Mazut is a heavy, low-quality fuel oil used in, generating plants and similar applications. In the United States and Western Europe, mazut is blended or broken down, with the product being diesel.
Mazut may be, used for heating houses in the former USSR and in countries of the Far East that do not have the facilities to blend or break it down into more conventional petrochemicals. In the West, furnaces that burn mazut are commonly called “waste oil” heaters or “waste oil” furnaces.
Mazut-100 is a fuel oil that is, manufactured to GOST specifications, for example, GOST 10585-75 (not active), and GOST 10585-99 Oil fuel. Mazut. Specifications (active, last modified 07.01.2010). (GOST is the Russian system of standards, much like ASTM, for example). Mazut is, almost exclusively manufactured in the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan. This product is typically used for larger boilers in producing steam since the BTU content is high. The most important consideration (not the only consideration) when grading this fuel is the sulfur content, which can mostly be affected by the source feedstock. For shipment purposes, this product is considered a ”dirty oil” product, and because viscosity drastically affects whether it, can be pumped, shipping has unique requirements. Mazut is much like Number 6 Oil and is part of the products left over after gasoline, and lighter components are, evaporated from the crude oil.
The main difference between the different types of Mazut-100 is the content of sulfur. The grades are represented by these sulfuric levels:
- ”Very Low Sulphur” is mazut with a sulfur content of 0.5%
- ”Low Sulphur” is a mazut with a sulfur content of 0.5-1.0%
- ”Normal Sulphur” is a mazut with a sulfur content of 1.0-2.0%
- ”High Sulphur” is a mazut with a sulfur content of 2.0-3.5%
Very Low Sulfur mazut, is generally made from the lowest sulfur crude feedstocks. It has a limited volume to be exported because:
- The number of producers in Russia is limited. Refineries, which produce this, are generally the largest oil companies, such as Lukoil and Rosneft, etc.
- A minimum of half of the total volume is sold only to the domestic market in Russia and the CIS.
- State quotas reserve most of the remainder of this specific product for state-controlled companies abroad.
- The remaining volumes available for export are sold according to state quotas, via state auctions, accessible only to Russian domestic companies with special access and experience with these auctions.
Low to high-sulfur mazut is available from Russia and other CIS countries (Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan). The technical specifications are represented, in the same way, according to the Russian GOST standard 10585-99. The Russian-origin mazut demands higher prices.
