decarbonize

Verb

decarbonize (third-person singular simple present decarbonizes, present participle decarbonizing, simple past and past participle decarbonized)

1. (transitive) To clean hard sooty deposits from inside an internal combustion engine.
   • During the overhaul, the cylinder heads were found to be reusable, as long as they got a good cleaning to decarbonize the valve seat areas.
   • To decarbonize piston rings and ring grooves, remove each ring carefully by spreading the ends just enough to get them clear of the piston top land and lifted off.1968 February, Popular Science, page 115

   Synonyms:

   decoke

2. (transitive) To remove carbon content from iron or steel, either intentionally or accidentally, as by (for example) overheating steel in the presence of air, destroying its former temper and hardness.
   • A blast furnace decarbonizes iron enough that it can be used as input to a steelmaking furnace.
   • Repeatedly scorching a case-hardened tool will ruin the case by decarbonizing it.

   Synonyms:

   decarburize

3. (intransitive, transitive) To reduce or replace fossil fuels by renewable energy in energy production and distribution systems.
   • Efforts to decarbonize the automotive fleet are challenging, but no one wants nightmare-grade climate change, either.
   • Efforts to decarbonize have been facing some challenges lately.