Determination of Hansen solubility parameters for sugarcane oil. Use of ethanol in sugarcane wax refining

Currently, the refining of sugarcane wax is carried out with 95% v/v ethanol as solvent. This process has a high rate of ethanol consumption thus, the main objective of this work was to corroborate the feasibility of 95% v/v ethanol as a solvent in the refining of sugarcane wax. The suitability of its performance over other organic solvents was evaluated through the relative energy difference (RED) determined from Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs) of sugarcane oil, which were calculated using HSPiP software. HSPs turned out to be delta(D) = 16.24 MPa1/2, delta(P) = 3.21 MPa1/2 and delta(H) = 10.34 MPa1/2, similar to those reported for pine resin and castor oil. The best solvent was 1-decanol. 95% v/v ethanol turned out to be a bad solvent. Absolute ethanol had a RED value of 0.993, which made it a better candidate since it could reduce consumption rates, and constituted an eco-friendly solvent produced in Cuba for the refining process.

Automated summary

The research found that using 95% v/v ethanol as a solvent for sugarcane wax refining results in high ethanol consumption rates. Comparing the RED values of HSPs, it was confirmed that 1-decanol is the best solvent option, while 95% v/v ethanol is not suitable.