Uses of paraffin

Speaking of paraffin, I believe many of my friends are not familiar with it. But if we talk about lipstick or lipstick, I believe everyone knows it. Because lipstick and lip balm use paraffin as raw material. Paraffin wax is divided into edible grade paraffin wax and chemical paraffin wax. In addition to playing an important role in lipstick, it has many other uses in many areas of our lives.

Paraffin is a hydrocarbon mixture extracted from certain distillates of petroleum, shale oil or other asphalt mineral oils. Its main component is solid alkanes. It is odorless and tasteless, and is a white or light yellow translucent solid. Paraffin wax is amorphous but has a distinct crystalline structure. There is also artificial paraffin.

Paraffin is a kind of petroleum processing product, a kind of mineral wax and a kind of petroleum wax. It is a wax paste obtained by solvent refining, solvent dewaxing or wax freezing crystallization and squeeze dewaxing of the lubricating oil fraction obtained from crude oil distillation, and then solvent deoiling and refining to obtain flaky or needle-shaped crystals. Used in the production of higher fatty acids, higher alcohols, matches, candles, waterproofing agents, ointments, electrical insulating materials, etc.

Paraffin is divided into food grade (food grade and packaging grade, the former is better) and industrial grade. Food grade is non-toxic, while industrial grade is inedible.

Due to its high oil content, crude paraffin is mainly used to make matches, fiberboards, tarpaulins, etc. After adding polyolefin additives to paraffin, its melting point increases, and its adhesion and flexibility are improved. It is widely used in moisture-proof and waterproof packaging paper, cardboard, surface coating of certain textiles and candle production.

By soaking paper in paraffin wax, various wax papers with good waterproof properties can be made, which can be used for food, medicine packaging, metal rust prevention and printing industry; after paraffin is added to cotton yarn, textiles can be made soft, smooth and elastic; paraffin wax can also be used to make detergents, emulsifiers, dispersants, plasticizers, greases, etc.

Fully refined paraffin wax and semi-refined paraffin wax have a wide range of uses. They are mainly used as components and packaging materials for food, oral medicines and certain commodities (such as wax paper, crayons, candles, carbon paper), coatings for baking containers, for preserving fruits, insulating electrical components, improving rubber's anti-aging properties and increasing its flexibility, etc. It can also be used for oxidation to produce synthetic fatty acids.

As a latent heat storage material, paraffin has the advantages of large latent heat of phase change, small volume change during solid-liquid phase change, good thermal stability, no supercooling phenomenon, and relatively low price. In addition, the development of aviation, aerospace, microelectronics and optoelectronics technology often requires that the large amount of heat dissipated by high-power components when working can only be dissipated within a limited heat dissipation area and in a very short time. Low-melting-point phase change materials can reach the melting point faster than high-melting-point phase change materials, make full use of latent heat to achieve temperature control, and have a relatively short thermal response time. The many advantages of paraffin have made it widely used in various fields such as aviation, aerospace, microelectronics and other high-tech systems, as well as house energy conservation.

GB 2760-96 stipulates that it is allowed to be used in gum base, with a limit of 50.0g/kg. It is also used abroad for anti-sticking in the production of glutinous rice paper, with a dosage of 6g/kg. In addition, it is also widely used in food packaging materials for moisture-proof, anti-stick and oil-proof properties. It is suitable for components of food chewing gum, bubble gum and pharmaceutical gold oil, as well as waxes that directly contact food and medicines such as heat carriers, demoulding, tableting, and polishing (made from waxy fractions of petroleum or shale oil by cold pressing, etc.).