EXPLANATION
Solidification point of petroleum wax is defined as the temperature in the cooling curve of the wax where the slope of the curve first changes significantly as the wax sample changes from a liquid to a solid state. The related methods of determining the melt point of petroleum wax are relatively time-consuming. This test method reduces the test time significantly and at the same time gives a reasonable precision. This test method is also applicable to similar materials such as synthetic waxes, but the precision may vary.
TEST SUMMARY
A sample of wax is placed in a test tube at ambient temperature and heated above the solidification point of the wax sample. A thermocouple probe, attached to a recorder, is inserted into the wax sample, which is allowed to cool to room temperature. The thermocouple response of the cooling wax traces a curve on the chart paper of the recorder. The first significant change in the slope of the curve is considered as the softening point.
TEST PRECISION
