OZOKERITE or OZOCERITE may be designated as crude paraffin wax; it is found in many localities in varying degrees of purity, and is named from Gr. '6"EGV, to emit odour, and /man, wax. Specimens have been obtained from Scotland, Northumber land and Wales as well as from about 3o different countries ; it was formerly worked commercially in Utah, U.S.A., but these de posits are now worked out and the sole sources of commercial supply are in Galicia, at Boryslaw, Dzwiniacz and Starunia. While formerly as much as 20,000 tons were mined annually, the indus try has latterly suffered from the competition of the greatly increased output of paraffin wax extracted from petroleum.
Ozokerite usually occurs in thin stringers and veins up to 'ft. or so in thickness and is believed to have originated from the slow evaporation and oxidation of paraffin base petroleum. It is gen erally characterized by a higher melting point than the wax extracted from oils, though the paraffin "scale" deposited on the casing of certain oil wells in Trinidad was found to approximate closely in melting point to native ozokerite.
As found native, ozokerite ranges from a very soft wax to a black mass as hard as gypsum, the specific gravity varying from .85 to .95 and the melting point from to C. It is soluble
in benzene, chloroform, carbon disulphide, etc. Galician ozokerite varies from light yellow to dark brown and usually melts at 62° C.
The ozokerite as mined is separated from its mineral impurities by boiling in water, when the wax rises to the surface. This crude ozokerite is refined by treatment first with concentrated sulphuric acid and afterwards with charcoal, the result being the ceresine or ceresin of commerce.
On distillation in a current of superheated steam, ozokerite yields a candle-making material resembling the paraffin obtained from petroleum and shale-oil but of higher melting point, and therefore of greater value if the candles made from it are to be used in hot climates. There are also obtained in the distillation light oils and a product resembling vaseline (q.v.). The residue in the stills consists of a hard, black, waxy substance, which in ad mixture with india-rubber is employed under the name of Okonite as an electrical insulator. From the residue a form of the material known as heel-ball, used to impart a polished surface to the heels and soles of boots, is also manufactured. (J. R.)