Fuel oil, a type of refined oil, is one of the heavier residual products
from the refining of crude oil, after lighter components such as
gasoline, kerosene, and diesel are first separated. Primarily the residue
from the cracking and straight-run distillation of crude oil, fuel oil is
characterized by its high viscosity as well as the significant amount
of non-hydrocarbon compounds, resins, and asphaltenes. Fuel oil is
principally used in oil refining and chemical, transport, construction,
and metallurgy industries. Marine fuel, especially bonded marine fuel,
is seeing rising demand in recent years.
Generally, lighter components are always separated out earlier than
heavier ones during the refining of crude oil. Fuel oil is the last product
coming out of the refining process; its quality is affected by many
factors including the crude stream, refining technology, and the extent
of refining. Marine fuel powers much of the shipping and transport
industries. As such, it must meet a wide range of quality requirements
for use in marine diesel engines; otherwise, potential safety hazard
may be caused. Furthermore, it must be free of any additives or
chemical waste that may endanger the safety of the ship or affect
the performance of the machinery, damage the health of the crew, or
pollute the air.
Different classifications of marine fuel are listed as follows:
According to China’s national standard GB/T 17411, marine fuel is
broadly categorized into distillate fuel and residual fuel. The former
is mainly made of light distillates, and is further classified into four
grades of DMX, DMA, DMZ, and DMB by density, cetane index, and
other quality metrics; the latter is mainly made of heavy fuel oil, and by
quality and viscosity, can be further categorized into 6 fuel types and 7
viscosity designations, yielding 11 grades, namely RMA 10, RMB 30,
RMD 80, RME 180, RMG 180, RMG 380, RMG 500, RMG 700, RMK
380, RMK 500, and RMK 700.
By sulfur content, marine fuel can be classified into grades I, II, and III.
For the residual variety, the three grades correspond to a maximum
sulfur content of 3.50%, 0.50%, and 0.10% m/m, respectively. Starting
from January 1, 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
requires a sulfur cap of 0.50% m/m on fuel oil used by all ships
worldwide, except for ships using “equivalent” compliance methods.
Low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) has become a mainstream product on the
market since 2020. Conventional residual fuel is produced through
blending the vacuum residues with other components. But as the
low sulfur era approaches, the existing production processes need
to be changed. There are three principal ways to produce LSFO: (1)
distillation of low sulfur crude oil; (2) mixing and blending low sulfur
residual fuel with high sulfur heavy fuel; and (3) using processing
facilities to lower the sulfur content of high sulfur residual fuel.
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