Mineral waxes

Mineral waxes include kerosene waxes and micro-crystalline waxes. They have many uses:

  • in cosmetics, they are used as excipients, sometimes as thickeners, texture agents or film-formers; they are also used for hair removal.
  • they are used to maintain and shine certain types of wood (furniture, parquet), known as encaustic.
  • in the food industry: certain cheeses and fruits are wrapped in wax to preserve them; certain candies are coated to make them shiny; chewing gums have a wax-based consistency agent.
  • to make inks and give them gloss, and to modify their mechanical properties.
  • in the paper industry (especially food packaging).
  • for leather care, where waxes are used in the form of polishes.
  • to make candles.

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How are mineral waxes produced? The chemistry of paraffins and micro-crystalline waxes.

During the distillation of crude oils, a cut corresponding to paraffins and waxes is obtained in a temperature range between 400°C and 500°C. These are saturated hydrocarbons with carbon numbers between 18 and 60.

Microcrystalline mineral waxes have long, branched chains, giving them a microcrystalline structure, hence their name. The result is a soft, white, non-translucent substance with a melting point above 70°C.

Paraffins, on the other hand, have slightly shorter, linear (unbranched) chains, giving them a macrocrystalline structure. The result is a white, translucent, rigid solid that breaks easily, with a fairly low melting point (between 50 and 70°C).

Among the lesser-known natural mineral waxes, we also find waxes with a structure similar to that of petroleum waxes, in lignites (coals with a carbon content of around 75%); these are known as ozocerites.

Finally, there are montan waxes, mineral waxes derived from fossilized plants, which can be extracted from coals and lignites. Montan waxes are very hard, due to their high concentration of fatty acids and free alcohols, and low ester content (esters predominate in soft waxes).

They are dark and odoriferous when extracted, but can be purified for commercial use; they are found in certain encaustics, inks, leather care products and in the manufacture of carbon paper. They also constitute the food additive E912 (glazing agent).


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