Characterization of petroleum products by DSC analysis

Some petroleum products, as paraffin waxes, microcrystalline waxes, lube oils, fuel oils, bitumens, were studied using DSC. DSC makes it possible to determine the wax content of various petroleum fractions, to study the effects of additives, to determine the glass transitions of bitumens; it is a useful technique both for research and for product analysis.     

高熔点蜡合成技术的研究进展

高熔点蜡(熔点 > 80 ℃)具有高熔点、高稳定性、低针入度、低迁移率以及耐磨坚硬等特点,在食品化妆、材料加工、电子机械、国防航空以及医疗领域有着重要的应用。但目前市场上的蜡产品熔点(50–70 ℃)较低。而我国高熔点蜡和特种蜡的需求量日益增加,预计缺口将突破70万吨。本文详细综述国内外合成高熔点蜡(熔点 > 80 ℃)的技术和工艺,包括聚乙烯蜡、费托蜡和生物质基蜡等,尤其对工艺涉及的催化剂和反应机理等进行了分析。聚乙烯裂解制备具有成本低、可以有效解决“白色污染”等优点,并且可以直接利用现有的催化裂化装置。但这一过程需要在高温的苛刻条件下进行,得到的蜡产品碳数分布较广、杂质较多,性能和色泽等方面不如直接乙烯聚合工艺的蜡产品。乙烯聚合蜡工艺则主要受限于复杂的工艺和昂贵的茂金属及非茂金属的配合物催化剂。高熔点费托蜡虽然性能优异并且技术也逐渐成熟,但其不同熔点的产品是通过不同长度碳链的精馏得到,产品是混合碳链的烷烃,仍然存在相对较宽的熔程。虽然生物质基蜡的合成研究刚起步,但其产物碳数单一,具有更窄的熔程;在合成过程中可根据需求选取特殊官能团的生物质平台小分子,还可根据特殊的使用场景对产品进行官能团化等。更重要的是,生物质基高熔点蜡更加契合世界各国的能源绿色可再生化和低碳化政策。展望了高熔点合成蜡的未来发展趋势,以期促进新的工艺和技术路线的涌现。     

高熔点蜡合成技术的研究进展

High-melting hydrocarbon waxes (melting point: > 80 ℃), consisting of saturated alkanes with carbon numbers greater than 40, exhibit unique features including high melting points, high stability, low penetration, high viscosity, as well as good wear resistance and hardness. These features make high-melting waxes suitable for use in foods, cosmetics, materials processing, electronic machinery, national defense, aviation, medical fields, etc. Considering the fast growth of technology and the electronics industry, the world's economy relies on the production and utilization of high-quality high-melting waxes. However, most waxes in the world's current markets are prepared from mineral oils, and such commercial waxes have melting points in the range of 50–70 ℃. Considering the rapid consumption of high-melting waxes and specialty waxes, their supply insufficiency is anticipated to exceed 700000 t. High-melting waxes are divided into polyethylene (PE) wax and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) wax, based on synthesis methodology. PE wax can be obtained via the polymerization of ethylene and can also be prepared via the thermal or catalytic cracking of plastics. PE cracking to form waxes, with the advantage of low cost, can effectively solve the problem of "white pollution" and make use of existing catalytic cracking units. However, this process results in high energy consumption to achieve waste polymer depolymerization and exhibits some drawbacks, such as a wide carbon number distribution and high impurity content in the obtained PE waxes. However, there are some new methods for synthesizing PE waxes, such as cross alkane metathesis. The FTS, which uses carbon monoxide and hydrogen as raw materials, realizes the synthesis of waxes through carbon chain growth. Although the high-melting FTS waxes display excellent performance and the technology is gradually maturing, FTS waxes with different melting points are produced by rectification of products with various carbon chain lengths. Nonetheless, PE and FTS waxes are widely used in various industries because of their excellent properties. However, their synthesis is based on petroleum and coal-derived chemical products. Biomass-derived waxes have a narrow melting range due to their precise carbon chain growth process. Based on different application demands, small biomass platform molecules can be functionalized to fabricate biomass-derived waxes with special functions. More importantly, the biomass-based synthesis route is sustainable and in-line with the global values for mitigating carbon dioxide emissions and achieving carbon neutrality. This review discusses the recent advances in the synthesis techniques for high-melting waxes, including PE waxes, FTS waxes, and biomass-derived waxes. Furthermore, the catalysts and reaction mechanisms involved in the synthesis of high-melting waxes are discussed in detail. Finally, the perspectives and trends of high-melting waxes are reviewed to promote the emergence of new processes and technical routes.      

云南褐煤蜡氧化精制的研究

本工作对云南潦浒、寻甸、昭通蒙旦蜡进行了脱树脂,氧化精制研究,探索国产蒙旦蜡能否经精制后满足合成改性浅色蜡的要求。实验结果表明,潦浒、寻甸两厂生产的蒙旦蜡经氧化精制不能达到完全脱色,而昭通蒙旦蜡在相同的精制条件下极易脱色,所得浅色蜡质量达到和超过国外同类产品的水平,因此昭通蒙旦蜡是生产浅色蜡的理想原料。在精制反应中,加入适量ＹＰＳＯ－１添加剂,对改善反应条件,产物的分离,提高得率和质量均有良好的影响。文中还讨论了潦浒、寻甸脱脂蜡经氧化精制不能完全脱色的原因     

Application of combined liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS): analysis of petroporphyrins and meibomian gland waxes.

Application of the moving belt LC/MS interface is illustrated by two diverse examples, one from the field of petroporphyrin chemistry, the other, a sample of high molecular weight waxes from the steer meibomian gland (eye). Petroporphyrins are difficult of convert to derivatives suitable for GC analysis and the advantages of analysis by a combined separation/identification method are well demonstrated by the LC/MS runs. High molecular weight waxes can be saponified and derivatized for other analyses such as GC and GC/MS, but information regarding the distribution of alcohol and acid in the combined state is destroyed. This study shows that such information can be obtained by a combined LC/MS analysis without chemical manipulation of the sample.     

Characterization of hydrocarbon waxes and polyethylenes by DSC

Thermal analysis, originally the technique of DTA, and more recently that of DSC, has been proposed as a means of characterizing waxes. Alternative methods of analysis (refractive index, infrared spectroscopy, etc.) give only a limited amount of information when applied to hydrocarbon waxes. DSC, on the other hand, not only offers a means of distinguishing between microcrystalline, paraffinic, Fischer—Tropsch synthetic, and polyethylene waxes, but offers a scheme by which various hydrocarbon waxes may be fingerprinted. Good agreement between DSC data and the TAPPI system, which utilizes melting point and refractometry, is demonstrated.     

Catalytic degradation of polyethylene using thermal gravimetric analysis and a cycled-spheres-reactor

Commercial samples of pure polyethylene were decomposed over H-ZSM-5 and Y-type zeolites using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and a laboratory-scale-plant, so-called the cycled-spheres-reactor. By the TGA measurements, the activity and the deactivation behavior of the zeolite catalysts were determined. The plastic to catalyst ratio was varied to find out the optimal value for catalyst screening and for the operation of the cycled-spheres-reactor. In addition, the deactivation behavior of the zeolite catalysts was investigated. Y-type zeolites revealed lower activity and faster deactivation behavior than H-ZSM-5. Higher module of H-ZSM-5 and Y-type zeolite showed slower deactivation, but lower activity than lower module of those. Experiments in the cycled-spheres-reactor proved the results of the TGA measurements in terms of activity. The main products in the non-catalytic degradation were waxes, and when catalysts were applied, a high yield of oils was obtained at the expense of waxes. The product spectra of product oils obtained with catalysts lay mainly in the range C₄–C₁₀.     

Characterization of waxes used in pictorial artworks according to their relative amount of fatty acids and hydrocarbons by gas chromatography

A study attempted to characterize natural waxes used in pictorial works of art was carried out by means of gas chromatography. The analytical treatment requires prior hydrolysis of the waxes to release the fatty acids (FA) (myristic (myr), palmitic (pal), oleic (ole), stearic (ste), araquidic (ara), behenic (beh), lignoceric (lig), cerotic (cer)) from the main esters of the waxes. The formation of volatile derivatives of the fatty acids was carried out by derivatization with ethyl choroformate (ECF). This derivatization reagent was chosen due to the speed, safety and quantitativity of the reaction. The analyzed hydrocarbons were n-eicosane, n-heneicosane, n-docosane, n-tricosane, n-tetracosane, n-pentacosane, n-hexacosane, n-heptacosane, n-octacosane, n-nonacosane, n-tricontane n-hentriacontane, n-dotriacontane, n-tritriacontane, n-tetratriacontane, n-pentatriacontane, main constituents of the waxes. No derivatization is needed to analyze the hydrocarbons. Ethyl ester derivatives and hydrocarbons are adequately separated by gas chromatography, identified by flame ionization detection and confirmed by mass spectrometry. To characterize natural waxes, peak area ratios of each fatty acids with respect to the palmitic acid and peak area ratios of each hydrocarbons with respect to n-heptacosane were calculated. The proposed method provides a good characterization of different waxes most frequently used in artworks, such as beeswax, carnauba wax and ceresin, and has been successfully applied to real samples. This is the first report on the application of ECF to the analysis of fatty acids in wax.     

Sorbent-excluding sample preparation method for GC–MS pesticide analysis in apple peel

Apple peel is frequently exposed to pesticides, especially in the last stages of the pesticide treatment practice. For a certain period, peel retains most of the applied pesticides, which precisely indicates the presence of pesticide residues. This study was conducted to establish and evaluate the method for the residue analysis of pyrimethanil, cyprodinil, trifloxystrobin, bifenthrin and boscalid by GC–MS in peel of Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Idared varieties. The method consisted of few steps, without the routine usage of sorbents, and resulted in efficient removal of waxes, targeted as main interferences in GC–MS analysis. The matrix effect, boscalid selectivity issue, trend of lower trueness for bifenthrin in all matrices and for all analytes in Granny Smith matrix were in some way associated with the waxes. Finally, the method was applied to the analysis of three varieties of apple orchard samples, after 9 and 5 months of treatment with commercial formulations that contain pyrimethanil, cyprodinil and boscalid as active ingredients. Since the developed method consisted of few steps and used nontoxic and economic reagents, it could be implemented as a fast, economic and reliable screening method.     

Artifacts of the decalin-molecular sieve system in the analysis of mineral waxes

Analysis of commercial paraffin waxes by use of molecular sieves and decalin has been shown to give misleading results because of the formation of additional compounds. The source and the nature of these compounds have been investigated and it has been found that they are polymers of partially dehydrogenated decalin. Care should be taken when using this solvent in such analyses.     

Characterization of Hydrocarbon Waxes by Gel Permeation Chromatography and Differential Scanning Calorimetry

Abstract

An integral part of many elastomer compounding recipes is the wax since it contributes significantly to the performance characteristics of the vulcanizate. Frequently the only quality control tests applied by the user are a simple melting point range and a percent insolubles. This work demonstrates two analytical techniques that can provide much improved quality control monitoring of waxes. Differential scanning calorimetry and gel permeation give not only data on the melting characteristics but also supply information on the chemical structure and size distribution of the waxes. Using these methods replacement waxes can be selected on a technically sound basis.     

Effect of the Solvent Composition on the Content of the Crystalline Phase and Melting Temperature of Paraffin Waxes

Russian Journal of Applied Chemistry - The results of a study of melting the commercial waxes in the composition of asphaltene-resin-paraffin deposits and for comparison of petroleum waxes in...     

FT合成烃类蜡的研究进展

介绍了ＦＴ合成烃类蜡的研究意义及从Ｓｃｈｕｌｚ－Ｆｌｏｒｙ规律考虑高选择性合成蜡的可能性，重点介绍了Ｒｕ，Ｃｏ，Ｆｅ等几种高选择性合成蜡的催化剂及其工艺条件，并对这几种催化剂进行了评述，参考文献２９篇。     

Abnormal composition of commerical waxes revealed by supercritical fluid chromatography

Summary The analysis of natural waxes is a complicated process because they occur as complex mixtures. A study using supercritical fluid chromatography with packed columns made it possible to observe the behavior of each family of hydrocarbons, fatty esters, alcohols, acids and triglycerides. The latter were then separated according to their function type and alkyl chain lengths using octadecyl silica as stationary phase. With a polar modifier added to the supercritical fluid, it was possible to analyse certain waxes. Composition anomalies were observed which related to an overabundance of certain compounds which, in excess, are harmful to the quality of waxes intended for use in cosmetics.     

Characterization of the waxes obtained by the pyrolysis of polyolefin plastics in a conical spouted bed reactor

The thermal pyrolysis of three different polyolefin plastics (HDPE, LDPE and PP) has been carried out in a conical spouted bed reactor. This technology is especially interesting because of the high selectivity to waxes due to the low residence times and high heating rates that reduce secondary reactions and increase the yield of primary pyrolysis products (waxes). These have been obtained operating at 450, 500 and 600 °C and a complete characterization has been carried out using different techniques, such as gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometry, simulated distillation and the measurement of heating value and melting point. Operating conditions and feed type have been observed to have a significant effect on the properties of the different waxes. The characterization has been carried out bearing in mind the potential use of waste plastic-derived waxes as a feedstock for cracking units.     

GC-MS analysis of cuticular lipids in recent and older scavenger insect puparia. An approach to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI)

An analytical method was developed to characterize puparia cuticular lipids (hydrocarbons, waxes) and to compare the molecular distribution patterns in the extracts from either recent or older puparia. Acid-catalyzed transesterification and solvent extraction and purification, followed by combined gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, were optimized for the determination of hydrocarbons and fatty acid ethyl esters from transesterified waxes, extracted from a single species of a fly scavenger (Hydrotaea aenescens Wiedemann, 1830). Comparison between recent (2012) or older (1997) puparia contents has highlighted significant composition differences, in particular, a general decrease of the chain length in the n-alkane distribution pattern and, on the contrary, an increase of the ester chain length. Both extracts contain traces of three hopane hydrocarbon congeners. Preliminary results evidence the change in puparia lipid composition over time, thus potentially providing new indices for estimating postmortem interval.     

Derivative formation in the chromatographic analysis of food additives.

The use of derivatization in the analysis of food additivies by chromatographic means has been reviewed. The large majority of these derivatization techniques are employed to facilitate the gas-liquid chromatographic quantitation of various food additives. Silylation, alkylation, acylation, as well as transesterification, saponification, and chemical decomposition techniques are discussed. The review includes procedures for the analysis of emulsifiers and stabilizers, artificial sweeteners, antioxidants, preservatives, gums, and waxes, and draws in part, from work conducted in the authors' laboratory.     

Composition and seasonal variation of soluble cuticular waxes in Actinidia deliciosa leaves

This research examines the annual evolution and composition of soluble cuticular waxes of Actinidia deliciosa Chev. cv Hayward leaves. Soluble cuticular waxes of foliar blade were extracted in chloroform and analysed by GC-MS. The seasonal weighted mean of the wax coverage was about 24 microg cm(-2). The alkyl alkanoates were the main class of components (10 microg cm(-2)) followed by hydrocarbons (6 microg cm(-2)), terpenes (3 microg cm(-2)), alkanols (1 microg cm(-2)), ketones (1 microg cm(-2)), alkanoic acids (1 microg cm(-2)), alkanals (0.7 microg cm(-2)), and sterols (0.6 microg cm(-2)). The concentration of the soluble cuticular components reached a peak (43 microg cm(-2)) on the 83rd day after bud break. Different causes were proposed to explicate the seasonal evolution of the leaf waxes: biosynthesis of the waxes prevalently during rapid leaf growth; natural wax erosion and evaporation; progressive reduction in the extractability of the intracuticular free compounds due to the slow polymerization of the cutin matrix.     

Spontaneous formation of super water-repellent fractal surfaces in mixed wax systems

Alkylketene dimers (AKDs) and triglyceride waxes form fractal surfaces spontaneously and show super water-repellent property. Spontaneous formation of fractal structures on their surfaces takes place when the meta-stable crystalline phase of the waxes transforms to the thermodynamically stable form of crystal. The triglyceride waxes form the meta-stable alpha-phase in whole specimen when solidified from their melt. In the case of AKD, on the other hand, only a small portion of the specimen solidifies in the meta-stable form of crystal. The surface of the AKD, however, becomes fractal in the whole part. We have, thus, examined the fractal structure formation in the mixed wax systems in which one wax forms fractal surfaces and the other one does not. In the stearic acid/tristearin mixed system as a typical one, the super water-repellent fractal surfaces form in the higher composition region of tristearin than that of the eutectic point in their mixture.     

蒙旦树脂烃化学组成及结构特征

本文对中国三种蒙旦树脂烃潦浒树脂烃（ＬＨＴ）,寻甸树脂烃（ＸＤＴ）,舒兰树脂烃（ＳＬＴ）进行了ＧＣＭＳ分析,获取了树脂烃中单元化合物的组成和结构。结果表明,在这三种树脂烃中,主要是五环三萜烃类五环三萜烷,五环三萜烯,单环、二环、三环、四环芳构化五环三萜烷以及三环二萜烃类降松脂烷,降松香烷,降海松烷,松香烷,山达松脂烷,单环、二环芳构化三环萜烷。比较三种树脂的总离子色谱图,发现在寻甸蒙旦树脂烃和舒兰树脂烃中,五环二萜的各种化合物是该组分主要化学组成,尤其在舒兰蒙旦树脂烃中,具有四环芳构化的萜烷其含量占绝对优势。潦浒蒙旦树脂烃中,三环二萜的各种物质是其重要的化学组成。与此同时,阐述了中国蒙旦蜡精制漂白脱色不完全的原因。