3 replies to this topic

[goforbhuvan]

What are the ways to manufacture white spirit from kerosene and the equipments required to produce the end product(White spirit)?

 

[Art Montemayor]

You are a student (I presume) and you have been asked to produce white spirit (UK) - also known as “turpentine” or paint thinner - from kerosene, a petroleum distillate fuel.

 

Kerosene is a liquid petroleum mixture that includes compounds with 10 to 16 carbon atoms in both straight chain and branched formations (C₁₀-C₁₆).

 

White spirit is a mixture of aliphatic and alicyclic C₇ to C₁₂ hydrocarbons.

 

All of the above information can be obtained from your previous chemistry courses or you could easily find it in the Internet through Google.  What this means is that you must carry out the following:

C₁₀-C₁₆ -----------> C₇ to C₁₂

 

This should alert you to the fact that you have to “crack” the heavier kerosene to get the lighter white spirit.  And if you succeed in finding the correct catalyst and reactor conditions to do the cracking, you have to subject the products of the reaction to a distillation process downstream in order to obtain a suitable white spirit mixture.  There are different grades of white spirit and since you haven’t identified your desired grade, the rest is up to you.

 

To quantitatively define the equipment needed you need to do a lot of Unit Processing calculations and thermodynamics together with catalyst experimentation and pilot plant work.  This is a lot of work.

[P.K.Rao]

White spirit can be made from kerosene by  distillation. Kerosene has a boiling range of 145 to 300 deg C. Final boiling point may vary. White spirit has boiling range of 145 to  200 deg C. You have to ensure that the Saybolt color is +26 min and Flash point of 31 deg C min, and Aniline point of 50-56 deg C. You can refer to Shell specifications for White Spirit. You need a pot distillation facility, if the feed stock kerosene meets flash point and color requirements. Check aniline point and other requirements on the fraction because the feed kerosene properties change from source to source and so the properties of the fraction. If you wish you can make to your own specifications also.

[goforbhuvan]

White spirit can be made from kerosene by  distillation. Kerosene has a boiling range of 145 to 300 deg C. Final boiling point may vary. White spirit has boiling range of 145 to  200 deg C. You have to ensure that the Saybolt color is +26 min and Flash point of 31 deg C min, and Aniline point of 50-56 deg C. You can refer to Shell specifications for White Spirit. You need a pot distillation facility, if the feed stock kerosene meets flash point and color requirements. Check aniline point and other requirements on the fraction because the feed kerosene properties change from source to source and so the properties of the fraction. If you wish you can make to your own specifications also.

Thank you for the detailed explanation sir.