LUWAX OA

They are waxes for detergents and cleaners and industrial formulators.
Emulsifiable polyethylene wax used to prepare wax emulsions for industrial use.

Luwax OA is an oxidized polyethylene wax. 
Luwax OA acts as a lubricant for plastics processing. 

Luwax OA is produced by high pressure polymerization process. 
Luwax OA is used as dispersant in wax compounds & floor polishes.

Luwax are used to manufacture a variety of wax emulsions for cleaning and care applications, such as polishes for floor, shoes, leather, furniture, and automobiles.

Luwax helps to protect surfaces against mechanical wear, improve surface appearance, and control slip properties when formulated in pastes,creams, or aqueous emulsions.

These ethylene-based polymers are produced by a high pressure polymerization process. 
The product properties are primarily determined by the molecular weight, the density and the addition of other monomers. 

Products are available as powders, micropowders, granules or pastilles.
Polyethylene waxes are used as additives in a variety of markets and applications. 

They can be used in printing inks to improve rub resistance or in paints as a flattening and anti-settling agent. 
And they are excellent as dispersants and color enhancers in color concentrates or in wax compounds to increase hardness. 
Some of their other uses include improved black heel mark resistance and buffability in floor polishes, and as a lubricant for plastics processing.

Oxidized polyethylene wax of high hardness and medium molar mass.
Soluble in hot non-polar solvents.

Emulsified surfactant.
Surfactants and surfactants make Luwax OA possible to obtain transparent compositions.

Anionic and non-ionic Luwax OA 2 emulsions form a glossy hard film.
In a mixture with styrene-acrylic dispersions, Luwax OA is used in floor products.
Luwax OA is also used in polishes for furniture and cars.

Applications of Luwax OA:

Floor polishes, leather polishes:
Emulsions prepared from Luwax OA, especially anionic and anionic-nonionic emulsions, dry to form tough, glossy films which can beused to protect a variety of substrates. 

Luwax OA perform well indry-bright emulsion-type polishes. 
Coemulsions with montanic esterwaxes, carnauba wax, microcrystalline wax and paraffin wax can also beprepared if necessary. 

Solvents such as mineral spirits can also be addedin special cases.
Solvents such as mineral spirits and solvent naphtha can be added to carpolishes and furniture polishes in order to provide an added cleaningeffect. 
Silicone oils improve the gloss, buffability and toughness of protective films.

Textile:
Anionic-nonionic, cationic and nonionic emulsions of Luwax OA used in textile finishing, often in combination with paraffin wax. 
Theyimpart a smooth, soft, full handle to fabrics such as cotton and linen, andthey increase the fabrics’ water repellancy. 

They can be added to crease-resistant resin finishes to improve their abrasion resistance, sewability andtearing resistance. 
Emulsions of this type can also be used to reduce thesusceptibility of fabrics to soiling and improve their washability and waterresistance, especially if the emulsions have a low emulsifier content.

In textile applications, Luwax OA is very important that wax emulsions are resistantto electrolytes and salts that act as catalysts. 
The resistance of anionic-nonionic emulsions of Luwax OA to 5 % solutions of ammoniumdihydrogen phosphate, zinc nitrate and magnesium chloride at 20 °C isparticularly good.

Other applications of Luwax OA:
Emulsions prepared from Luwax OA Pastilles and large proportions of par-affin wax dry to form tough, water-repellent films. 
These have a variety ofapplications.

Formwork emulsions:
Emulsions of Luwax OA can be applied to wooden and metalforms for concrete. 
They have the advantage over oils that they do notpenetrate into the concrete, which causes problems when renderings andfinishes are applied.

Water repellants for particle board:
Wax emulsions are added to the adhesives used to bind particle board toprevent particles of wood from absorbing moisture and swelling.

Temporary protective coatings for metal:
Emulsions can be applied to new cars and machine parts, etc., to protectthem from corrosion during transport and storage.

Size for paper:
Applied to paper in the size press, emulsions of this type give improvedwater resistance, smoothness and gloss.

Solubility of Luwax OA:
The following table shows the “cloud point” of Luwax OA Pastilles, dissol-ved in selected solvents at a concentration of 10 %. 
This is the tempera-ture at which the wax just begins to precipitate out of solution on cooling.
The temperature at which Luwax OA forms a clear solution is virtually the same,depending on the rate at which Luwax OA is heated.

Solvent - Boiling point of solvent (°C) - Cloud point (°C)
Mineral spirits: 140 – 200 - ca. 63 
Tetrachloroethylene: 121 - ca. 52
Toluene: 111 - ca. 56
Xylene: 135.5 –141 - ca. 58
Xylene/n-butanol (60 : 40): - ca. 68

Miscibility of Luwax OA:
The miscibility of Luwax OA with Luwax OA listed below wasdetermined by melting them and mixing them together in the ratios 9:1 and 1:9. 
The wax forms a homogeneous mixture with the following sub-stances in molten and solid form.

Carnauba wax
Fischer-Tropsch wax
Hard microcrystalline wax
Laropal®K 80 
Luwax E Flakes
Luwax LG Flakes
Luwax V Flakes
Montan wax, crude
Oppanol®B 15 
Oxidized microcrystalline wax  
Paraffin wax
Plastic microcrystalline wax (Ozokerite)

Emulsification of Luwax OA:
Luwax OA is easy to prepare very stable emulsions from Luwax OA.
Anionic emulsions are the most finely divided and, depending on the typeand quantity of amine soap used to emulsify them, they can be transpar-ent to crystal-clear. 

Cationic and nonionic emulsions are less finely dividedand are milky white in appearance, but anionic-nonionic emulsions can beprepared which are transparent. 
Emulsions of Luwax OA, espe-cially anionic and anionic-nonionic emulsions dry to form high-gloss films.

Preparing emulsions of Luwax OA:
Because of the wax’s high melting point, the following method has to beused to prepare emulsions at atmospheric pressure. 
The wax and emulsi-fier are melted together at 120 –130 °C. 

The mixture is then poured intothe water in the form of a thin jet, and stirred vigorously. 
The water has tobe heated to as near to boiling point as possible. 

The dimensions of thestirrer and the speed at which Luwax OA rotates should be such that the waterforms a deep vortex. 
The hot wax can then be poured into the vortex toprevent Luwax OA from touching the stirrer or the sides of the vessel and formingspecks. 
Emulsifiers such as alkali hydroxides or acetic acid, etc., can alsobe added to the hot water.

After all the wax has been added, the emulsion should be stirred for a fur-ther 5 –15 minutes at 96 – 98 °C. 
Luwax OA then has to be cooled to 40 – 50 °C asquickly as possible, preferably by passing cold water through coils or ajacket fitted to the vessel.

Generally speaking, emulsions with solids contents of up to 40 % can beprepared from Luwax OA. 
They are stable and pumpable at thisconcentration. 
The viscosity of emulsions with a solids content of greaterthan 40 % is too high for them to be handled at room temperature.

A less energy-intensive method is to prepare a concentrated emulsion witha solids content of ca. 40 %, and then to dilute Luwax OA down to its final concentration with cold water.

Luwax OA can also be emulsified under pressure in an autoclave.
However, Luwax OA is easier to control the properties of the emulsion if the variousingredients are added one at a time at atmospheric pressure.
Coemulsions can be prepared with other waxes such as paraffin wax,microcrystalline waxes (hard, plastic or oxidized), montanic ester waxesand carnauba wax.

Types of emulsion of Luwax OA:
The following points are important when preparing emulsions of Luwax OA.

Anionic:
Emulsifiers: Salts of oleic acid or other long-chain fatty acids together withhigh-boiling amines such as morpholine (b. p. 127 –130 °C),diethylethanolamine (b. p. 160 –163 °C) and 2-amino-2-methylpropanol (b. p. 165 –168 °C).
The wax and the oleic acid are melted together at 120 –130 °C. 
The mix-ture is then stirred and cooled to 100 °C, during which time the amineforms a salt. The mixture is then reheated to 120 –130 °C and poured intothe water.

Anionic-nonionic:
Emulsifiers: Ethoxylated fatty alcohols such as Lutensol AT 11, LutensolON 70 or Lutensol TO 8, together with small quantities ofalkali hydroxide.
The alkali hydroxide forms a salt with the acid groups of the wax, whichmakes Luwax OA very easy to emulsify. 

The best method is to dissolve the hydroxide in the water. 
A slightly more transparent emulsion is obtained ifthe hydroxide is added to the molten wax/emulsifier mixture, but the emul-sion does not form a more transparent film on drying, and any benefits areoutweighed by disadvantages such as foaming, spitting and the formationof specks.
If emulsions of this type are to be used for finishing textiles, small quan-tities of highly ethoxylated fatty alcohols such as Lutensol AT 25 or Emulan OC are usually added to improve their stability towards metalsalts such as magnesium chloride and zinc nitrate

Cationic:
Emulsifiers: Salts of ethoxylated amines such as Lutensol FA 12 or Armo-blen 1101and short-chain monocarboxylic acids such asacetic acid.
The acetic acid is added to the water. 
A cationic emulsifier is formed whenthe molten wax/amine mixture is poured in.

Nonionic:
Emulsifiers: Ethoxylated fatty alcohols such as Lutensol AT 25.

Storage of Luwax OA:
The shelf life of Luwax OA Pastilles is virtually unlimited, provided they arestored properly in their sealed original packaging

Safety of Luwax OA:
We know of no ill effects that could have resulted from using Luwax OA for the purposes for which they are intended and from processingthem in accordance with current practice.
According to the experience we have gained over many years and theother information at our disposal, Luwax OA do not exert anyharmful effects on health, provided they are used properly, due attention isgiven to the precautions necessary for handling chemicals, and the infor-mation and advice given in our Safety Data Sheet is observed.

Properties of Luwax OA:
Form: pastilles, powder
Drop Point'C: 109
Melting Point Monoscope: 104
Density at 23'C, g/cm3: 0.97
Avergae Molar Mass Viscosimetric g/mol: 4000
Viscosity at 120'C, mm2/S: 360

Chemical Compound:
Oxidized polyethylene wax