A novel production route and process optimization of biomass-derived paraffin wax for pharmaceutical application

The Biomass to Liquid (BtL) Fischer-Tropsch (FT) route converts lignocellulosic feedstock to renewable hydrocarbons. This, paper shows a novel production route for biomass-derived synthetic paraffin wax via gasification of lignocellulosic feedstock, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) and hydrofining. The Fischer-Tropsch wax was fractionated, refined and analyzed with respect to compliance to commercial standards. The fractioned paraffin waxes were hydrofined using a commercial sulfide NiMo–Al2O3 catalyst and a trickle bed reactor. A parametric variation was performed to optimize the hydrofining process. It was shown that the produced medium-melt paraffin wax could fulfill the requirements for “Paraffinum solidum” defined by the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur). The high-melt wax fraction showed potential to be used as food packaging additive. Furthermore, the renewable wax was analyzed regarding PAH content and it was shown that the hydrofined wax was quasi-PAH-free

Influence of the Polarity of the Plasticizer on the Mechanical Stability of the Filler Network by Simultaneous Mechanical and Dielectric Analysis

Four styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) compounds were prepared to investigate the influence of the plasticizer polarity on the mechanical stability of the filler network using simultaneous mechanical and dielectric analysis. One compound was prepared without plasticizer and serves as a reference. The other three compounds were expanded with different plasticizers that have different polarities. Compared with an SBR sample without plasticizer, the conductivity of mechanically unloaded oil-extended SBR samples decreases by an order of magnitude. The polarity of the plasticizer shows hardly any influence because the plasticizers only affect the distribution of the filler clusters. Under static load, the dielectric properties seem to be oil-dependent. However, this behavior also results from the new distribution of the filler clusters caused by the mechanical damage and supported by the polarity grade of the plasticizer used. The Cole–Cole equation affirms these observations. The Cole–Cole relaxation time τ and thus, the position of maximal dielectric loss increases as the polarity of the plasticizer used is also increased. This, in turn, decreases the broadness parameter α implying a broader response function

Effect of aromatic oil on the S-SBR/BR blend components revealed using BDS and PALS

The focus of this research is on the aromatic process oil, which works as a i) plasticizer thereby decreasing mixing torque and the production cost of the final compound; ii) extender of free volume in the compound so that lesser amount of polymer is needed for the final compound. The precise mechanism of action of the oil to achieve this is still unclear. Therefore, the aim here is to understand the influence of mineral-based aromatic process oil (0-20 phr) on the S-SBR/BR blends in terms of its plasticization and extension behavior. The plasticization behavior is revealed based on the change in glass transition temperature (Tg) studied with Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS). While the extension behavior is explored based on changes in fractional free volume investigated with Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS). The BDS analysis leads to a clearer understanding of the plasticization behavior of the oil by studying the change in Tg of each blend component. This is further supported with PALS results which verify the validity of the extension of the free volume associated with the plasticization of each blend component