Studies on the crystal growth of rice bran wax in a hexane medium

Rice bran oil (RBO) is well known for its high wax content (2-4 %). A good separation of waxes must be ensured through the formation of crystals that can be removed with a minimal retention of oil to maintain high yields of refined oil. In the present study, the form and size distribution of RBO wax crystals were investigated using a laser diffraction technique. An attempt was made to study the effect of cooling on growth and size distribution of RBO wax crystals in hexane medium, and it showed that high cooling rate and low temperature induces the formation of a great number of small nuclei. In addition, experiments were performed to evaluate the effect on the growth of wax crystals of successive additions of gum and pure TG to the medium. The entire experiment was designed to optimize the temperature and incubation time of wax crystallization to facilitate the efficient separation of wax from crude RBO-hexane miscella using membrane technology.