose. No. 1 fuel oil and No. 2 fuel oil are referred to as distillate fuel oils, while No. 4 fuel oil, No. 5 fuel oil and No. 6 fuel oil are labelled residual fuel oils. No. 6 fuel oil is sometimes referred to as Bunker C.

Factually and in a stricter sense, the term fuel oil is used to indicate the heaviest commercial fuel that can be obtained from crude oil, heavier than gasoline and naphtha. In this stricter and more commercial sense:

  • no. 1 fuel oil is kerosene
  • no. 2 fuel oil is diesel oil
  • no. 4, 5 and 6 fuel oils are proper fuel oils [2].

As a fuel, it is mainly used for ship propulsion and heating. In the maritime field another type of classification is used for fuel oils (including diesel):

The boiling temperature of fuel oil (properly said) ranges from 370 to 600 °C. It is made of long hydrocarbon chains (from 20 to 70 carbon atoms), particularly alkanes, cycloalkanes and aromatics [3].

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Fuel oil is transported using fuel oil barges and pipelines.

Major physical supply chains are centered around the Rhine, Germany.

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