LW-01-124 Fractional Crystallization: A New Technology to De-Oil Slack Waxes

Description:

The raw material necessary for the production of paraffin waxes is the slack wax which is a byproduct of the dewaxing process of lube oils from vacuum distillation of crude oil and deasphalted vacuum residue. The slack waxes are made up of a combination of mainly saturated hydrocarbons with higher melting points which, in accordance with the lube oil technology, comprise various boiling ranges. They can be further differentiated by their low melting components (oil content). As the quality of the crude oil varies differences in the structural composition of slack waxes are a result. Distillate slack waxes are the raw material for the production of macrocrystalline paraffin waxes with different congealing points. Slack waxes obtained from the dewaxing of the deasphalted vacuum residue form the base products for the production of microcrystalline paraffin waxes. Slack waxes have oil contents between 5 % and 30 %, depending on how the dewaxing processes are designed and operated. Therefore they do not comply with the quality requirements of paraffin waxes. The first processing step of de-oiling provides the most significant change in the final product composition.