Cradle to Gate
Identity ID
56a9d251-f72f-4489-a1b7-437d4ea847b8
Materials
Associated ID
e349ffd7-31ec-41c9-80dc-5b8c1ee41979
Included activities starts
Included activities ends
Description
Stearic acid is mainly used to produce stearate salts, and is widely used in the manufacture of cosmetics, cold-resistant plasticisers for plastics, mould release agents, stabilisers, surfactants, rubber vulcanisation accelerators, waterproofing agents, polishing agents, metal soaps, metal mineral flotation agents, softeners, pharmaceuticals and other organic chemicals. In addition, it can be used as a solvent for oil-soluble pigments, a slip agent for crayons, a polishing agent for waxed paper, and an emulsifier for glyceryl stearate. Stearic acid is industrially produced by the oil and fat hydrolysis process. The dataset contains the main raw and auxiliary materials, energy use, emissions and waste treatment of the production process, and does not include infrastructure such as the manufacture of production equipment and the construction of plant buildings; the data inventory is formed by merging data from multiple sources; the process flow of producing stearic acid by the oil and fat hydrolysis process includes water washing and impurity removal of acidified oil, hydrolysis, dehydration, vacuum rectification separation, fractionation and rectification purification.
Activity Description
The technological process of producing stearic acid by oil hydrolysis includes acidification, water washing and impurity removal, hydrolysis, dehydration, vacuum distillation and separation, fractionation, distillation and purification.
Process Description
Pure stearic acid is a shiny white leaf-like solid. It has a melting point of 69.6°C, boiling points of 376.1°C (decomposition) and 232°C (at 2.0 kPa), a relative density (20/4°C) of 0.9408, and a refractive index of 1.4299 (80°C). It evaporates slowly at 90–100°C. It is almost insoluble in water (0.00029 g dissolves in 100 mL of water at 20°C), soluble in alcohol and acetone, and easily soluble in ether, chloroform, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, carbon disulfide, amyl acetate, toluene, etc.
Time period
2012
2026
Geography
China
Macroeconomic value
Business-as-Usual
Data validation
Yes
Technology
Current Technology
Technology comment
The hydrolysis process of this project adopts a high-pressure countercurrent catalyst-free continuous hydrolysis method. The principle of this method is: oil is added at the bottom of the hydrolysis tower. During the process of rising to the top of the hydrolysis tower, triglycerides are hydrolyzed into fatty acids and glycerol by excess process water from top to bottom in countercurrent flow. The oil and process water can reach a high hydrolysis rate of 98%-100% through countercurrent flow. The raw materials required for production are obtained from kitchen waste recycling and processing companies.