Melt Blending a Salt into a Vegetable Wax

[BioFM]

This is Chengy from BioFuran Materials. I'm new here but I have a unique problem that the wax experts here can help me solve. I make organic salts from food wastes. Some of these salts naturally pull water from the air and easily become liquids after pulling enough water. To reduce the rate at which salts pul moisture from the air, I need to coat the salt granules with a vegetable wax. I got two vegetable waxes from a partner and am trying to coat the salt granules with the vegetable wax. My question is, what is the most ideal order of mixing here; 

1. melt the wax, then add a salt and mix

2. melt the salt (salts have low melting), then add the wax and mix

3. mix the salt and wax then heat to melt.

Please advise.

[Candybee]

Each wax has its own unique melting and flash points. Melting point (MP) is the temp at which it will melt. The flash point (FP) is when it can burst into flame or burn given a nearby flammable heat source. The FP is pretty high in most waxes but should always be known to the person working with the wax for safety reasons.

 

Check with the supplier for the manufacturer's specs. Most candle wax suppliers include this information with the description of each wax. If you don't know you will need to tell us what wax you are using and we can help you determine the temps to use it.

 

Knowing those temps will help you solve your problem. I believe you will need to melt the wax then add your salt. If the salt has a low MP, lower than the wax, it makes sense to add it to the liquified wax.

 

I have never tried mixing salt and wax and would be interested in your experiment results. I am concerned if salt has characteristics of water when it melts. If so, the wax may pop and sizzle when you add the salt. If this happens you want to watch it closely and make sure it doesn't escape your melter or spray you with molten wax bits.

 

Hopefully, some more will see your post and add their knowledge as mixing wax and salt is new to me.

Edited September 4, 2020 by Candybee

[NightLight]

Are you trying to coat the salt with wax and then market and sell the salt as a food additive? You would need a food grade wax. What is the end product supposed to be? Just on beaded what you have said. You want to dry out your salt so there is no moisture and coat quickly to cover.

[Kerven]

Assuming the salts will not react with the wax or any potential additives in the wax, or melt at the temperature needed to melt the wax, there may be a few methods of encasing the salts. For examples:

A method similar to how candies are tumble/spray coated in confectioner's glaze or carnauba wax might work for encapsulating the granules.

If the salt granules can be compressed into a desired shape, the mass could be dipped in molten wax to form a shell. As long as the shell remains intact, moisture will be excluded.

Alternatively, if the salt is in liquid form, wax molds could be made, similar to certain chocolate truffles, injected with the liquid salt and the opening sealed after filling.

 

For your listed methods, I'm not sure. Method #1 could potentially work, assuming the melt point of the salt is higher than the melt point of the wax. Then, you'd end up with a solid mass with suspended salt granules; stir them in at the "slushy" stage before the wax solidifies. #2, if the molten salt isn't oil soluble it may separate out as a layer, even if soluble it may draw moisture to the surface of the solidified mixture. Same for #3. With any method, since the salt seems to be hygroscopic, you need to ensure it is moisture-free and work in a very, very dry environment.

 

Would oleogels be of any use?