A heavy residue left after gasoline and lighter distillates are boiled off from crude oil. In commercial refining, it is often blended into bunker fuel for large ships or burned directly in power plants and industrial boilers. It has high energy content but burns dirty, requiring pre-heating to flow and producing significant sulfur and particulate emissions.
The boiler injectors are clogging again because this batch of mazut is too viscous even with the pre-heaters running.
Also heard as
- Mazout
Related terms
Cut
A specific fraction of hydrocarbons separated during the distillation of crude oil.
Distillation
The primary refinery process that separates crude oil into different hydrocarbon groups by boiling point.
Wax point
The temperature at which dissolved waxes in a hydrocarbon fuel begin to crystallize and impede flow.