Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. 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. In this sense, diesel is a type of fuel oil. Fuel oil is made of long hydrocarbon chains, particularly alkanes, cycloalkanes and aromatics. 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. Fractional distillation is the separation of a mixture of compounds by their boiling point, by heating to high enough temperatures. ... Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and oleum – oil or Latin petra – rock and oleum – oil ), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. ... Strathisla whisky distillery in Keith, Scotland Distillation is a means of separating liquids through differences in their vapor pressures. ... A furnace is a device for heating air or any other fluid. ... An engine is something that produces some effect from a given input. ... The flash point of a fuel is the lowest temperature at which it can form an ignitable mix with air. ... Diesel or Diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of fuel oil (mostly petroleum) that is used as fuel in a diesel engine invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel. ... Hydrocarbons are refined at oil refineries and chemical plants In chemistry, a hydrocarbon is any chemical compound that consists only of the elements carbon (C) and hydrogen (H). ... An alkane in organic chemistry is a saturated hydrocarbon without cycles, that is, an acyclic hydrocarbon in which the molecule has the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms and so has no double bonds. ... Cycloalkanes are chemical compounds with a one or more rings of carbons to which hydrogens are attached according to the formula CnH2n. ... In chemistry, an aromatic molecule is one in which electrons are free to cycle around circular arrangements of atoms, which are alternately singly and doubly bonded to one another. ... Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. ... Gasoline is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... Naphtha is a group of various volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures used primarily as feedstocks in refineries for the reforming process and in the petrochemical industry for the production of olefins in steam crackers. ...

Six Classes

Fuel oil is classified into six classes, according to its boiling temperature, composition and purpose. The boiling point, ranging from 370 to 600 °C, and carbon chain length, 20 to 70 atoms, of the fuel increases with number. Viscosity also increases with fuel oil number and the heaviest oil has to be heated to get it to flow. Price usually decreases as the fuel number increases. No. 1 fuel oil, No. 2 fuel oil and No. 3 fuel oil are referred to as distillate fuel oils, diesel fuel oils, light fuel oils, gasoil or just distillate. For example, No. 2 fuel oil, No. 2 distillate and No. 2 diesel fuel oil are the same thing. Distillate fuel oils are distilled from crude oil. Gas oil refers to the process of distillation. The oil is heated, becomes a gas and then condenses. It differentiates distillates from residual oil. No. 1 is similar to kerosene and is the fraction that boils off right after gasoline. No. 2 is the diesel that trucks and some cars run on, leading to the name "road diesel". It is the same thing as heating oil. No. 3 is rarely used. No. 5 fuel oil and No. 6 fuel oil are called residual fuel oils or heavy fuel oils. However, since No. 6 is far more common than No. 5, the terms heavy fuel oil and residual fuel oil are sometimes used as synonyms for No. 6. They are what remains of the crude oil after gasoline and the distillate fuel oils are extracted through distillation, but No. 5 contains a little distillate fuel oil and even No. 6 may contain a small amount to get it to meet specifications. No. 4 fuel oil is usually a blend of distillate and residual fuel oils, such as No. 2 and 6, however, sometimes it is just a heavy distillate. No. 4 may be called classified as diesel, distillate or residual fuel oil. Residual fuel oils are sometimes called light when they have been mixed with distillate fuel oil, while distillate fuel oils are called heavy when they have been mixed with residual fuel oil. Heavy gas oil, for example, is a distillate that contains residual fuel oil. General Name, Symbol, Number Carbon, C, 6 Chemical series Nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14 (IVA), 2, p Density, Hardness 2267 kg/m3, 0. ... Properties An atom (Greek άτομον from ά: non and τομον: divisible) is a submicroscopic structure found in all ordinary matter. ... The pitch drop experiment at the University of Queensland. ... Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. ... Russian kerosene lamp Kerosene or paraffin oil (British English, not to be confused with the waxy solid also called paraffin) is a colorless flammable hydrocarbon liquid. ... Heating oil, or burning oil, also known in the United States as No. ...

Bunker fuel is technically any type of fuel oil used aboard ships. It gets its name from the containers on ships and in ports that it is stored in, called bunkers. Bunker A is No. 2 fuel oil, bunker B is No. 4 or 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 called navy special fuel oil, or just navy special. Italian ship-rigged vessel Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor, 1976 A ship is a large, sea-going watercraft, sometimes with multiple decks. ... Seaport, a painting by Claude Lorrain, 1638 The Port of Wellington at night. ... A bunker is a defensive warfare fortification to protect personnel or equipment. ...

Uses

Diesel has many uses. It heats homes and businesses and fuels trucks, ships and some cars. A small amount of electricity is produced by diesel, but it is dirtier and more expensive than natural gas. It is often used as a backup fuel for peaking power plants in case the supply of natural gas is interrupted or as the main fuel for small electrical generators. Diesel or Diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of fuel oil (mostly petroleum) that is used as fuel in a diesel engine invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel. ... The driver of this DAF tractor with an auto-transport semi-trailer prepares to offload Skoda Octavia cars in Cardiff, Wales For further uses of the word truck, see Truck (disambiguation). ... Italian ship-rigged vessel Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor, 1976 A ship is a large, sea-going watercraft, sometimes with multiple decks. ... Central African Republic Children At Risk Cordillera Administrative Region Cost Accrual Ratio Computer-assisted reporting Cumulative average return This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Electricity is a property of matter that results from the presence of electric charge. ... Natural gas (commonly referred to as gas in many countries, but note that gas is also an American and Canadian shortening of gasoline) is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. ... An electrical generator is a device that produces electrical energy from a mechanical energy source. ...

Residual fuel oil is less useful because it is so viscous that it has to be heated, which requires a special heating system, before use and it contains relatively high amounts of pollutants, particularly sulfur, which forms sulfur 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 inappropriate to do on small, fast moving vehicles. However, power plants and large ships are able to use residual fuel oil. Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid to deformation under shear stress. ... Pollutants are substances which directly or indirectly damage us or the environment. ... General Name, Symbol, Number sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16, 3, p Appearance lemon yellow Atomic mass 32. ... Sulfur dioxide (or Sulphur dioxide) has the chemical formula SO2. ... Lobster boat A boat is a watercraft, usually smaller than most ships. ... A power station (also power plant) is a facility for the generation of electric power. ...

Residual fuel oil was used more frequently in the past. It powered boilers, railroad locomotives and steamships. Locomotives now use diesel, steamships are no longer in use, and most boilers now use heating oil or natural gas. However, some industrial boilers still use it and so do a few old buildings, mostly in New York City. Residual fuel's use in electricity generation has also decreased. In 1973, residual fuel oil produced 16.8% of the electricity in the United States. By 1983, it had fallen to 6.2%, and as of 2005, electricity production from all forms of petroleum, including diesel and residual fuel, is only 3% of total production. 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, also produces much darker smoke than natural gas, which affects the perception of the plant by the community. A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated under pressure. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... A locomotive (from lat. ... Paddle steamers - Lucerne-Switzerland Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. ... The Empire State Building (right) and the Chrysler Building (left) are easily recognized symbols of New York City to the world. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Maritime

In the maritime field another type of classification is used for fuel oils: From the latin maritimus, maritime refers to things relating to the sea. ...

• MGO (Marine gasoil) - roughly equivalent to No. 2 fuel oil, made from distillate only
• MDO (Marine diesel oil) - A blend of gasoil and heavy fuel oil
• IFO (Intermediate fuel oil) A blend of gasoil and heavy fuel oil, with less gasoil than marine diesel oil
• MFO (Medium fuel oil) - A blend of gasoil and heavy fuel oil, with less gasoil than intermediate fuel oil
• HFO (Heavy fuel oil) - Pure or nearly pure residual oil, roughly equivalent to No. 6 fuel oil

It is important to note that marine diesel oil contains some heavy fuel oil, unlike regular diesels. Also, marine fuel oils sometimes contain waste products such as used motor oil. Motor oil is a type of liquid oil used for lubrication by various kinds of motors, especially internal combustion engines. ...

Transportation

Fuel oil is transported using fuel oil barges and pipelines. The major physical supply chains of Europe are centered around the Rhine, Germany. At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (German Rhein, French Rhin, Dutch Rijn, Romansch: Rein, Italian: Reno) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ...

See also

• Diesel
• Gasoline
• Heating oil
• Jet fuel
• Kerosine
• Lubricant
• Naphtha

Diesel or Diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of fuel oil (mostly petroleum) that is used as fuel in a diesel engine invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel. ... Gasoline is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... Heating oil, or burning oil, also known in the United States as No. ... Jet fuel (Flying petrol) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in jet-engined aircraft. ... Kerosene or paraffin is a colorless flammable hydrocarbon liquid. ... A lubricant (colloquially, lube, although this usually refers to personal lubricants) is a substance (usually a liquid) introduced between two moving surfaces to reduce the friction and wear between them. ... Naphtha is a group of various volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures used primarily as feedstocks in refineries for the reforming process and in the petrochemical industry for the production of olefins in steam crackers. ...

Sources

• National Park Service - Fuel Oil
• How Stuff Works - Oil Refining
• The True Cost of #6 Oil
• Burning #6 Fuel Oil
• Identity and Analysis of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons