Operation, quality and storage of fuels and lubricants

Oil has special properties that make it used with extreme caution. So, for example, during the transportation of this product, during its storage and various operations with products, mixtures may appear that have an increased explosive hazard and may cause harm, including of a man-made nature.

At the same time, oil fumes lead to a loss in the quality of the product itself, reduce the quantitative indicators, in addition, people working in this production can get toxic poisoning, and the environment can cause considerable harm.

In this regard, all work with oil products is subject to strict regulations, which require special compliance with all fire safety measures and regimes, personal protection measures for workers, as well as knowledge of the technical and operational properties of the product by workers.

In Ukraine, there are special state standards that regulate the production and release of petroleum products. And also there are departmental technical specifications - technical conditions and temporary departmental technical standards. All products manufactured in Ukraine are certified, oil refineries are required to have a license.

Performance properties of petroleum products

It is customary to refer to the operational properties of oil products as their ability to pump, combustibility and speed of ignition, corrosion activity, tendency to form tar and coke, as well as other deposits, toxicity, content of various kinds of mechanical impurities, etc.

Particular attention is usually paid to mechanical impurities. Their oil contains in the form of sediment, in which they are suspended and filtered in a filter. Their content is strictly controlled by standards because they are very harmful to machinery.

The viscosity of the products makes it possible to assess their ability to pump, including through filters. In addition, this ability is also influenced by the content of mechanical impurities, the density of the product and the degree of its purity.

Flammability characterizes the features of the process of ignition of a mixture of air with vapors of oil and oil products. Evaluated by the temperatures of flash, ignition and self-ignition, specific electrical conductivity, characterizes the fire hazardous properties of oil and oil products.

Qualitative characteristics of petroleum products

Petroleum products are characterized by the following main indicators:

the tendency to form deposits - this is the name of the indicator characterizing the process of salt formation in the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, fuel and other systems. It is assessed by the volume of precipitation, the concentration of resins, the period of sediment formation and other indicators;
indicator of actual resins - these products are formed from oxidation, condensation and polymerization of hydrocarbons during the evaporation of motor fuel in an air stream and in water vapor;
iodine number - indicates that the product contains unsaturated compounds, whose indicator is equal to the number of grams of iodine in 100 g of petroleum products;
coking capacity - this indicator determines how much coke deposits remains during the combustion of the product;
ash content is the parameter that shows the presence of non-combustible substances;
base number is defined as how much potassium hydroxide in mg to 1 g of alkaline components in 1 g of petroleum product;
the detergent potential is an assessment of how much the detergent additive provides the dispersion of particles in the combustion chambers of engines during oil oxidation.
thermo-oxidative ability - determined in time and burns about the antioxidant properties of the oil;
the induction period of sedimentation determines the ability of the engine oil to resist aging in air at high temperatures.

In addition, acidity, corrosiveness, antiwear properties, and preservation can also be called important components for characterization.

Electrical properties of petroleum products

Neither oil nor any other products derived from it conduct electricity. However, they can accumulate charges that can reach values of several thousand volts. This happens as a result of friction between particles and layers, friction of raw materials against the walls of tanks, against tanks. And this voltage is enough for a spark to arise, which will ignite the entire mass of oil products.
To avoid such situations and in order to prevent an accident, all equipment, including berths, loading and unloading facilities, all dead ends must be grounded. Tank cars, tankers, and other technical means are also grounded, where fuel is unloaded and loaded. In this case, the electrical resistance of the ground loops of devices and circuits does not exceed 100 ohms.

If oil contains water, salts, acids and alkalis, it begins to conduct current, and the conductivity depends on how many impurities there are in it, how much they are mixed and uniform. That is, it depends on the quality of the oil emulsion.

Determination of the density of petroleum products

There is a concept of absolute and relative density of petroleum products. It is customary to call the absolute density the mass that is contained in a unit of volume, taking for the density the mass of one cubic meter of water at t 4 degrees. Relative is the ratio of mass to distilled water of mass at the same temperature regime, taken in a similar volume.

So, like water, oil products have the ability to expand and change this indicator, it is customary to use temperature indicators for calculations. So, to determine how the standard is, it is customary to take the temperature of 20 degrees, and if it does not coincide, then, determining the indicator P, bring it to the one that would be with the standard of 20 degrees.

The designation standard is p20 / 4, where the numbers 20 and 4 denote, respectively, the ratio of the P of the oil product to the norm of its temperature, and also to the P of water at 4 degrees, adopted as the standard for water.
Fuel standards do not standardize P, but GOST obliges it to be determined in order to take into account the consumption of products in warehouses, oil stations, where the receipt is in kilograms, and the consumption in liters. Accordingly, one cannot do without knowledge of P.

Hydrometers (petrodensimeters) as well as pycnometers and Westphal balances are used for this purpose. However, oil sensors are most often used in oil storage facilities. At the same time, these devices cannot determine P of viscous substances, therefore such substances must be diluted by adding kerosene in a one-to-one ratio.

Quality control of petroleum products under operating conditions

The quality of raw materials, whether it be diesel fuel, gasoline or fuel oil, is very important to monitor at all stages: from receipt to pumping. To assess its condition, changes in properties, the necessary criteria were identified, which make it possible to ensure the completeness of the picture. The efficiency of the operation of this or that equipment will directly depend on them. These fundamental characteristics include:
Density. This is the mass of a substance per unit volume. It is not a universal indicator for all types of petroleum products, but it must be monitored when raw materials arrive and are used. The density is measured under the condition of a certain temperature regime.

Viscosity is the most important parameter for almost all petroleum products. If the fuel has a high viscosity, this will negatively affect the supply and its further atomization. Reduced viscosity negatively affects the condition of fuel components, provoking its premature wear.
Fractional composition, presence of mechanical impurities and flash point.

The analysis of the state of petroleum products is carried out in laboratory conditions on the basis of existing norms and standards for each type. If operational control is required, you can resort to using the available techniques. So, the quality of any raw material obtained by oil refining can be traced by its color, transparency, the presence of various impurities and water in its composition.

As for transparency and color, these indicators should be monitored especially carefully for gasoline and kerosene. These are transparent liquids and the presence of some turbidity in them will indicate a high level of pollution. The level of contamination of diesel fuel can be monitored by filtration. As a filter, you can use an ordinary white sheet of paper, which is folded in the form of a cone, installed in a small neck. Up to 1 liter of fuel must be passed through it. If the raw material is contaminated, then a small spot with a diameter of up to 2 cm will remain on the filter. If the spot size exceeds this parameter, it means that a huge amount of contamination is present in the composition. A white sheet indicates that the diesel fuel is absolutely clean.

Storage of petroleum products

Before reaching the final consumer, oil refined products go through an important stage of transportation to their destination. It can be carried out in several ways: delivery by water or rail, transportation by fuel trucks. Such manipulations inevitably affect the quality level of fuels and lubricants, even changing their initial composition. Resins, precipitation can be released, specific contaminants can form in the fuel itself.

Another problem is evaporation. It happens for a number of reasons. The first is improper storage of raw materials (in leaky tanks). The second is the specifics of the process of pumping, issuing and refueling the resource itself. Evaporation has a negative effect not only on the amount of fuel, but also contributes to a change in the fractional composition. Regular gasoline is most affected due to its low boiling point. The picture is different with all other oil products. Diesel fuel, lubricants and oily formulations turned out to be insensitive to the process.
The first thing that is lost as a result of evaporation is volatilization of light fractions. This leads to the fact that the fractional composition becomes heavier, which, in turn, entails problems with starting characteristics, incomplete and poor-quality combustion, accelerated wear of all rubbing elements of the configuration. Since this phenomenon also provokes an increase in the boiling point of the fuel, it enters the crankcase.

You can prevent the likelihood of such negative factors by observing certain rules. Painting the reservoir in light shades will help to reduce temperature differences in the gas space. Also, losses can be minimized by filling the tank with fuel as much as possible. This will also provide a reduction in free gas space. Maintaining the fuel tank fittings in perfect condition is an affordable and very realistic method of protecting against evaporation. If configuration items such as lids, valves and gaskets are in perfect condition, this will ensure the entire container is tight. Reducing the total number of transfers of raw materials will also have a beneficial effect on the final state of the product.

Examination of fuel, oils, oil products, fuels and lubricants, ash

Service (for 1 sample)	Deadlines	Price without VAT*
Examination of gasoline (for 1 indicator)	from 1 day	from 35 USD
Examination of diesel fuel, diesel fuel (for 1 indicator)	from 1 day	from 33 USD
Expertise of oils (plastic, carburetor, diesel, universal, aviation, hydraulic, transmission, industrial, instrumentation, electrical insulating, compressor; for 1 index)	from 1 day	from 26 USD
Examination of fuel oil, oil, fuel (for 1 indicator)	from 1 day	from 47 USD
Coal expertise (for 1 indicator)	from 1 day	from 42 USD
Examination of solvents (for 1 indicator)	from 1 day	from 35 USD
Examination of technical fluids for various purposes (brake, coolant, additives; for 1 indicator)	from 1 day	from 35 USD
Sampling of petroleum products (for 1 batch)	up to 2 hours	88 USD