There are plans to produce Euro-4 quality diesel fuel from mazut at Esfahan Oil Refinery (EOR) in the near future, maintenance and repair director of at the EOR said, adding that mazut is now mainly exported.
As part of the plan to enhance production efficiency at the refinery, mazut will be delivered to five production units to produce diesel, Nader Kheiri was quoted by ISNA as saying on Sunday.
EOR completely replaced mazut last year with natural gas to help curb pollution. It previously delivered mazut to Shahid Montazeri Power Plant as well as brick kilns in Esfahan. The refinery's efficiency plan so far has made approximately 20 percent progress, Kheiri noted.
Mazut is a heavy, low quality fuel oil, used in power generating plants and other similar applications. In the US and Western Europe, mazut is blended or broken down, with the end product being diesel. Compared to mazut, diesel produces less pollution. It is widely used in most types of transportation.
To help curb air pollution, power plants and industries have been instructed by the government to use gas instead of mazut. One-third of the country's natural gas is consumed by power plants. Iran's power plants need a daily 160 mcm/d of feedstock, of which 40 mcm is mazut and 10-15 mcm diesel.
