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Burning Paraffin and Soy Wax
Name: Phil
Status: educator
Grade: 9-12
Location:NY
Country: N/A
Date: 11/22/2005
Question:
Is there any difference between burning paraffin wax and
soy wax? Our assumption is that complete combustion will produce carbon
dioxide and water for both types and burning in air will produce all of
the usual byproducts.
Replies:
Sure, complete (non-smoky) combustion will reduce both waxes to CO2 and H2O.
If you really mean complete combustion, the amounts of other byproducts
should be very small for either wax.
Then all that can change is the ratio of CO2 to H2O, the oxygen required
per gram of fuel, and the heat released.
Differences are mainly that the soy wax probably has a different net
composition than paraffin wax.
Paraffin will have H and C atoms only, no O or N or S or P.
And since the molecule is roughly H-(CH2)n-H, with n>20, the net
composition is about CH2.
Other waxes will have differences, such as occasional O's (ketone or
hydroxyl or acid groups),
which reduce the heat of combustion.
They may also have unsaturations (C=C double-bonds) and rings,
both of which can reduce the amount of H in the net formula by a small
percentage.
If your burning is incomplete, these differences might change the amounts
of any byproducts other than CO2 and H2O,
much like the way oxygenated gasoline reduces the amount of NOx's produced
in internal combustion engines.
Ordinary candle-burning makes a little smoke and wax-fumes, so it might
well be considered slightly incomplete.
A soy wax flame might well have more or less smoke, and a different
smoke-smell.
Jim Swenson
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Update: June 2012
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