Wax

Basics

• Waxes are Hydrocarbon Solids that are maleable at room

Temperature, and molted at low raised temperatures (40c+)

• Many Uses, and Easily Producible and/or Cheap so VERY good from an Appropriate Materials standpoint

Use Cases

• Candlemaking
• Sealant ( Vacuum Wax , Wax Rings , Even could make a Goofy Wax Letter Seal , etc)
• Waterproofing ( Wax Paper , Leather Cleaning and Care Supplies such as Saddle Soap etc)
• Firestopping Wax / Putty
• Wax Actuators
• As a Phase Change Material for Thermal Storage
• Cosmetic Uses
• Medical Use (Either for heat mased thearapy or Pill Coatings etc)
• Confectionary
• Lost Wax Casting / Investment Casting
• Beekeeping
• As a fuel
• As an ingredient in Firestarters or in Solid Rocket Motors/Hybrid Rocket Motors

Plant Waxes

• Carnauba Wax
• Pure Plant Oil Processing ( Dewaxing / Oil Winterization ) Derived Wax / Soapstock

Animal Waxes

• Beeswax
  • Need to get hard data on Beeswax Production Per Hive etc, but this is probably the most accessible form
• Lanolin
  • Granted unless any OSE Partners already have PILES of Sheep / Alpacas etc this probably isn’t worth pursuing over other options but worth a mention

Semi-Synthetic Waxes

• Soy Wax / Rapeseed Wax and other similar products are essentially fully hydrogenated Plant Oils
  • Akin to Margarine (although i am uncertain if the same worry/optimization to avoid Transaturated Fats is done)

Synthetic Waxes

• From Fossil Fuels:
  • Paraffin Wax
  • Motan Wax / Coal Wax
• More Relevant to Bio-Refineries :
  • Fischer-Troph Wax (Can be done with FT Crude from Fossil Derived and/or Renewable Syngas )
  • Bio-Paraffin Wax

Specialty Waxes

• Rather than using a pure wax, for many applications premade mixes for that use case are made such as:
  • Casting Wax formulated to “burn out” easily/with little residue
  • Candle Wax Blends (Soy-Paraffin Blends etc)

Categories Used in Candlemaking

• Typically:
  • Paraffin Wax
  • Beeswax
  • Soy Wax
  • ”Wax Blends”
    • Some of these are also specifically optimized for certain types of candles such as Pillar Candles etc
    • Also optimizing Scent Throw (Candlemaking) (“Cold Throw” or how much scent a cold non-lit candle gives off, and “Hot Throw” or how well a lit candle adds scent to a space) is also a goal of some wax blends
  • Some more novel waxes exist mainly
    • Coconut Wax
    • Palm Wax
    • Rapeseed Wax
  • ”Gel Wax” (Which is supposedly Mineral Oil and a polymer gelling agent

Form Factors

• Furthermore wax is sold to consumers in a variety of form factors
  • Blocks (From small sizes like the brand “Gulf Wax” one can find in the canning section of grocery stores to giant slabs)
  • Flakes
  • Pellets
  • Beads/Granules/Pearls/etc