Fuel oil is any of variousfractions obtained from thedistillation ofpetroleum (crude oil). Such oils includedistillates (the lighter fractions) andresidues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils includeheavy fuel oil (bunker fuel),marine fuel oil (MFO),furnace oil (FO),gas oil (gasoil),heating oils (such as home heating oil),diesel fuel, and others.
The termfuel oil generally includes anyliquid fuel that is burned in a furnace orboiler to generate heat (heating oils), or used in anengine to generate power (asmotor fuels). However, it does not usually include other liquid oils, such as those with aflash point of approximately 42 °C (108 °F), or oils burned in cotton- or wool-wick burners. In a stricter sense,fuel oil refers only to the heaviest commercial fuels that crude oil can yield, that is, those fuels heavier thangasoline (petrol) andnaphtha.
Fuel oil consists of long-chainhydrocarbons, particularlyalkanes,cycloalkanes, andaromatics. Small molecules, such as those inpropane, naphtha, gasoline, andkerosene, have relatively lowboiling points, and are removed at the start of thefractional distillation process. Heavier petroleum-derived oils likediesel fuel andlubricating oil are much less volatile and distill out more slowly.
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Oil has many uses; it heats homes and businesses and fuelstrucks,ships, and somecars. A small amount ofelectricity is produced by diesel, but it is morepolluting and more expensive thannatural gas. It is often used as a backup fuel forpeaking power plants in case the supply of natural gas is interrupted or as the main fuel for smallelectrical generators. In Europe, the use of diesel is generally restricted to cars (about 40%), SUVs (about 90%), and trucks and buses (over 99%). The market for home heating using fuel oil has decreased due to the widespread penetration ofnatural gas as well asheat pumps. However, it is very common in some areas, such as theNortheastern United States.
Residual fuel oil is less useful because it is soviscous that it has to be heated with a special heating system before use and it may contain relatively high amounts ofpollutants, particularlysulfur, which formssulfur dioxide upon combustion. However, its undesirable properties make it very cheap. In fact, it is the cheapest liquid fuel available. Since it requires heating before use, residual fuel oil cannot be used in road vehicles,boats or small ships, as the heating equipment takes up valuable space and makes the vehicle heavier. Heating the oil is also a delicate procedure, which is impractical on small, fast moving vehicles. However,power plants and large ships are able to use residual fuel oil.
Use of residual fuel oil was more common in the past. It poweredboilers,railroadsteam locomotives, andsteamships. Locomotives, however, have become powered by diesel or electric power; steamships are not as common as they were previously due to their higher operating costs (mostLNG carriers use steam plants, as "boil-off" gas emitted from the cargo can be used as a fuel source); and most boilers now useheating oil or natural gas. Some industrial boilers still use it and so do some old buildings, including inNew York City. In 2011 New York City estimated that the 1% of its buildings that burned fuel oils No. 4 and No. 6 were responsible for 86% of thesoot pollution generated by all buildings in the city. New York made the phase out of these fuel grades part of its environmental plan, PlaNYC, because of concerns for the health effects caused by fine particulates,[1] and all buildings using fuel oil No. 6 had been converted to less polluting fuel by the end of 2015.[2]
Residual fuel's use in electrical generation has also decreased. In 1973, residual fuel oil produced 16.8% of the electricity in the US. By 1983, it had fallen to 6.2%, and as of 2005[update], electricity production from all forms of petroleum, including diesel and residual fuel, is only 3% of total production.[citation needed] The decline is the result of price competition with natural gas and environmental restrictions on emissions. For power plants, the costs of heating the oil, extra pollution control and additional maintenance required after burning it often outweigh the low cost of the fuel. Burning fuel oil, particularly residual fuel oil, produces uniformly highercarbon dioxide emissions than natural gas.[3]
Heavy fuel oils continue to be used in the boiler "lighting up" facility in many coal-fired power plants. This use is approximately analogous to using kindling to start a fire. Without performing this act it is difficult to begin the large-scale combustion process.
The chief drawback to residual fuel oil is its high initial viscosity, particularly in the case of No. 6 oil, which requires a correctly engineered system for storage, pumping, and burning. Though it is still usually lighter than water (with a specific gravity usually ranging from 0.95 to 1.03) it is much heavier and more viscous than No. 2 oil, kerosene, or gasoline. No. 6 oil must, in fact, be stored at around 38 °C (100 °F) heated to 65–120 °C (149–248 °F) before it can be easily pumped, and in cooler temperatures it can congeal into a tarry semisolid. The flash point of most blends of No. 6 oil is, incidentally, about 65 °C (149 °F). Attempting to pump high-viscosity oil at low temperatures was a frequent cause of damage to fuel lines, furnaces, and related equipment which were often designed for lighter fuels.
For comparison,BS 2869 Class G heavy fuel oil behaves in similar fashion, requiring storage at 40 °C (104 °F), pumping at around 50 °C (122 °F) and finalizing for burning at around 90–120 °C (194–248 °F).
Most of the facilities which historically burned No. 6 or other residual oils were industrial plants and similar facilities constructed in the early or mid 20th century, or which had switched from coal to oil fuel during the same time period. In either case, residual oil was seen as a good prospect because it was cheap and readily available. Most of these facilities have subsequently been closed and demolished, or have replaced their fuel supplies with a simpler one such as gas or No. 2 oil. The high sulfur content of No. 6 oil—up to 3% by weight in some extreme cases—had a corrosive effect on many heating systems (which were usually designed without adequate corrosion protection in mind), shortening their lifespans and increasing the polluting effects. This was particularly the case in furnaces that were regularly shut down and allowed to go cold, because the internal condensation producedsulfuric acid.
Environmental cleanups at such facilities are frequently complicated by the use ofasbestos insulation on the fuel feed lines. No. 6 oil is very persistent, and does not degrade rapidly. Its viscosity and stickiness also make remediation of underground contamination very difficult, since these properties reduce the effectiveness of methods such asair stripping.
When released into water, such as a river or ocean, residual oil tends to break up into patches or tarballs – mixtures of oil and particulate matter such as silt and floating organic matter – rather than form a single slick. An average of about 5-10% of the material will evaporate within hours of the release, primarily the lighter hydrocarbon fractions. The remainder will then often sink to the bottom of the water column.
Because of the low quality of bunker fuel, when burnt it is especially harmful to the health of humans, causing serious illnesses and deaths. Prior to the IMO's 2020 sulfur cap, shipping industry air pollution was estimated to cause around 400,000 premature deaths each year, from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, as well as 14 million childhood asthma cases each year.[4]
Even after the introduction of cleaner fuel rules in 2020, shipping air pollution is still estimated to account for around 250,000 deaths each year, and around 6.4 million childhood asthma cases each year.
The hardest hit countries by air pollution from ships are China, Japan, the UK, Indonesia, and Germany. In 2015, shipping air pollution killed an estimated 20,520 people in China, 4,019 people in Japan, and 3,192 people in the UK.[5]
According to an ICCT study, countries located on major shipping lanes are particularly exposed, and can see shipping account for a high percentage of overall deaths from transport sector air pollution. In Taiwan, shipping accounts for 70% of all transport-attributable air pollution deaths in 2015, followed by Morocco at 51%, Malaysia and Japan both at 41%, Vietnam at 39%, and the UK at 38%.[5]
As well as commercial shipping, cruise ships also emit large amounts of air pollution, damaging people's health. Up to 2019, it was reported that the ships of the single largest cruise company,Carnival Corporation & plc, emitted ten times more sulfur dioxide than all of Europe's cars combined.[6]
Although the following trends generally hold true, different organizations may have different numerical specifications for the six fuel grades. The boiling point andcarbon chain length of the fuel increases with fuel oil number.Viscosity also increases with number, and the heaviest oil must be heated for it to flow. Price usually decreases as the fuel number increases.[7]
Number 1 fuel oil is a volatile distillate oil intended for vaporizing pot-type burners and high-performance/clean diesel engines.[8] It is thekerosene refinery cut that boils off immediately after the heavy naphtha cut used forgasoline. This fuel is commonly known asdiesel no. 1,kerosene, andjet fuel. Former names include: coal oil, stove oil, and range oil.[7]
Number 2 fuel oil is a distillate homeheating oil.[8] Trucks and some cars use similardiesel no. 2 with acetane number limit describing the ignition quality of the fuel. Both are typically obtained from the light gas oil cut. The namegasoil refers to the original use of this fraction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—the gas oil cut was used as an enriching agent for carbureted water gasmanufacture.[7]
Number 3 fuel oil was a distillate oil for burners requiring low-viscosity fuel. ASTM merged this grade into the number 2 specification, and the term has been rarely used since the mid-20th century.[8]
Number 4 fuel oil is a commercial heating oil for burner installations not equipped with preheaters.[8] It may be obtained from the heavy gas oil cut.[7] This fuel is sometimes known by the Navy specification ofBunker A.
Number 5 fuel oil is a residual-type industrial heating oil requiring preheating to 77–104 °C (171–219 °F) for proper atomization at the burners.[8] It may be obtained from the heavy gas oil cut,[7] or it may be a blend of residual oil with enough number 2 oil to adjust viscosity until it can be pumped without preheating.[8] This fuel is sometimes known by the Navy specification ofBunker B.
Number 6 fuel oil is a high-viscosity residual oil requiring preheating to 104–127 °C (219–261 °F). Residual means the material remaining after the more valuable cuts of crude oil have boiled off. The residue may contain various undesirable impurities, including 2% water and 0.5%mineral oil. This fuel may be known as residual fuel oil (RFO), by the Navy specification ofBunker C, or by the Pacific Specification of PS-400.[8]
The British Standard BS 2869,Fuel Oils for Agricultural, Domestic and Industrial Engines, specifies the following fuel oil classes:
| Class | Type | Min. kinematic viscosity | Max. kinematic viscosity | Min. flash point | Max. sulfur content | Alias |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Distillate | — | — | 43 °C | 0.040 % (m/m) | Paraffin |
| C2 | Distillate | 1.000 mm2/s at 40 °C | 2.000 mm2/s at 40 °C | 38 °C | 0.100 % (m/m) | Kerosene, 28-second oil |
| A2 | Distillate | 2.000 mm2/s at 40 °C | 5.000 mm2/s at 40 °C | > 55 °C | 0.001 % (m/m) | low-sulfur gas oil,ULSD |
| D | Distillate | 2.000 mm2/s at 40 °C | 5.000 mm2/s at 40 °C | > 55 °C | 0.100 % (m/m) | Gas oil,red diesel, 35-second oil |
| E | Residual | — | 8.200 mm2/s at 100 °C | 66 °C | 1.000 % (m/m) | Light fuel oil, LFO, 250-second oil |
| F | Residual | 8.201 mm2/s at 100 °C | 20.000 mm2/s at 100 °C | 66 °C | 1.000 % (m/m) | Medium fuel oil, MFO, 1000-second oil |
| G | Residual | 20.010 mm2/s at 100 °C | 40.000 mm2/s at 100 °C | 66 °C | 1.000 % (m/m) | Heavy fuel oil, HFO, 3500-second oil |
| H | Residual | 40.010 mm2/s at 100 °C | 56.000 mm2/s at 100 °C | 66 °C | 1.000 % (m/m) | — |
Class C1 and C2 fuels are kerosene-type fuels. C1 is for use in flueless appliances (e.g.lamps). C2 is for vaporizing or atomizing burners in appliances connected to flues.
Class A2 fuel is suitable for mobile,off-road applications that are required to use asulfur-free fuel. Class D fuel is similar to Class A2 and is suitable for use in stationary applications, such as domestic, commercial, and industrial heating. The BS 2869 standard permits Class A2 and Class D fuel to contain up to 7% (V/V)biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester, FAME), provided the FAME content meets the requirements of the BS EN 14214 standard.
Classes E to H are residual oils for atomizing burners serving boilers or, with the exception of Class H, certain types of larger combustion engines. Classes F to H invariably require heating prior to use; Class E fuel may require preheating, depending on ambient conditions.
Mazut is a residual fuel oil often derived from Russian petroleum sources and is either blended with lighter petroleum fractions or burned directly in specialized boilers and furnaces. It is also used as a petrochemical feedstock. In the Russian practice, though, "mazut" is an umbrella term roughly synonymous with the fuel oil in general, that covers most of the types mentioned above, except US grades 1 and 2/3, for which separate terms exist (kerosene anddiesel fuel/solar oil respectively — Russian practice doesn't differentiate between diesel fuel and heating oil). This is further separated in two grades, "naval mazut" being analogous to US grades 4 and 5, and "furnace mazut", a heaviest residual fraction of the crude, almost exactly corresponding to US Number 6 fuel oil and further graded by viscosity and sulfur content.
In themaritime field another type of classification is used for fuel oils:
Marine diesel oil contains some heavy fuel oil, unlike regular diesels.
CCAI andCII are two indexes which describe the ignition quality of residual fuel oil, and CCAI is especially often calculated for marine fuels. Despite this, marine fuels are still quoted on the international bunker markets with their maximum viscosity (which is set by the ISO 8217 standard - see below) due to the fact that marine engines are designed to use different viscosities of fuel.[9] The unit of viscosity used is thecentistoke (cSt) and the fuels most frequently quoted are listed below in order of cost, the least expensive first.
Thedensity is also an important parameter for fuel oils since marine fuels are purified before use to remove water and dirt from the oil. Since the purifiers usecentrifugal force, the oil must have a density which is sufficiently different from water. Older purifiers work with a fuel having a maximum of 991 kg/m3; with modern purifiers it is also possible to purify oil with a density of 1010 kg/m3.
The first British standard for fuel oil came in 1982. The latest standard is ISO 8217 issued in 2017.[10] The ISO standard describe four qualities of distillate fuels and 10 qualities of residual fuels. Over the years the standards have become stricter on environmentally important parameters such as sulfur content. The latest standard also banned the adding of used lubricating oil (ULO).
Some parameters of marine fuel oils according to ISO 8217 (3. ed 2005):
| Marine distillate fuels | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Unit | Limit | DMX | DMA | DMB | DMC |
| Density at 15 °C | kg/m3 | Max | - | 890.0 | 900.0 | 920.0 |
| Viscosity at 40 °C | mm2/s | Max | 5.5 | 6.0 | 11.0 | 14.0 |
| mm2/s | Min | 1.4 | 1.5 | - | - | |
| Water | % V/V | Max | - | - | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Sulfur1 | % (m/m) | Max | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Aluminium + Silicon2 | mg/kg | Max | - | - | - | 25 |
| Flash point3 | °C | Min | 43 | 60 | 60 | 60 |
| Pour point, Summer | °C | Max | - | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Pour point, Winter | °C | Max | - | -6 | 0 | 0 |
| Cloud point | °C | Max | -16 | - | - | - |
| Calculated Cetane Index | Min | 45 | 40 | 35 | - | |
| Marine residual fuels | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Unit | Limit | RMA 30 | RMB 30 | RMD 80 | RME 180 | RMF 180 | RMG 380 | RMH 380 | RMK 380 | RMH 700 | RMK 700 |
| Density at 15 °C | kg/m3 | Max | 960.0 | 975.0 | 980.0 | 991.0 | 991.0 | 991.0 | 991.0 | 1010.0 | 991.0 | 1010.0 |
| Viscosity at 50 °C | mm2/s | Max | 30.0 | 30.0 | 80.0 | 180.0 | 180.0 | 380.0 | 380.0 | 380.0 | 700.0 | 700.0 |
| Water | % V/V | Max | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Sulfur1 | % (m/m) | Max | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Aluminium + Silicon2 | mg/kg | Max | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Flash point3 | °C | Min | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 |
| Pour point, Summer | °C | Max | 6 | 24 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Pour point, Winter | °C | Max | 0 | 24 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Bunker fuel orbunker crude is technically any type of fuel oil used aboardwater vessels. Its name is derived from coal bunkers, where the fuel was originally stored. In 2019, large ships consumed 213 million metric tons of bunker fuel.[12] The Australian Customs and the Australian Tax Office defines a bunker fuel as the fuel that powers the engine of a ship or aircraft. Bunker A is No. 4 fuel oil, bunker B is No. 5, and bunker C is No. 6. Since No. 6 is the most common, "bunker fuel" is often used as a synonym for No. 6. No. 5 fuel oil is also calledNavy Special Fuel Oil (NSFO) or justnavy special; No. 5 or 6 are also commonly calledheavy fuel oil (HFO) orfurnace fuel oil (FFO); the high viscosity requires heating, usually by a recirculated low pressuresteam system, before the oil can be pumped from a bunker tank. Bunkers are rarely labeled this way in modern maritime practice.
Since the 1980s theInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO) has been the accepted standard for marine fuels (bunkers). The standard is listed under number 8217, with recent updates in 2010 and 2017. The latest edition of bunker fuel specification is ISO 8217: 2017. The standard divides fuels into residual and distillate fuels. The most common residual fuels in the shipping industry are RMG and RMK.[13] The differences between the two are mainly the density and viscosity, with RMG generally being delivered at 380centistokes or less, and RMK at 700 centistokes or less. Ships with more advanced engines can process heavier, more viscous, and thus cheaper, fuel. Governing bodies around the world,e.g., California, European Union, have established Emission Control Areas (ECA) that limit the maximum sulfur of fuels burned in their ports to limit pollution, reducing the percentage of sulfur and other particulates from 4.5% m/m to as little as 0.10% as of 2015 inside an ECA. As of 2013 3.5% continued to be permitted outside an ECA, but the International Maritime Organization has planned to lower the sulfur content requirement outside the ECAs to 0.5% m/m by 2020.[14] This is where Marine Distillate Fuels and other alternatives[15] to use of heavy bunker fuel come into play. They have similar properties to diesel #2, which is used as road diesel around the world. The most common grades used in shipping are DMA and DMB.[16]Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of international bunker fuels are currently included in national inventories.[17][18]
| Name | Alias | Alias | Alias | Alias | Alias | Type | Chain length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 fuel oil | No. 1 distillate | No. 1 diesel fuel | Kerosene | Jet fuel | Distillate | 9-16 | |
| No. 2 fuel oil | No. 2 distillate | No. 2diesel fuel | Road diesel | Rail diesel | Marine gas oil | Distillate | 10-20 |
| No. 3 fuel oil | No. 3 distillate | No. 3 diesel fuel | Marine diesel oil | Distillate | |||
| No. 4 fuel oil | No. 4 distillate | No. 4 residual fuel oil | Bunker A | Intermediate fuel oil | Distillate/Residual | 12-70 | |
| No. 5 fuel oil | No. 5 residual fuel oil | Heavy fuel oil | Bunker B | Navy special fuel oil | Furnace fuel oil | Residual | 12-70 |
| No. 6 fuel oil | No. 6 residual fuel oil | Heavy fuel oil | Bunker C | Marine fuel oil | Furnace fuel oil | Residual | 20-70 |
Heavy fuel oil is still the primary fuel forcruise ships, a tourism sector that is associated with a clean and friendly image. In stark contrast, theexhaust gas emissions - due to HFO's high sulfur content - result in an eco balance significantly worse than that for individual mobility.[19][20][21]
The term "bunkering" broadly relates to storage of petroleum products in tanks (among other, disparate meanings). The precise meaning can be further specialized depending on context. Perhaps the most common, more specialized usage refers to the practice and business of refueling ships. Bunkering operations are located at seaports, and they include the storage of bunker (ship) fuels and the provision of the fuel to vessels.[22]
Alternatively "bunkering" may apply to the shipboard logistics of loading fuel and distributing it among available bunkers (on-board fuel tanks).[23]
Finally, in the context of theoil industry inNigeria, bunkering[24] has come to refer to theillegal diversion of crude oil (often subsequently refined in makeshift facilities into lighter transportation fuels) by the unauthorized cutting of holes into transport pipelines, often by very crude and hazardous means and causingspills.
As of 2018, some 300 million metric tons of fuel oil is used for ship bunkering. On January 1, 2020, regulations set by the International Marine Organization (IMO) all marine shipping vessels will require the use ofvery low sulfur fuel oil (0.5% Sulfur) or to installexhaust gas scrubber systems to remove the excess sulfur dioxide. The emissions from ships have generally been controlled by the following sulfur caps on any fuel oil used on board: 3.50% on and after 1 January 2012 and 0.50% on and after 1 January 2020.[25]Further removal of sulfur translates to additional energy and capital costs[26] and can impact fuel price and availability. If priced correctly the excess cheap yet dirty fuel would find its way into other markets, including displacing some onshore energy production in nations with low environmental protection .[27]
Fuel oil is transported worldwide by fleets ofoil tankers making deliveries to suitably sized strategic ports such asHouston, US;Singapore;Fujairah,United Arab Emirates;Balboa, Panama,Cristobal, Panama; Sakha,Egypt;Algeciras, Spain andRotterdam, Netherlands. Where a convenient seaport does not exist, inland transport may be achieved with the use ofbarges. Lighter fuel oils can also be transported throughpipelines. The major physical supply chains of Europe are along theRhine River.
Emissions from bunker fuel burning in ships contribute to climate change and toair pollution levels in many port cities, especially where the emissions from industry androad traffic have been controlled. The switch of auxiliary engines from heavy fuel oil to diesel oil at berth can result in large emission reductions, especially forSO2 andPM.CO2 emissions from bunker fuels sold are not added to national GHG emissions. For small countries with large international ports, there is an important difference between the emissions in territorial waters and the total emissions of the fuel sold.[18] At the 1997Third Conference of the Parties in Kyoto, Japan, countries agreed to exempt bunker fuels, and multilateral military operations, from national emissions totals after insistence from the U.S. climate change delegation for such exemptions.[28]
SOx and particulate matter emission controls apply to all fuel oil
a development which will prompt a switch to "a much more diverse fuel pallet"
Cruise companies create a picture of being a bright, clean and environmentally friendly tourism sector. But the opposite is true. One cruise ship emits as many air pollutants as five million cars going the same distance because these ships use heavy fuel that on land would have to be disposed of as hazardous waste."... "Heavy fuel oil can contain 3,500 times more sulfur than diesel that is used for land traffic vehicles. Ships do not have exhaust abatement technologies like particulate filters that are standard on passenger cars and lorries
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