Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-09-10
MANUFACTURES OF VASELINE.
Thc Product Should Not Crystalizo Evon
In the Greatest Cold.


In the Greatest Cold.
It is now generally known that evcry
vaseline manufacturer has his own
secret process, and preserves it as
closely as he can, any one not belong
ing to works being thus compelled to
make his own Investigations. The
following process has heen devised
similar t o that usually employed in the
manufacture and publication of brown
coal tar.
In commencing such an investiga-
ton, it is necessary to first of all defn-
itely settle two points: "What is tho
quality of tho new material?" and
S.what impurities are to be removed,
and how can this best be dOne?"
Knowing this, the outline of the pro-
cess to be adopted is moro than indi-
Gated. The nature Of the raw material
varies greatly. 1t usually consists
chiefly of the residues of the so-called
American petroleum, or it may be Rus
sian OIL especially from Baku, under
Galician oil, and even bitumen itself.
or natural asphalt, either in the solid
state under this name or OF the con-
sistency of tar under the name Of
mine tar. 1t is. of course obvious
that no fixed method of preparation of
the article termed vaseline can be Civ
en-, and, in fact, the processes employ
ed are very numerous.
The paraffins, as is well known, are
hydro-carL ons Of the marsh gas series,
and are classified into normal and iso
paraffins, the corresponding members
OF which have the same percentage
composition, but different structure.
The American raw material-the
viscid residue left Oh the distillation Of
the petrOleum-is indispensable for the
manufacture of yellow vaselinc Tho
American petroleum, as obtained by
boring, contains both classes of par
affins, Of which the normal can only
be brought to crystalization by the
distillntfOn Of the petroleum whereas
the isO paraffin remains dissolved in
the oil. According to the extent to
which the oils are distilled off, moro
or less liquid or pasty product is
obtained-Iubricating oil and vasellne.
The distillatiOn, therefore, effects the
separation Of cryStalizatiOn from amor
phous paraffin and only such raw
materials as contain the latter, which,
therefore, cannot pass or can only
partially pass into the crystalline state,
are fit for vaseline making.
The residues from the distillation Of
American petroleum, which forms a
yiscid or even soapy mass, are heated
by steam and then well agitated with
eulphuric acid to remove the resin
which is still present.
At the close Of the operation, after
running off the resin by q tape, the
excess of acid is neutraliZed with caus-
tic soda or sodium carbonate solution,
and the Oil thoroughly washed with
hot water until all the soda is removed.
The material is then decolorized by
animal charcoal, the liquid vaseine
being stirred up with the charcoal by
the aid of steam, and is then filtered
hot. The only difficulty which has to
be overcome in purifying the distill;l-
ton residue lies in the direct propor-
ton Of soda solution to acid, which
must be closely adhered to, since an
excess OF the former may emulsifv the
whole mass. The animal charcoal
which is employed to decolorize the
hot vaseline contains, as is we'll known,
many inorganic salts especially cal
cium phosphate and magnesia phos-
phate, as well as potassium chloride,
sodium chloride so that it must be
washed out with hot water then with
hydrochloric acid. then again with hot
water, and finally dried; it thus ac-
quires the property of retaining any
caustic soda which has not been re-
moved by washing.