What Are the Properties and Applications of Paraffin Wax?

After soaking the paper in paraffin, various wax papers with good waterproof properties can be prepared, which can be used in food, medicine and other packaging, metal antirust and printing industries; after paraffin is added to cotton yarn, textiles can be made soft, smooth and elastic; Paraffin can also be used to prepare detergents, emulsifiers, dispersants, plasticizers, greases, etc. Due to the increasingly tight resources of animal wax and vegetable wax, most of the current candles are made of paraffin wax. Paraffin melts when heated, and the candle glows, emits black smoke, and emits heat when it burns.

1. There are several versions of the chemical element symbol of paraffin

One theory is that the main component of paraffin is a mixture of C and H elements. (It may contain oxygen, but this is not the main factor) Its chemical element symbol is CxHy. Another way of saying is that paraffin is a mixture of several alkanes, mainly n-docosane (C22H46) and n-octadecane (C28H58), containing about 85% carbon elements and about 14% hydrogen elements. There is no single chemical element symbol.

2. Precautions for storage of paraffin products

Paraffin products are stored in a cool, ventilated warehouse. Keep away from fire and heat sources. should be kept away from oxidizer, do not store together. Equipped with the appropriate variety and quantity of fire equipment. Storage areas should be equipped with suitable materials to contain spills.

3. Application of paraffin

Paraffin wax is a kind of mineral wax and also a kind of petroleum wax. It is a flaky or needle-like crystal obtained from lubricating oil distilled from crude oil distillation through solvent refining, solvent dewaxing or wax freeze crystallization, press dewaxing to obtain wax paste, and then solvent deoiling and refining. Also known as crystalline wax, it is a mixture of hydrocarbons with about 18 to 30 carbon atoms. The main components are straight-chain alkanes, and there are also a small amount of individual branched-chain alkanes and single-ring cycloalkanes with long side chains. The main quality indicators are melting point and oil content, the former means temperature resistance, and the latter means purity. Each type of wax is divided into different varieties according to the melting point, generally every 2°C. According to the degree of processing and refining, it can be divided into three types: fully refined paraffin wax, semi-refined paraffin wax and crude paraffin wax.

Among them, the former two are widely used, mainly used as components and packaging materials of food and other commodities (such as wax paper, crayons, candles, carbon paper), coating materials for baking containers, cosmetic raw materials, used for fruit preservation, and improving rubber resistance. Aging and increasing flexibility, insulation of electrical components, precision casting, etc., can also be used for oxidation to generate synthetic fatty acids. Because of its high oil content, crude paraffin is mainly used in the manufacture of matches, fiberboards, tarpaulins, etc. After adding polyolefin additives to paraffin, its melting point increases, and its adhesion and flexibility increase. It is widely used in moisture-proof and waterproof packaging paper, cardboard, surface coating of certain textiles and candle production.