The Combustion Characteristics of Residual Fuel Oil Blended With Fuel Additives
The Combustion Characteristics of Residual Fuel Oil Blended With Fuel Additives
The Combustion Characteristics of Residual Fuel Oil Blended With Fuel Additives
Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 554-563, August 31, 2016, ISSN 1229-3431(Print) / ISSN 2287-3341(Online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7837/kosomes.2016.22.5.554
Se-Hyun Jang* Kyoung-Woo Lee** Jeong-Ryul Kim*** Jong-Ho Kim*** Seok-Hun Yoon***
Ik-Soon Cho**** Jae-Hyuk Choi***
* Graduate school of Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Busan 49112, Korea
** Team Solution Co., Ltd., Busan 49112, Korea
*** Division of Marine Engineering System of Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Busan 49112, Korea
**** Department of Ship Operation of Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Busan 49112, Korea
Abstract : Ships are capable of operating on residual fuel oil. Recently, various attempts have been made to meet environmental regulations and
with ships operating on residual fuel oil. One way of fulfilling these requirements is by using fuel additives. Dispersants and fuel combustion
improvers will have a positive effect on improving the combustion characteristics of the residual fuel oil. As such, this study examines fuel oils
blended with additives by using fuel combustion analysis (FIA/FCA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results of FIA/FCA focuse only on the
amount of work done by the fuel oil. Therefore, it is recommended in this study that a new method to evaluate the combustion efficiency via
FIA/FCA processes be developed. The analysis with ROHR curve gained by FIA/FCA brought similar results with pressure trace curve therefore it can
be said that new analysis method can be reliable. The TGA, analysis process is very sensitive to the evaporation of fuel, for example, which could be
addressed. In the performance-related findings of this study, blended samples with additives containing iron compounds showed a greater improvement
in early combustion characteristics than samples without additives.
Key Words : Fuel additive, Fuel combustion analysis, Thermogravimetric analysis, Residual fuel oil, Combustion characteristics
요 약 : 선박엔진은 잔사유를 에너지원으로 활용하여 운항할 수 있으며, 이를 활용한 선박에서 환경 규제와 경제성을 모두 만족시키
는 다양한 방안들이 모색되고 있다. 그 중에 한 방안으로 연료 첨가제를 활용하는 기술이 있을 수 있다. 분산제와 연소촉진제는 잔사유
활용 시 엔진의 연소특성 촉진에 기여할 것이라는 기대를 받고 있다. 따라서, 본 연구에서는 연소성 분석 장비(FIA/FCA)와 열 중량 분
석 장비(TGA)를 활용하여 잔사유 연료첨가제가 혼합된 잔사유의 연소성을 분석하였다. 연소성 분석 장비(FIA/FCA)의 결과로는 연소에
의한 일의 총량을 분석하도록 분석법이 개발되었으며, 이 때문에 본 연구를 통하여 동일 장비를 활용하면서도 연소 효율을 간단하게
평가할 수 있는 방안을 제시하였다. 연소성 분석 결과인 ROHR 곡선으로부터, 단순한 삼각함수를 활용하여 연소특성을 예측할 수 있는
방안을 제시하였으며, 이 기법을 활용하여 기존의 압력 곡선과 유사한 결론을 도출할 수 있었다. 열 중량 분석(TGA)의 경우 연료유의
증발 특성에 민감하게 반응함을 확인하였고, 첨가제가 연료유 증발에 효과적으로 작용함을 확인하였다.
Ships can consume fuel oils of both different quality levels and number without having any effect on density, viscosity, cloud
different kinds, since the ship’s energy can be varied from residual point, cold filter plugging point, and flash point. According to
fuel oil to distillate fuel oil. engine test results, 2-EHN decreased the brake specific fuel
Newly built ships can actively consider adopting new consumption while increasing the emissions of NOx and CO
comparably low combustion speed and it also can create bigger additives on NOx reduction due to lack of experimental data (EPA,
droplets when fuel injected. Bigger droplets can create carbon 1977).
deposits after combustion finishes, thereby contributing to the Transition metals (Fe, Mn, Cu) and alkali earth metals (Ba, Ca)
creation of particulate matter (PM) (Kim et al., 2008). are representative constituents of a fuel combustion improver.
The various types of fuel oil additives and their major benefits Ferrocene, the major iron compound, is used to remove carbon
are mentioned in Table 2 (Stratas Advisors, 2013). Historical deposits from the combustion chamber of a diesel engine, and also
development of fuel oil additives had a tendency to focus on acts as a catalyst at the combustion surface as long as a high
improving fuel conversion efficiency, but trends tend to change concentration of 20~30 ppm is maintained. Hence, the field of
because of the adoption of emission regulations on maritime organometallic compound synthesis has various studies to create
engines. As a result, any kind of fuel additive can be effective in products with a high concentration of iron (Lissianski et al., 2001).
meeting recent emission requirements. In the future, the market The fuel combustion improver (FCI) can be directly used to
will demand fuel oil additives with the ability to reduce PM, NOx reduce pollutants and also effectively enhances combustion by
and greenhouse gasses. encouraging complete burning of fuel, thus reducing the emission
of PM which is mostly created because of incomplete combustion.
Table 1. Conventional values of elemental composition of asphaltene Hence, it is also known as a fuel combustion catalyst. Ba, Ca, Mn,
Ni, Co, Mg and Fe are well known for producing a higher degree
Element Concentration (wt.%)
of combustion enhancement. Ba, Ca and Mg are known as alkali
H/C atomic 1.0 ~ 1.2
earth metals which are known for decomposing water in heavy fuel
Nitrogen 1.0 ~ 1.2
oil, thereby reducing the concentration of unburnt carbon. Mn and
Sulfur 2.0 ~ 6.0
Fe are transition metals which catalyze oxygen from the air,
Oxygen 0.8 ~ 2.0
resulting in enhanced oxidation. Out of all the different kinds of
Vanadium (ppm) 100 ~ 300
active metals, Fe is the cheapest and most widely used element. In
the field of chemical engineering, an iron compound known as
Table 2. Types of fuel oil additives and their typical use ferrocene is most widely used because a high concentration of Fe
Type Benefit Typical use is directly proportional to improved combustion characteristics.
Meet cetane number spec in However, ferrocene tends to have poor solubility in organic
Ignition improver
Cetane refineries solvent, making it too expensive to manufacture.
Reduce vehicle
improver Improve engine performance via
exhaust emission
diesel detergency package
2. Experimental setup
In refineries to increase use of
Improve storage and
Stabilizer less stable, lower value
thermal stability
components This study aims to investigate the combustion characteristics of
Protect refinery and distribution marine residual fuel blended with additives. A well-known method
Protect metal parts
Corrosion component
against steel, copper was adopted to analyze the combustion of the given sample. The
inhibitor Give vehicle parts added corrosion
& silver corrosion details of the fuel sample, fuel combustion characteristics, and
protection via detergency packages
experimental conditions are given below.
Delay wax Meet winter cold flow spec limits
Cold flow formation in cold Improve cold storage and
improver weather handling via winter diesel 2.1 Specification of fuel oil
Improve fuel flow detergency packages
Table 3 provides the specifications of a sample of residual fuel
oil used in marine engines. The fuel oil viscosity is 357.4 mm2/s, a
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) sufficiently high value for this kind of oil. The density of the fuel
has investigated the effects of additives at power plants and oil is 989.5 kg/m3. The methods for analysis of fuel oil combustion
collected reliable information on PM reduction due to use of fuel characteristics explained hereafter utilized this fuel sample and
additives. However, the EPA put off the decision of effect of fuel another sample blended with fuel additive.
The Combustion Characteristics of Residual Fuel oil Blended with Fuel Additives
Table 3. Specifications of the sample residual fuel oil 2.3 Fuel Ignition Analysis-Fuel Combustion Analysis
The fuel combustion characteristics were confirmed via the IP
Parameters Values
541/06 standard. The IP 541/06 standard is used to study the
Kinematic viscosity at 50℃ 357.4 mm2/s
ignition and combustion characteristics of residual fuel oil used in
Density at 15℃ 989.5 kg/m3
reciprocating internal combustion (IC) engines. The standard can
Flash point at 100.2 kPa 85.5℃
also be used to determine fuel characteristics when the density of
Water content 0.1 % (V/V)
residual fuel oil is up to 2000 mm2/s@50℃, but the measurement
Carbon content 85.4 %
is only reliable when fuel density is in the range of 25~800
Hydrogen content 10.5 %
mm2/s@50℃.
Sulfur content 3.2 %
The blended fuel sample is injected into a constant volume
Nitrogen content 0.2 %
combustion chamber (CVCC), which has been set to 500℃
Oxygen content 1%
temperature and 45 bar pressure, before commencing analysis. The
change in pressure during ignition and combustion is recorded
2.2 Specification of fuel oil additives
within a differentiated time frame, and the data is transferred to a
The exact specifications of the additives applied to this study
data acquisition system for additional calculation and reporting.
cannot be revealed as they are within the scope of marketing
The data in the present study is the average value calculated after
secrets. However, its purpose, major constituents, and rough
25 iterations of this process, and the FIA-100/FCA apparatus in
concentration are summarized in Table 4.
this study was taken from FUELTECH.
Blank refers to the residual fuel oil which is can be obtained on
The pressure trace curve and rate of heat release can be
board the ship. Sample A is specified as a dispersant and its
obtained via the FCA process. The detailed list of parameters of
manufacturer’s recommended dosage is in the ratio of 1:8000.
the FCA and their definition is displayed in Fig. 1.
Samples B and C are hybrid-type fuel oil additives. The term
Among the many different parameters measured in this study,
“hybrid-type” means that a single additive can serve two or more
functions to the fuel oil. In this case, the additives act as dispersant the most important ones are injection delay (ID), end of combustion
and combustion improvers. Sample B is a ferrocene-based (EC), and after burning period (ABP) as stated in Fig. 1.
10 %, 50 % and 90 % weight loss can be measured, and the total Temperature range Ambient to 1000
weight loss ratio at 750℃ or 900℃ is used as the criteria for Isothermal temp. accuracy +/- 1
combustion characteristics in this analysis. During the process, Controlled heating rate 0.01 to 100 /min
combustion characteristics in different environments were not Furnace cooling [Forced air/N2] 1000 to 50 < 12 min
determined and hence, the test results with air alone are mentioned From 50 to 1000 at 20 /min using empty pans, no
in this paper. The measuring conditions of reaction temperature and baseline/blank subtraction.
volume were placed at 900℃ and 40℃/min, respectively, with the
rate of air purging set to 35 mL/min.
Fig. 2 represents schematic principle of FIA/FCA and TGA
analyzers.
Fig. 5. Curve of rate of heat release. Fig. 6. Simplified ROHR curve and suggestion of new
parameters for consideration.
7.38 and 7.32 respectively. These values are related to the energy
conversion of fuel oil and Sample C shows the least amount of of the value of (θ1 + θ2) can be evaluated by its proximity to
fuel-to-energy conversion. When it comes to other parameters, 180°. Calculating the angle θ3 can be an alternative measure
Sample C shows better results than the others but in the case of because of the simplified ROHR curved-shaped triangle.
AR the tendency is different. This simple method is derived from the concept that the ROHR
For this reason, the study assumes that the ROHR analysis does and the Position of ROHR shall simultaneously be considered.
not consider the combustion efficiency. The analysis is focused Therefore, it could be theorized that stronger combustion occurs at
solely on time and the amount of energy produced. The IP 541/06 larger angles of θ1 and θ2 than at smaller angles of θ1 and θ2.
standard and references only focus on the time up to P.ROHR. The In case of θ3, a smaller angle can be indicative of more active
actual combustion continues after P.ROHR and until EC. Hence, combustion.
combustion characteristics after P.ROHR should also be considered However, it is important to note that vigorous combustion is not
to determine the combustion efficiency. always good for the internal combustion engine. This is because
The iron acts as combustion catalyst which enhance combustion vigorous combustion will lead to high combustion temperature and
speed. The iron can be characterized to metalloid which is stable, subsequently higher emission of NOx.
easily maintainable and it has high reactivity. Precious metal has
good metalloid characteristics but the iron also has good reaction Table 6. Example of simplified calculations of relative combustion
and economically available. characteristics
This study investigates a simple method to evaluate combustion
Unit Blank Sample A Sample B Sample C
characteristics during the entire combustion period center around
Time after
P.ROHR. Pre-P.ROHR characteristics and Post-P.ROHR characteristics ms 12.41 12.95 13.49 10.94
P.ROHR (TPR)
could be evaluated individually and their average value calculated. Angle of
This simple consideration can be attained from Fig. 6. M.ROHR ° 87.43 87.47 87.35 87.84
The simple method involves the simplification of ROHR curve. (θ1, AMR)
Simplify the ROHR curve as shown in Fig. 6. The angle θ1 can Angle of Time
After ROHR ° 86.22 86.18 85.71 87.1
be obtained by using the information of P.ROHR, M.ROHR and a (θ2, ATR)
trigonometrical function. Time after P.ROHR [TPR] can be
Sum of Angles
calculated from EC-P.ROHR, and the result displayed in Table 6 ° 173.65 173.65 173.06 174.94
(θ1 + θ2)
as the parameter TPR. The angle θ2 can be attained by using Simple
6.35 6.35 6.94 5.06
TPR, M.ROHR and trigonometric function repeatedly. The sum up indication
The Combustion Characteristics of Residual Fuel oil Blended with Fuel Additives
Mass [mg]
from the Pressure trace curve.
20
data can be analyzed using the mass conservation ratio. The Temperature [deg.C]
process commenced with different masses of samples: 39.355 mg Fig. 7. TGA analysis of fuel mass reduction with respect to
of blank, 29.547 mg of sample A, 17.112 mg of sample B and temperature.
21.036 mg of sample C.
120
Fig. 7 indicates arch-shaped loss in mass from the beginning to
Blank
up to 500℃ for samples A, B and C. A remarkable mass loss in A
100 B
mass cannot be seen from 500℃ to 900℃. On the other hand, C
Mass Conservation Ratio [%]