Home heating oil

This category comprises conventional LPG (commercial propane and butane), home-heating oil and heavy fuels. All these materials are used to produce thermal energy in equipment whose size varies widely from small heaters or gas stoves to refinery furnaces. Without describing the requirements in detail for each combustion system, we will give the main specifications for each of the different petroleum fuels. 

We will give here just the main distinguishing characteristics of home heating oil with respect to diesel fuel. 

It is mainly in cold behavior that the specifications differ between bome-heating oil and diesel fuel. In winter diesel fuel must have cloud points of -5 to -8°C, CFPPs from -15 to -18°C and pour points from -18 to 21°C according to whether the type of product is conventional or for severe cold. For home-heating oil the specifications are the same for all seasons. The required values are -l-2°C, -4°C and -9°C, which do not present particular problems in refining. 

For other physical properties, the specification differences between diesel fuel and home-heating oil are minimal. Note only that there is no minimum distillation end point for heating oil, undoubtedly because tbe problem of particulate emissions is much less critical in domestic burners than in an engine. 

The winter period corresponds, of course, to the moment in the year where the diesel fuel and home-heating oil characteristics are noticeably different. Table 5.18 gives a typical example of tbe recorded differences heating oil appears more dense and viscous than diesel fuel, while its initial and final boiling points are higher. 

Following 1 October 1996, diesel fuel should be desulfurized to a level of 0.05% while the maximum sulfur content of home-heating oils will stay provisionally at 0.2 %. 

The high C/H ratio for heavy fuels and their high levels of contaminants such as sulfur, water, and sediment, tend to reduce their NHV which can reach as low as 40,000 kJ/kg by comparison to the 42,500 kJ/kg for a conventional home-heating oil. This characteristic is not found in the specifications, but it is a main factor in price negotiations for fuels in terms of cost per ton. Therefore it is subject to frequent verification. 

For the refiner, the main problem is to meet the specifications for kinematic viscosity and sulfur content. Dilution by light streams such as home-heating oil and LCO, and selection of feedstocks coming from low-sulfur crude oils give him a measure of flexibility that will nevertheless lead gradually to future restrictions, most notably the new more severe antipollution rules imposing lower limits on sulfur and nitrogen contents. 

Specifications and test methods for home-heating oil (in France, FOD) (see AFNOR information document M 15-008). 

Chemical Designations - Synonyms Home heating oil Chemical Formula Not applicable. Observable Characteristics - Physical State (as shipped) Liquid Color Light brown Odor Like kerosine characteristic. 

The usual feed is a virgin gas oil that is, the part of crude oil boiling between about 60 °F. and 1050°F. Sometimes material below 600°F will be included into the cat feed but more often, it is put into diesel fuel or home heating oil. The heavy material above 1050°F is not normally used as cat feed because it often contains metallic compounds that contaminate the catalyst. Even if metals are not present, there are sometimes tarry materials that end up on the catalyst. This deposit increases the load on the regenerator, and, hence, the 1050 °F+ material is less desirable than lower boiling feeds. 

Atmospheric gas oil 520-G50T 271-343°C Light gas oil Blending into diesel fuels and home heating oils... 

Refineries produce more than 2,000 products, but most of these are very similar and differ in only a few specifications. The mam products, with respect to volume and income, are liquefied petroleum gases (LPG), gasolines, diesel fuels, jet fuels, home heating oils (No. 1 and No. 2), and heavy heating oils (No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, and bunker fuel oil). Some refineries also produce asphalts and petroleum coke. 

Middle distillate Liquid hydrocarbons boiling in the jet fuel, diesel fuel, and home heating oil ranges... 

Distillate - A generic term for several petroleum fuels that are heavier than gasoline and lighter than residual fuels for example, home heating oil, diesel oil, and jet fuels. 

Uses Solvent for nitrocellulose, ethyl cellulose, polyvinyl butyral, rosin, shellac, manila resin, dyes fuel for utility plants home heating oil extender preparation of methyl esters, formaldehyde, methacrylates, methylamines, dimethyl terephthalate, polyformaldehydes methyl halides, ethylene glycol in gasoline and diesel oil antifreezes octane booster in gasoline source of hydrocarbon for fuel cells extractant for animal and vegetable oils denaturant for ethanol in formaldehyde solutions to inhibit polymerization softening agent for certain plastics dehydrator for natural gas intermediate in production of methyl terLbutyl ether. 

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