Fractionation of paraffin wax mixtures

Experimental results for the supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE) of paraffin wax using supercritical carbon dioxide are presented and compared with short path distillation (SPD). A simple simulation algorithm is presented and used to simulate SCFE cases. From these simulations it appears that supercritical extraction with reflux can be used to produce products with narrower carbon number distributions than those that can be obtained with SPD.