Fuel oil is a special material obtained from refining products or the remainder of its distillation. The composition of this type of fuel consists mainly of resins having a molecular weight of 500-3000 g / mol, as well as hydrocarbons with a mass of 400 to 100 g / mol. It can be carbene, asphaltene, carbide, as well as various kinds of organic compounds.
Types of heating oil
Currently, the industry uses mainly these types of this material:
cracking;
straight run;
naval;
furnace.
The latter variety is very popular. As you can already judge by the name, it is used mainly for space heating.
Types of heating oil and its scope
This variety itself is subdivided into two large groups:
Actually heating oil.
Diesel fuel.
Fuel oils of the first group are inherently a heavy form of oil. Most often, all such material is used in old boiler houses of various kinds of agricultural enterprises. Sometimes it is used by commercial enterprises for heating offices or departments. Diesel fuel is usually purchased for heating private or even multi-storey buildings in different (mostly remote) regions of Russia, for example, in the Northern Urals, the Arctic, etc. It differs from purely heating oil (red diesel) with a higher degree of purification and ease.
The use of this material as fuel for boilers is usually justified when, in the area where the residential building or production hall is located, there is no gas main. Fuel oil is very inexpensive, but burning it greatly pollutes the environment. In addition, this type of fuel due to its combustibility is quite difficult to store, and this is often expensive.
Main characteristics
When choosing a material such as heating oil for a boiler room, usually pay attention to such indicators as:
Fuel Oil Viscosity
According to this indicator, two main types of material are distinguished. Fuel oil 40 and 40V is considered medium viscous, 100 and 100V - heavy. Light materials for heating various types of premises are not used. They are mainly used only in the fleet as diesel fuel and are marked as F5 and F12.
The viscosity of fuel oil is expressed most often in degrees (° W). This parameter is determined by an Engler viscometer. In this case, the transit time of the fuel oil through the calibrated hole at a certain temperature is taken into account. For fuel oil 40, the last parameter is 80 degrees, for material of the M100 brand - 100 g. The change in the viscosity of fuel oil at different temperatures is explained primarily by the presence of paraffin hydrocarbons in it.
Density
This parameter characterizes such an important property of the material as the ability to sediment from water. The latter may fall into the heating oil when it is heated using dry steam or when transporting it on old ships.
For the selection of water from the material, special installations are used that increase its density. What should this indicator be for a particular brand of such material as heating oil? GOST provides standard standards for each of them (at a temperature of 20 ° C). You can find out a specific indicator for each brand from the table below.
Mark | Density |
M40 | 965 kg / m 3 |
M100 | 1015 kg / m 3 |
F5 | 955 kg / m 3 |
F12 | 960 kg / m 3 |
The density of fuel oil, therefore, is one of the most important parameters that should be paid attention to when purchasing this material. Otherwise, you can not get a very high-quality product.
Flash point
This property of fuel oil is determined in an open crucible placed in an iron cup with sand. The flash point is measured with a special thermometer during the ignition of its vapors mixed with ambient air when an open flame is brought to them. This parameter can fluctuate in different types of fuel oils in the range of 90-170 ° C. For the M100 furnace material, according to the standard, the flash point should be 110 ° C. For M40 - 90 ° C. That is, the latter can be considered safer during storage. When performing such an operation as heating fuel oil, it is necessary to adhere to a temperature that is 10 degrees below the flash point.
Fuel oil ash
This parameter is also an important characteristic of fuel. An increase in the ash content of fuel oil leads to a decrease in its heat transfer during combustion. As a result:
The ash contained in fuel oil, among other things, clogs the nozzles of the boilers, thus significantly reducing their service life. It is believed that in good fuel oil the content of this impurity should not exceed 0.1%. It is possible to reduce the ash content of a material, as well as increase its density, by settling water and its subsequent discharge.
Pour point
This indicator directly depends on viscosity. The pour point of fuel oil is determined simply. The material is poured into a test tube and tilt the latter by 45 degrees. Then they look at what minimum temperature its level will remain stable for one minute.
What should be the solidification of such material as heating oil? GOST prescribes the following:
For material brand M40, this indicator should be 10 about C.
For fuel oil of other grades, the temperature can rise to 36 ° C.
This indicator is determined mainly by the degree of paraffin content in the material. The higher the pour point of fuel oil, the more difficult it is to transport it through pipelines.
Sulfur content
According to this indicator, several types of fuel oil are also distinguished. The sulfur content of the material depends primarily on what oil was used for its manufacture. The range of the content of the mentioned substance in fuel oil is 0.5-3.5%. Most sulfur is part of the material of the brand M100. This impurity is considered harmful, since it increases the corrosion rate of metal parts of boilers. In addition, the use of fuel oil with a high sulfur content contributes to very severe air pollution. You can reduce the percentage of this substance in the fuel by hydrogenating it or passing it through sorbents. Sometimes fuel oil is simply diluted with another, cleaner.
Cost
Currently, fuel oil is considered one of the most economical types of fuel. In this regard, it is significantly superior to even cheap natural gas. A brand is what primarily determines the cost of a material such as heating oil. The price of M40 material usually does not exceed 9-13 thousand rubles per ton. The cost of the most popular heating oil M100 is usually 6-10 thousand rubles per ton (depending on the supplier). When buying this type of fuel, among other things, you should pay attention to whether VAT is included in its price.
So, the characteristics of heating oil were examined by us in all details. Thus, when buying this inexpensive material, you should first pay attention to indicators such as viscosity, density and flash point. You should also find out how much sulfur is contained in fuel oil, and what is the degree of its ash content.