Petroleum Refining Processes: Separation and Characterization
Ketone Dewaxing Process Details
Ketone dewaxing is a solvent dewaxing process utilized in petroleum refineries to eliminate paraffin wax from lubricating oil fractions. It employs a solvent mixture primarily composed of Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) and Toluene.
- MEK effectively dissolves the oil but not the wax, facilitating easy wax crystallization.
- Hot lube oil is combined with the MEK–Toluene solvent and then chilled to very low temperatures (between −20°C and −30°C).
- At these low temperatures, wax forms solid crystals and separates from the oil.
- The mixture is filtered using a rotary drum filter, removing solid wax as a "wax cake."
- The filtrate (dewaxed oil plus solvent) proceeds to solvent recovery, where the solvent is evaporated, condensed,
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