State of the Art and Prospects for the Development of Technologies for Solvent-Free Deoiling of Slack Waxes

The main aspects, state of the art, and prospects for the development of technologies for solvent-free deoiling of slack waxes are discussed. The limiting factors affecting the development of solvent-free deoiling technologies and their implementation in flowsheets of oil blocks of petroleum refineries are the batch mode of the process and low efficiency of processing high-boiling slack waxes. Thermal deoiling processes become topical owing to the technological flexibility allowing production of a wide range of paraffin wax products, low operation expenditures, and low environmental impact due to the absence of toxic solvents. The use of solvent-free deoiling technologies will allow the range of paraffin wax products to be considerably expanded.