Abstract

RAMIREZ QUINTERO, Andrés Fernando et al. Increase in the melting point temperature of bio-waxes produced from palm oil hydrotreated by solvent-free crystallization. Cienc. Tecnol. Agropecuaria [online]. 2023, vol.24, n.1, e2839.  Epub Jan 01, 2023. ISSN 0122-8706.  https://doi.org/10.21930/rcta.vol24_num1_art:2839.

Currently, different waxes are being developed by hydrogenation of palm oil. However, the products obtained do not reach the melting point and hardness conditions required cosmetic industry. Therefore, this article evaluated a solvent-free crystallization process to increase the melting temperature and the mass yields of the biowax required to meet the market specifications. The operating temperature range was determined by DSC and Xray diffraction. Once the crystallization points were known, the sample was heated to 50 °C and then cooled to 40 °C for bio-wax 1 and 30 °C for bio-wax 2; at this temperature two fractions (liquid and solid) were obtained. Following this procedure, a solid fraction was obtained with an increase in the melting point from 47 °C to 49° C for bio-wax 1 and from 45 °C to 47 °C for bio-wax 2. The crystallization process does not separate the different families of compounds in the bio-wax fractions, so there are not significant changes in the acidity, saponification and iodine index parameters. Future research on other complementary refining techniques such as neutralization and bleaching, will allow bio-wax reach international quality criteria for cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

Keywords : acid number; crystallization; DSC; fractionation; vegetable oils; XRD; saponification number.

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