PETROLEUM WAX & VASELINE PLANT Seoul, Korea
Q_iso s Activities OPTIMUM SOLUTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT FRONT-END ENGINEERING PROCESS & MECHANICAL ENGINEERING INSTALLATION & CONSTRUCTION OPERATION & MAINTENANCE SERVICE TOTAL SOLUTION Since 2000, (Q_iso) has primarily involved in frontend engineering, process and mechanical design in the field of oil & gas, petrochemical and power industry. Based on these kinds of diversified experiences, Q_iso, as an Engineering, Procument & Construction contractor, offers down-stream plant of various scales for solvent, wax and asphalt through a close alliance with Dong Nam Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (Ulsan, Korea) having with accumulated operation know-how for more than 30 years.
PETROLEUM WAX & VASELINE PLANT Slack Wax SWEATING & PURIFICATION * Paraffine Wax * Microcrystalline Wax ACID TREATMENT & PURIFICATION * Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline) PETROLEUM WAX & VASELINE Slack Wax, feedstock, is obtained from the dewaxing of refined or unrefined vacuum distillate fractions. If the material has been separated from residual oil fractions it is frequently called Petrolatum. The slack waxes are de-oiled by sweating processes to produce commercial waxes with low oil content. The oil that is separated from these processes is known as Foot Oil. The refined petroleum waxes are known as Paraffine Waxes. Microcrystalline Waxes have higher molecular weight than the paraffine waxes and consist of substantial amounts of iso and cycloalkanes. PARAFFINE WAX A waxy crystalline substance that in the pure form is white, odorless and translucent and has the approximate chemical formula of C20 H42 (and above). It is obtained from petroleum by distillation and is then purified by sweating or solvent refining. Paraffin, which is not a true wax, consists mainly of a mixture of saturated straight-chain solid hydrocarbons. Its melting points range from 50 C to 57 C. MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX Microcrystalline waxes consist of odorless, tasteless, non-polar hydrocarbons with relatively high melting points. Multiwax grades vary in color from white to yellow, and in such physical properties as hardness and melting point. VASELINE (PETROLEUM JELLY) Vaseline is a well-known brand of petrolatum (Petroleum Jelly). Petrolatum is a flammable, semisolid mixture of hydrocarbons, having a melting-point usually ranging from a little below to a few degrees above 37 C. It is colorless or of a pale yellow color, translucent and devoid of taste and smell.
PROCESS FLOW DESCRIPTION - I Paraffin Wax & Microstalline Wax; The slack wax, as by-product, is obtained in the lube oil process of the refinery plant. Slack wax is a mixture of oil and wax, which serves as the wax industry's feedstock and that is further refined and blended to create value-added petroleum wax products. SWEATING PROCESS The sweating chamber, a steel structure covered with insulation, contains rectangular trays with cone shape bottom, which are equipped with approx. 50 mesh screen plate in its lower part and coils for alternate cooling and heating purpose. These trays are installed inside of the sweating chamber by an arrangement of several vertical lines of which each has approx. 8 ~10 trays. In the first step of this process, the fresh water is filled in each tray until the level reaches slightly over the screen mesh before the feed wax feeds to keep 10 ~ 20 cm thick beds and then the cooling water is circulated through the coil. After the feed is completely crystallized, the filled water is drained off. The crystallized wax is then sweated while simultaneously draining the liquid drippings, so called foot oil, from each tray in the sweating chamber. The later fractions of foot oil is recycled through sweating process. When the congealing point of the liquid drippings indicates that melting temperature of desired wax product has been obtained, sweating and drainage are stopped. Consequently, the remaining solid bed of wax in the sweating chamber is rapidly melted by heater and then flows to semi-finished product tanks. To produce refined wax from a product wax requires that the wax should be treated with activated clay for color and odor removal is filtered in filter press or rotary drum filter. In order to obtain the low oil content required in final wax products, sometimes two or three repeated treatments are required. Figure 1. Process Flow Diagram (Wax-Sweating Process)
PROCESS FLOW DESCRIPTION - II Vaseline (Petroleum Jelly); In the process, either petrolatum and lube base oil from oil refinery or paraffin and micro wax produced from the sweating process as described are used as feedstock. The process, as semi-continuous process, can be divided either by the blending ratios of the feedstock or treatment methods. ACID TREATMENT PROCESS The feedstock from storage tanks are exactly pre-measured in proportion to each required fraction and then transferred by metering pumps to the acid treatment tank where they are blended and mixed to give certain desired properties such as melt point and penetration. After the transfer is completed, the blended is mixed and heated up to 80 ± 5 C by hot water through heating coils equipped within the tank. In case the blended meets the targeted qualities by sampling check, it proceeds to the next stage acid treatment. The sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) solution with concentration of approx. 0.5 wt % is gradually injected into the tank with maintaining the pre-conditioned temperature and blending. In the reaction with sulfuric acid, most of traces of aromatics, resins and impurities are removed. As a form of finishing process, the treatment of the molten wax with activated earth (Clay) to neutralize acidity remaining from earlier sulphuric acid treatment and/or to improve color and reduce odor and taste of the finished wax, also to remove traces of possibly harmful compounds (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons). In the next filtration, the finishing product is filtered in filter press or rotary drum filter. This earth treatment may be repeated several times until the product meets the requirement of color and neutralization Figure 2. Process Flow Diagram (Vaseline-Acid Treatment Process)
FEEDSTOCK PROPERTIES Slack Wax; Generic term for the mixture of wax and oil recovered in a dewaxing process; may contain 2 ~ 35% oil. Typical dispositions are to further process for finished wax, to process for fuels or to sell into certain end-use markets. Table 1. - Physical Properties of Slack Wax NO. CHARACTERISITICS SPECIFICATIONS 1 Kinematic Viscosity @ 100 C 7 ~ 9 2 Congeal Point, C 65 ~ 68 3 Density @ 15 C 0.83 ~ 0.85 4 Oil Content, wt % Max. 30 5 Refractive Index @ 70 C 1.452 6 Color Yellow 7 Flash Point, C 248 ~ 262 8 Asphaltness, wt % 0.02 ~ 0.05 9 Water Content, Vol % trace 10 Pour Point, C 58 ~ 63 11 Sulfur Content, wt % 0.29 * The above is a typical specification of the feedstock, which have been used as main raw materials. Picture 1. View of Wax and Vaseline Plant
END PRODUCTS The following specifications of the end products are typical, which can be varied in accordance with code or standard applied in the countries. All values are taken on samples of one batch and the specification may vary from batch to batch. Table 2. - Specification of Microcrystalline Wax Table 3. - Specification of Refined Paraffin Wax NO. CHARACTERISITICS SPECIFICATIONS NO. CHARACTERISITICS SPECIFICATIONS 1 Color 0.5 ~ 5.0 1 Color, Saybolt 29 2 Drop Melting Point, C 65 ~ 95 2 Melting Range, C 58 ~ 60 Needle Penetration, 3 2.0 ~ 35.0 Needle Penetration, 0.1 mm @ 25 C 3 <18 1/10 mm 4 Viscosity @ 98.9 C 10 ~ 20 cst 4 Oil Content, wt % Max. 0.5 5 Flash Point, C Min. 260 5 Odor <2 6 Saponication Value Max. 1.0 7 Oil Content, wt % 1.5 ~ 4.0 Table 4. - Specification of Petroleum Jelly(white) 8 Ash, wt % Max. 0.03 9 efractive Index @ 98.9 C N/A NO. CHARACTERISITICS SPECIFICATIONS 1 Melting Range, C 44 ~ 56 2 Sulphated Ash, % 0.05 (Max. 0.1) 3 U.V. Adsorption, 1cm Extinction (=E) E = 0.04 ~ 0.1 4 Specific Gravity, at 60 C 0.81 ~ 0.83 5 Volatile Matter 0.6 ~ 0.8 6 Organic Acid Pass test 7 Bleeding Number Max. 28mm APPLICATIONS SEMI PARAFFIN MICRO- PETROLEUM REFINED WAX WAX WAX JELLY Torches, Tapers Feedstock Candle Making Matches Petroleum Jelly Skin Ointments Corrosion Protectors Paper Coatings Rubber Industry Hair Vaseline Electrical Industries Metal Coatings Tires Industry Cold Cream Cable Filling Cosmetic Lubricants Bread Wrapping Compounds Preparations Tires & Rubber Sealing Polishing Pharmaceutical Industries Materials Edible Items Industry Packaging & Films
FURTHER INFORMATION Phone: + 82 2 2025 7826, Fax: + 82 2 2025 7828 e-mail: qiso00 @ qiso.co.kr No. 806, Ace Techno Tower Ⅷ, Guro3-Dong, Guro-Gu, Seoul, Korea 152-780 URL: www.qiso.co.kr