Soy wax production
Soy wax is produced form soybean oil but may contain other non-soy ingredients. Soybean oil is separated from the solid components by solvent extraction or by mechanical pressing. This raw oil will be further refined and bleached. About 60 kg of soybeans are required to produce 10 kg of soybean oil. The soy solids, which remain after oil extraction, can be used as cattle feed. To make the soybean oil more solid (to make wax of it) it is hydrogenated.Hydrogenation of soybean oil
The exact steps to produce soy wax are well protected and every producer may have his own secrets. The main step in making soy wax is hydrogenation. Hydrogenation is the process whereby the poly- and monounsaturated oils are solidified in order to increase the viscosity. This is done by reaction of hydrogen with the oil at elevated temperature (140-225°C) in the presence of a nickel catalyst.Other ingredients of soy wax
Hydrogenation of soybean oil alone will produce a wax with low melting point and not so solid texture. This type 100% soy wax may be suitable for container candles but not for pillar candles. Other ingredients, such as paraffin or stearic acid, need to be added to produce solid wax for votive candles. Many soy candles shops sell their pillar candle wax as "blended wax" and not as "soy wax." Fragrance oils and dyes are often added to soy candles. Scented soy wax, which is very popular, can contain up to 10% fragrance oil, which are readily miscible with wax. Often dyes are incorporated in scented soy wax, for example green dye in apple flavoured wax or purple dye in blueberry flavoured wax.There are no regulations about the composition of soy wax. If you want to be sure that your soy candles are 100% soy, you will have to ask your supplier!
Comments
Price for nickel catalyst
Hi my question is same with Ethan's that"Can soy wax be made simply by adding a nickel catalyst to heated oil without high pressure? Everything I have read about hydrogenation is that high pressure is necessary. If it is possible how much of the nickel catalyst is used with the oil? "
Thank you so much for your kindly reply to me.
Kelly Kim - 17/02/2014
Can soy wax be made simply by adding a nickel catalyst to heated oil without high pressure? If it is possible how much of the nickel catalyst is used with the oil thank you
Monique - 14/05/2014
Monique - 14/05/2014
rapeseed wax
I would like to make rapeseed wax using the hydrogenating process. Is there any small machines that I could like to produce wax, can you help with this issue?liam williams - 07/11/2014
Are there any other uses for soy wax other then candles?
Thanks
Anonomous - 09/11/2014
Thanks
Anonomous - 09/11/2014
Surfboard Wax?
Has soy wax been tried as a surfboard wax, either in pure form or modified to raise melting point temperature?ALBERT - 07/12/2014
wax paper from soybean wax
i've heard that it's possible to make wax paper out of soybean wax. how can this be?can you send some method how to make one?
Thanks. :)
may - 04/01/2015
From one pound of soybean oil how much soywax comes out.
Thanks
Jay Gill - 31/03/2015
Thanks
Jay Gill - 31/03/2015
questions
These are all great questions , is there a way to get the answers or any other info on soy wax production process. Thank youJeff - 20/11/2015
some answers
@Jay Gillthe densites of soy oil and soy wax are very similar (around 0.9 g/cm³), so your mass and or volume would not change too much.
@Ethan, Kelly Kim, Monique
Don´t forget that you need pure hydrogen for the hydrogenation. This is not trivial, for it is a highly explosive substance. If dosed at high temperatures and very high pressures (200 bar!) you need a safe design of your process and a reliable construction. In my eyes this is clearly an example for "don't do this at home".. :)
Nils - 20/12/2015
soya wax processing
i need to process soya wax in small scale so please i need a help from the concerned group on how to implement it please say me good things even i need partner to work with me here in addis ababa ethiopia thank you!kebede alemu yilma - 03/03/2016
how can I made soy wax
My dear please tell me simple steps how to convert easily soy oil to soy wax home based process.tedros haile - 21/03/2016
Soy Wax production
How much soy wax is produced globally in a year?Niladri Chakraborty - 17/07/2016
own business of candles
I need advice and help I want to start my own business of soy candles.neliswa - 24/12/2016
soy oil to soy wax
hi, is there any guidline, step to step instructions how to make soy wax from soy oil. thanks a lot..Rati - 22/01/2017
You can't make soy wax at home
I work as a lab tech at a plant that produces a large percentage of the U.S. soy-based candlewax, reading through these comments there's apparently a lot of interest in doing this at home. This simply isn't a safe process outside of a well designed industrial setting with careful and well trained supervision. You're talking about hot, high pressure hydrogen. You -can not- do this safely at home.Lee - 24/09/2017
don't do this at home
I forgot to mention in my previous comment, you also need to be able to filter, wash, and deodorize your oil after you hydrogenate it (hopefully without blowing yourself up). Each of these steps requires precisely made equipment maintained properly and used correctly. Even if you manage your production process well, you then need to be able to test the oil for contaminants and degradation issues. All in all you're looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and years of training just to make small, inefficient batches.Lee - 24/09/2017
How to make the conversion of soya oil into wax
Hello,Please send the steps involved in the procedure....,how to make the conversion of soya oil to soya waxGowtham - 07/12/2017
soy wax
Hi pls advise how soy oil to process as soy wax.tkssun - 13/05/2018
Owner - River Road Candleworks
I use flake soy wax (100% soy). Can you show or tell the process of taking liquid wax and producing flake wax? I am finding condensation in the upper thirds of my flake wax 50 lb boxes. The wax comes from a climate controlled warehouse of a distributor and is stored in my climate controlled facility until use. The condensation issue has happened with wax from the two largest US manufacturers making 100% soy wax. Both supply their wax to wholesalers in taped 50 or 55 lb boxes which have folded, but not sealed inner plastic bags containing the wax...mark Turner - 04/06/2018
Soy wax production
We want to learn the process and methodology of converting soy wax from soya oil. Please guide us with a complete project report.Dr Vijay Lal Bhatnagar - 04/09/2019
Candlemaker
Reading all the comments here...Boy you all are being very brave to even want to attempt a small batch processing of soya oil to wax. It's a very dangerous and expensive project to do as DIY. Best of luck.Z
Zahra - 26/09/2019
Business Development
I agree with Zahra, Hydrogenation is very ordinary process for professional people but it will be impossible for non-professional. It is dangerous!CUNWEI - 07/01/2020
Manager
soy oil to soy waxhi, is there any guidline, step to step instructions how to make soy wax from soy oil. thanks a lot..
Ali - 17/01/2020
Businesses development
Can you help me and tell me de step for making soya wax from soya oil ?Chiara r - 16/08/2020
High volume, inefficient - rainforest destruction?
Has anyone thought this high volume inefficient process might in some way be responsible for rainforest destruction?Darryl - 13/12/2020
Soy wax recepi
Look me up on Facebook for soywax recepi eduardo gonzalez/ wings matamoros /Oscar gonzalez - 22/12/2020
Protocol that make soy wax from soybean
Can you share with me the protocol that make soy wax from soybean. Because my country has a lot of soybean. Thanks you so much.Hoang - 08/05/2021
High pressure REQUIRED
OK, a lot of people ask if high pressure is not required for this reaction, and the answer is that if you are going to use nickel catalyst you need more that 50 psi, you can get this working without high pressure, but you need to use different catalyst for example palladium on carbon, but this one is pretty hard to get. I think i solved this problem.Adam - 22/05/2021
how to improve the aroma performance of soy wax?
I want soy wax to fill the whole room with aroma, is there anything you can add to it to make it smell better?Vasil - 31/05/2021
Learn how to make soy wax
I would like to learn how to make soy wax, physical class. Please reach and we plan for it. I am a soy wax candles make based in Rwanda and I wish to be making my own sow wax. ThanksEmmanuel Uwimana - 18/07/2021
Soy wax production
Iam president of SFPWA soy food promotion and wellfare association of India now we are creating www.soystore.in both online and physical stores across India, looking for more information and support in soy products, please help us in this regard.Sarat Chandra Kumar k - 29/08/2021
Candlemaker
Hi, will a hydrogen water machine work for hydrogenation? its adding hydrogen to oil instead of into water.Ty - 16/12/2021
soy wax production process
do you have the opportunity to share the production process of soy wax?Vitaliy - 26/11/2022
making soy wax from soy oil
Can soy wax be made simply by adding a nickel catalyst to heated oil without high pressure? Everything I have read about hydrogenation is that high pressure is necessary. If it is possible how much of the nickel catalyst is used with the oil?Thanks!
Ethan - 31/10/2013