IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING LOWER MELTING COMPONENTS FROM HIGHER MELTING COMPONENTS OF A WAX COMPOSITION

摘要

The deoiling of slack wax or similar wax composition is accomplished while the wax is confined in cells provided by a series of plates which are spaced apart by only 1/16 to 1/2 inch and which are vertically or otherwise disposed for drainage along the surfaces thereof from an upper margin to a lower margin. The plates are traversed by a multiplicity of conduits for a temperature-controlling fluid such as water. During the treatment the lower melting point constituents of the confined wax composition become progressively melted responsive to gradual increments of temperature increase and drain transversly along the plates through a distance which is from about 4 to 24 inches and preferably is of the order of 6 to 12 inches so as to become separated from the residual end product wax. The deoiling thus accomplished is much more effective and more rapid as compared with sweating procedures. It compares favorably in these respects to deoiling by solvent extraction. The installation cost of this process is a fraction of the cost of conventional solvent deoiling.