Marine fuel, properties

Owing to its properties, methanol is not recommended for aircraft or marine fuel uses. Methanol caimot be used in conventional diesel-powered vehicles without modifications to the fuel system and engine. Simple methanol—diesel blends are not possible because of insolubiUty. Heavy-duty diesel engines have been adapted to use neat methanol by many U.S. manufacturers, and several are being used in field demonstrations (82) (see Alcohol fuels). 

Fuels used in marine applications are quite diverse in their properties. Low-viscosity distillate fuels and high-viscosity residual fuels can both be considered marine fuels. The applications, though, would differ and could include use in direct injected diesel engines, boilers, and gas turbines. Also, high-speed, medium-speed, and slow-speed engines can be found in marine applications. 

Some of the more critical properties related to marine fuels include ash content, carbon residue, calculated carbon aromaticity index (CCAI), density, sulfur, total sediment, and viscosity. A description of these properties and the primary reason for their implementation are provided below ... 

Marine fuel density is reported in values of kg/m3 or g/mL. Typical densities range from about 0.900 to 0.990 g/mL. As fuel density approaches 1.000 g/mL, water separation properties will be impaired and ignition properties will be poorer than that of lower-density fuel. 

Emulsification of two marine fuel oil types was compared in [249]. When using residual fuel oil, a higher stability was obtained in comparison with the distillate fuel oil. Rather stable w/o emulsions were obtained using the emulsifier Span 20 at concentrations of 1.5 - 2%. At higher emulsifier concentration, the emulsion properties (droplet size, stability, viscosity) deteriorated. 

Besides these products, gas turbine fuel, fiiel oil (heating oil), and some marine fuels are also classified as middle distillates because they have a wide boiling range that overlaps the lighter fuels. These products have similar properties but different specifications as appropriate for their intended use. 

The broad definition of fuels for land and marine diesel engines and for nonaviation gas turbines covers many possible combinations of volatility, ignition quality, viscosity, gravity, stability, and other properties. Various specifications are used to characterize these fuels (ASTM D-975, ASTM D-2880). 

As for all fuels, the properties of a product define the ability to serve a stated purpose. Once the required properties are determined, they are controlled by appropriate tests and analyses. The quality criteria and methods for testing fuels for land and marine diesel engines, such as the cetane number, apply to both fuels. 

Negus, C.R., Dale, B.W., Stenhouse, LA. and McNiven, A.I. (1987) An investigation of the confined combustion properties of residual fuels used in marine and industrial engines. CIMAC Paper D78, Warsaw, June 1987. 

The U.S. Navy has been involved for some time in the development of Navy fuels from alternative sources (shale oil, tar sands and coal). As a part of this effort, the Naval Research Laboratory and the Naval Air Propulsion Center have been studying the characteristics of these fuels (.1, 2). NKL and NAPC are currently participating in a program to characterize the products from the Shale-II refining process conducted by the Standard Oil Company of Ohio (SOHIO) at their refinery in Toledo, Ohio. This paper is concerned with a part of this program and is a surrmary of the work on the physical and related properties of three military type fuels derived from shale JP-5 and JP-8 jet turbine fuels, and diesel fuel marine (DEM) (3, 5). Another paper of this symposium (6) will discuss the chemical characterization of the fuels. 

Environmental studies [17] of urban airsheds in several areas of the country have shown that high levels of atmospheric vanadium oxide are associated with industrialized areas, especially those areas where fossil fuels are burned or where vanadate steel is being produced. In addition, vanadium has been shown to exhibit increased tissue levels in fish and other marine animals associated with oil rigs in the Santa Barbara basin of the United States [18]. Blotcky et al. [19] determined the vanadium content in shrimp, crab, and oyster from four ocean sites off and near Galveston Island, Texas. They found that the vanadium content was greater in marine biological samples taken in waters near industrialized areas as compared to samples taken in waters near the nonindustrialized sections. Speciation of the vanadium is very important since the two oxidation states, i.e., IV or V, have different nutritional and toxic properties [14]. Orvini et al. [20] applied a preirradiation speciation method to freshwaters from the Italian Ticino and Po rivers and found out that vanadium was present in various tetravalent cationic and pentavalent anionic as well as in natural complexed forms. 

Definition as used in this section Marine service station shall mean that portion of a I property where flammable liquids used as fuels are stored and dispensed from fixed equipment on shore, piers, wharves, or floating docks into the fuel tanks or self-propelled craft, and shall include all facilities used in connection therewith. 

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