Oil waxing
Oil waxing occurs when heating oil begin to gel, and before it has become actually too viscous to flow at all in the heating system oil piping, wax particles (wax platelets or little spheres of wax or in some articles, alkane "wax crystals") have already begun to form in the fuel. The wax platelets form first from the long hydrocarbon chains which are a component in the heating oil (or diesel fuel). It is these waxy particles that can clog an oil line or even an oil-fired heating boiler, furnace, or water heater.
Further reading
- Department of Industry, Commerce, and Energy (1979). Report on the investigation of gas/diesel oil waxing problem, 1979. Dublin. OCLC 8307837.
- Marketing Technical Services (2002-05-22). "Fuel News: Winter Diesel Problems" (PDF). BP Australia Limited Pty Ltd. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
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