Fuel oil facts for kids
Fuel oil is a type of liquid fuel that comes from petroleum, also known as crude oil. It is made at an oil refinery by a process called fractional distillation. This process separates crude oil into different parts, or "fractions." Fuel oil can be one of these parts, or it can be what's left over after other parts are taken out.
Generally, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned to create heat or power. This includes fuels used in furnaces, boilers, or engines. For example, diesel fuel is a type of fuel oil. Fuel oil is made of long chains of hydrocarbons. These include alkanes, cycloalkanes, and aromatic compounds. Sometimes, "fuel oil" refers specifically to the heaviest type of fuel made from crude oil. This type is heavier than gasoline and naphtha.
Different Types of Fuel Oil
In the United States, fuel oil is sorted into six main types. These types are based on things like their boiling temperature, what they are made of, and how they are used. The boiling temperature of fuel oil can range from 175 to 600 degrees Celsius. The length of its carbon chains, which are like tiny building blocks, can be from 20 to 70 atoms long.
As the fuel oil number goes up, its boiling point and carbon chain length also increase. The oil also gets thicker, which is called viscosity. The heaviest types of fuel oil need to be heated up to make them flow easily. Usually, the price of fuel oil goes down as its number increases.
Light Fuel Oils
No. 1 fuel oil, No. 2 fuel oil (also called heating oil), and No. 3 fuel oil are known as distillate fuel oils. They are also called light fuel oils or gasoil. For example, No. 2 fuel oil and No. 2 diesel fuel oil are very similar.
The main difference with diesel is that it also has a "cetane number." This number tells us how well the fuel ignites in an engine. Distillate fuel oils are made by distilling, or heating and separating, crude oil.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Fuel oil truck making a delivery in North Carolina, 1945
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A sample of residual fuel oil
See also
In Spanish: Fueloil para niños
