Where does the black smoke come from? Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, is notorious for its numerous operational problems, particularly its dependence on mazut, a heavy, tar-like fuel.
This is bad news: Although the industry switched to nuclear and gas turbine propulsion in the 1980s, Kuznetsov was built with an outdated, problematic system that required complex preheating and pressurization of the fuel oil. This led to frequent engine failures, constant emission of black smoke and embarrassing incidents such as the tug that towed the carrier 2,700 miles.
A low-quality aircraft carrier for Russia: These problems are exacerbated by the use of inferior tubes, which puts the Kuznetsov in stark contrast to modern, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
Why Russia’s only aircraft carrier is a smoky, ailing relic
Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, enjoys international recognition for all the wrong reasons: engine failures, costly repairs, a deadly fire and, above all, the constant emission of foul smoke.
Russia’s only aircraft carrier is a smoking mess
The Russian ship Kuznetsov runs on a sticky, tar-like substance called mazut. For sailors, mazut is a corrosive, sticky nuisance that is difficult to remove from clothing.
Mazut is a heavy petrochemical and was the standard fuel for military and commercial ships until the 1970s, primarily because the thick viscosity of the slurry gave it a high volume-to-energy ratio compared to lighter distillates. However, Mazut had numerous disadvantages, which is why most new ships were fitted with nuclear or gas turbine propulsion systems.
Not so, however, with the Kuznetsov, which the Soviet Union launched in 1985 – almost two decades after the industry had turned away from fuel oil.
Today, the Kuznetsov game is a stark reminder of why this turnaround occurred.
Mazut is considered a class B or C bunker fuel. Bunker fuels, the colloquial term for the heating oil used by seagoing vessels, are classified into classes A, B and C based on their boiling point, carbon chain length and viscosity.
A is the highest quality classification. C is the lowest. Low-quality fuel emissions, such as those from Mazut, typically produce large amounts of sulfur and have negative impacts on the environment and human health.
Burning fuel oil is complicated. The fuel must be preheated and pressurized using a complex system of boilers and pipes. Therefore, properly functioning boilers and pipes are absolutely essential when using fuel oil.
However, the Soviets installed substandard piping on the Kuznetsov, setting the ship up for a long life full of failures. Due to substandard piping, the Kuznetsov is unable to operate all of its boilers at full capacity all the time.
In fact, the boilers often fail, forcing the ship’s captains to alternate between using the working boilers. Sometimes the ship is reduced to using only one boiler, allowing it to travel at just 4 knots. Tugs are often sent to accompany the underpowered and unreliable Kuznetsov.
In fact, in 2012, after returning from the Syrian coast, the Kuznetsov lost all power – probably due to a boiler failure – and had to be towed home behind the Russian tug Nikolai Chiker. Embarrassingly, the Kuznetsov required an escort for 2,700 miles – a fact that Russia tried to hide from the world.
Another consequence of the Kuznetsov’s inferior pipe and boiler system: black smoke.
The Kuznetsov’s black smoke is likely the result of improper calibration of the preheating or injection mechanisms. The fuel oil injected into the combustion chamber may not have had enough time to burn completely. The result: only partially burned fuel oil is released into the atmosphere in the form of black smoke.
Russia regularly downplays the Kuznetsov smoke problem. Russian Admiral Ivan Vasilyev, for example, claimed that the black smoke was deliberately created, in accordance with maritime tradition, to announce the Russians’ presence.
Why build a Masut aircraft carrier?
Why Russia built an aircraft carrier in the 1980s that consumed so much fuel oil, even though there were also options for nuclear and gas turbine propulsion, is a mystery.
The US aircraft carriers built at the same time used only nuclear energy. Therefore, the operational capability of the US fleet was only limited by the endurance of the crew and the supplies. There are no boiler problems, no black smoke and certainly no tugs.
About the author
Harrison Kass is a prolific writer on defense and national security, having published over 1,000 articles. He is a lawyer, pilot, guitarist, and professional hockey player, and joined the U.S. Air Force as a student pilot but was medically discharged. Harrison holds degrees from Lake Forest College, the University of Oregon School of Law, and New York University’s Graduate School of Arts & Science. He lives in Oregon and is a regular listener of Dokken.
Image credit: Creative Commons.
