chemistry and processing of wax

8/11/2019 Chemistry and Processing of Wax

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Chemistry and Processing of Wax

Background and Development

The word waxusually refers to a variety of organic substances that are

solid at ambient temperature but become free-flowing liquids at slightly higher

temperatures. The chemical composition of waxes is complex, but normal

alkanes are always present in high proportion and molecular weight profiles

tend to be wide. The main commercial source of wax is crude oil but not all

crude oil refiners produce wax. Mineralwax can also be produced from lignite.

Plants, animals and even insects produce materials sold in commerce as wax.

There are many mentions of beeswax in historic writing such as the mythwhere Icarus son of Daedalus put on wings of wax and as he flew too close to

the sun, it melted and Icarus fell to his death. The father with more experience

flew closer to the ground and made it to Italy. In Roman times Pliny, lived from

23 AD to 79 AD and described white bees wax which he got by boiling yellow

bees wax in salt water. This was then used in broth and feed to those with

dysentery, it was also used as a skin softener.

Some beeswax to this day is used in cosmetics. Virgil the great Roman

Poet (well I do not think the stuff is that good) wrote of an invention by Pan,

who was the guardian of the bees (an ancient bee keeper man) made a flute of

reeds held together by bees wax. During the Middle Ages wooden panels

covered with beeswax was noted by Homer a Greek poet. Many Romans were

honored by having statues made of themselves made in bees wax and thus

today we have the Movie Land Wax Museum in LA. Romans also wore Death

Masks as well occasionally. The Egyptians used wax figures of deities in funeral

ceremonies and placed them in graves. In 400 BC Greek Historians say thatPersian coated bodies were a form of embalming. The Assyrians covered bodies

with bees wax and then dipped the bodies in honey? Hey honey, who knows? In

181 BC when the Romans defeated the Corsicans and imposed a tax of 100,000

lbs of bees wax.


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The Romans demanded bees wax when they conquered the city of

Trebizond in the first century AD. In Medieval European times wax was a a unit

of trade for taxes or other. In 1330 farmers in one region of France paid 2 lbs

of bees wax per year. On 1632 records show that the French Monastery called

for rent of 600 lbs. of bees wax per year.

Candles of bees wax were at one time required by the Roman Catholic

Church as the exclusive and only candles. The bees were brought to Puerto Rico

by the church and the early priests and conquistadors. These same bees

although dwarfed in comparison to the original bees are still habiting the island

today. Today bees wax is sometimes used in Automobile waxes but normally it

is most used in furniture wax and polishes.

Characteristics of Wax

(Chemical/Physical Properties)

Complex mixtures of compounds

Melting point greater than 40 degrees Celsius without decomposing

Solid at ambient temperature

Liquid at 38 to 93 degrees Celsius

Insoluble in water

Combustible

Thermoplastic in nature

Some waxes-have very good wetting or penetrating qualities

Most waxes exhibit low surface tensions

Most waxes are non-adhesive and slippery


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Certain waxes are incompatible with other waxes, resins and other

materials

Admixture of higher melting materials does not necessarily raise the

melting point of waxes proportionally

Types of Wax according to Origin

A. Naturally Derived

1. Mineral waxes -derived from the earth or obtained from a material of

earthy origin.

a.) Paraffin wax

most commonly used

commercial wax.

White, translucent, waxy,

tasteless, odorless solid, consisting of a mixture of

solid hydrocarbons chiefly of the methane series.

obtained from petroleum

2. Vegetable wax-found as coatings on leaves, stems, flowers and seeds.

a.) Carnauba wax

occurs as fine

powders on the leaves of certain tropical palms

Amorphous, hard,

tough, lustrous, and possesses a pleasing odor

Crude wax: dirty

yellow, brown green

Melting point ranges from 84.4 to 91.1 degreesCelsius

3. Animal wax- obtained from the cavities in the head from the fat of

some animals


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a.) Spermaceti (cetin)

taken from the head cavity and parts of the

hubbler of the sperm whale (Spermaceti is

created in the spermaceti organ inside thewhale's head.)

white (transluscent), shiny, somewhat greasy,

brittle and crystalline

has a faint odor and a bland taste

composed of cetyl palmitate, cetyl alcohol and

esters of high molecular weight fatty acids

melting point ranges from 41 to 52 degrees

Celsius

4. Insect wax- produced or secreted by insects

a.) Beeswax

produced by

honeybee

crude wax: deep

brown to light yellow odor and lovely aroma

composition of church

candles

melting point range from 61 to 65 degrees

celsius

B. Synthetically Derived

Honey

Comb Melted

Boiled

withwater

Skimme

d off

Crude

wax

Remelt

ed

Expose

d tosunlight

Refined

Beeswax


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5. Synthetic wax

a. Stearic Acid

Mixture of fatty acids; stearic acids predominate

Produced from saponified and distilled animalfatty acids

Composed of approximately 60% liquid acid and

40% solid acid

Good hardening agent for paraffin wax candles

Melting point is 69.3 degrees Celsius

Wax applications can be classified into two categories:

waxes as processing aids

waxes as base materials or additives for imparting, improving or

modifying product properties.

Some applications of wax:


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Field of Application

Function During

Processing

Function / Effect

on Finished Good

Function / Effect

on Finished Good

adhesives, hot melts viscosity

regulation, open

time

rapid set off

agriculture

(fertilizers, plant

protection)

anti-

agglomeration

aids in

controlled

release

fertilizers;grafting

retard release of

chemical

protection against

microbes in

grafting

automotive industry surface protection

on metal and

painted surfaces;

corrosion

protection in

cavities

candles moldability andextrudability

fuel for controlledburn

carbon paper dispersing agent

and binder

clarity of

reproduction

cardboard, paper improvement of

MVT properties

of substrate and

adhesion

coating,

impregnation,

surface gloss,

laminating

ceramics and metal

(powder)

binder for

sintering

improved surface

and reduction of

rejects

cheese encapsulation;

moisture

controll

coating, surface

protection

chewing gum dispersion of chewability of


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rubber and

gumbase

aditives

gumbase

citrus (and other) fruit surface and

emulsifier

treatment

protective coating

cosmetics binder,

consistency

regulation

component of

ointments,

pastes, creams,

lipsticks

electrical and electronic

applications

release agent;

masking agent

in edgingprocess

insulator

explosives process aid phlegmatizer

metal working lubrication corrosion

inhibitor

paints and coatings viscosity

regulation

matting, surface

protection; slip

agent

pharmaceuticals dispersion orsurface

treatment aid

surfaceprotection;

glazing agent;

release retardant

in drugs

pigments processing aid carrier (base wax)

in pigment

masterbatches

plastics and rubber lubricant (PVC),

release agent

(PA)

improves surface

appearance

polishes major ingredient surface protection

of leather, floors,

cars

poultry defeathering smooth skin


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printing inks dispersion

promotor

improvement of

rub

resistance, slip,

gloss

recycling homogenizer compatibilizer

ski lubricant; polish

textile industry sizing agent water repellant,

lustering

toner (photocopiers) dispersing aid print clarify

Wax Demand

Demand for waxes in the US is forecast to reach $2.5 billion in

2013. Value gains will be based on a shift to more expensive types.

Volume growth will be driven by use of waxes in building boards,

coatings, adhesives, plastics and rubber. Petroleum waxes will stay the

largest market but will lose share to faster growing synthetic and

natural types.

Wax RefiningOne of the many products derived from refining is lubricating

oil, from which a byproduct called slack wax is obtained. Slack wax is

a mixture of oil and wax.

Crystallization- Slack wax is heated, mixed with solvent and then cooled. As

it is cooled, wax crystallizes out leaving oil in solution. Wax specifications

such as melt point, penetration, and oil content are controlled primarily by

the amount of solvent added, the rate of cooling and the temperature from

the crystallization process.

Filtration- The crystallized wax is filtered from the solvent in totally

enclosed, inert gas blanketed, rotary drum filters. In order to obtain the low

oil content required in final wax products, two and sometimes three stages

of filtration are required.


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Solvent Recovery- Two streams come from each drum filter, one containing

the wax and some solvent and the other containing extracted oil and solvent.

These streams go to the solvent recovery plant where solvent is removed by

continuous distillation in steam-heated kettle heat exchangers and stripping

towers. The recovered solvent is recycled to the crystallization process and

to the drum filters as a wash. The solvent-free wax and oil streams go to

separate storage. At this point the wax is known as a "product wax" and the

oil is called "foots oil". The product wax is usually processed further and

most of the foots oil is sold as catalytic cracker feedstock.

Decoloring Deodorizing- To produce a "fully refined" wax from a product

wax requires that the wax be passed through a bed of clay to remove colorand through a vacuum stripping tower for odor removal. The decoloring

operation is known as "percolation" and is a batch process. The clay is

regenerated before reuse by passing it through a multiple hearth furnace to

remove the absorbed color bodies.

Blending and Manufacturing- Fully refined paraffin waxes are blended

together to give certain desired properties such as melt point and

penetration. These blended waxes are then either sold in a liquid state orconverted into slabs, chicklets, pastilles or granules in one of our

manufacturing plants. Blended waxes are also used for base stock for further

blending with other petroleum based products such as resins and polymers

to incorporate special properties such as flexibility, toughness and/or gloss.


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chemistry and processing of wax

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