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 , etx)
• 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

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)