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As we have seen heavy fuel oil is a residue from the crude oil refining process and as
such is the dregs of the process.

It is used as a marine engine fuel because of its cheapness, but it does contain a lot of
impurities and must be kept at a high temperature both during storage and use in ships
main engines.

Many years ago when I was a young engineer at sea, I was in charge of taking bunkers
either from a bunker barge or shoreside supply. I was always nervous as an oil spill,
even in those days was subject to a huge fine.

This is an article in Marine Engineering and in particular the properties of heavy fuel
used in marine engines.

We begin with a quick overview of the crude oil refining process and move on to the
properties of heavy fuel oil.

    

The crude oil arrives at the oil refinery from the oil production offshore platform subsea
pipeline landfall point, or from oil tankers.

It will have most of the gas, water, and sand/grit removed by the production platform
facilities before being processed at the crude oil refinery.

On arrival at the refinery it is again subjected to dewatering and salts removal before
being heated to around 700 F and fed into an atmospheric distillation column. This is a
vertical column with trays situated at specific heights inside the column.

As the crude oil vapors boil off and pass upwards, the lower boiling point factions such
as diesel, kerosene, and naphtha are drawn off at the trays at various temperatures for
further refining.

Meanwhile the higher boiling point crude oil residue has dropped to the bottom of the
distillation column. It is from these ³bottoms´ that the heavy fuel oil is drawn off, literally
the bottom of the barrel. If no further processing is required it is stored in tanks ready for
distribution.

Note: Heavy Fuel Oil can sometimes have addition of lighter fuel oil to reduce excessive
viscosity. But it is always advisable to have samples of bunker oil checked to ensure no
other ³blending´ has taken place i.e. addition of lube oil or addition of used motor oil!



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The major properties of heavy fuel oil are as follows;

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Density is the relationship between mass and volume at a stated temperature, and the
SI unit is Kg/m3. This gives value of 800- 1010 kg/m3 for marine heavy fuel oil.

The density of HFO is limited to 991kg/m3 to facilitate efficient centrifuging. (Centrifuges

use centrifugal force to separate water from HFO, so the bigger the difference in density
the greater removal of water ). However the density of HFO can be been increased to
1010kg/m3 if clarifiers are used, as water seal can be maintained during clarification.
Any higher density than this will inhibit HFO water removal treatment through
centrifuging.

 


Viscosity is a measurement of the resistant of a liquid to shear or flow and is measured

in Centistokes (CST) with a quoted reference temperature. Knowing the viscosity of the
heavy fuel oil is required the temperature range required for satisfactory injection at the
fuel atomizer, and efficient combustion.

  

The flash point of the liquid is the lowest temperature at which sufficient vapor is given
to produce a flash on application of a flame under specified test conditions.

The minimum flash point for marine fuels in the machinery space of merchant ship is
governed by the IMO; being set at 60o C to minimize fire risk during normal storage and
handling.

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The pour point is the lowest temperature at which a marine fuel oil can be handled
without excessive amounts of wax crystals forming out of solution. At a lower
temperature the fuel will gel, thereby preventing flow.

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The carbon residue of a fuel is the tendency to form carbon deposits under high
temperature condition in an inert atmosphere, and may be expressed as either
Conradson Carbon Residue (CCR) or Micro Carbon Residue (MCR). The maximum
limit of carbon residue content in fuel is 22 %.

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Normally the level of water in the fuel is very low, since an effort is made by the supplier
to deliver the fuel as dry as possible. 0.1% - 0.2 % by volume is typical. However, Water
can come from a number of sources on the bunker barge and in ships bunker tanks.
These include tank condensation, leakage of steam from heating coils, and bunker tank
leakage. The maximum limit of water content in fuel is 1 %.

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The ash content is related to the amount of inorganic material in the fuel. For distillate
fuel the ash content is defined as the residue remaining after all the combustible
components of the oil have been burned and is negligible. It is the incombustible
material which remains after the combustion, which mainly consists of the material such
as vanadium, sulphur, silicon, aluminum, nickel, sodium, and iron content present in the
fuel. The maximum limit of ash content in the fuel is 0.2% m/m.

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The CV of a fuel is the heat energy given out during combustion. Heavy fuel oil has a
net CV of 38.9 MJ/liter and a gross CV of 41.2 MJ/liter; these values being determined
by using calorimeter test equipment in a lab.

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The specific gravity of HFO is its ratio to the density of water at a specified temperature.
Bunker oil HFO ranges between 0.95-1.03

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Sulphur is soluble in water therefore it cannot be removed by centrifuge treatment.

However there are chemicals that can be used to lower the sulphur content in HFO.

Sulphur pre-combustion causes corrosion to the pistons and liners and contaminates
the lube oil. Post combustion emits SOx to atmosphere in exhaust gases.

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This is a reference index containing a listing of the ignition standard of Heavy fuel oil.
Cetane number is the equivalent reference for light fuel oil such as diesel oil

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