About N-hexane

Main use of n-hexane
 
N-hexane is a good non-toxic organic solvent, widely used in vegetable oil extraction, butyl, butadiene rubber organic synthesis, propylene, olefin polymerization, pharmaceutical intermediates, paint thinners, and metal surface cleaning of mechanical equipment.

Development and main application of n-hexane
 
The main market for n-hexane is used in the vegetable oil leaching industry, which accounts for more than 60% of the total amount of n-hexane. Most of the remaining applications are in the rubber and chemical industries.

As early as the 1960s, Western developed countries such as Europe and the United States generally promoted the "leaching method" in vegetable oil production. In addition to some small-scale oil extraction, the world's edible oil produced by the "leaching method" has occupied 95% of the market. At present, in the international edible oil production, n-hexane is the mainstream solvent for the production process of edible oil. Of course, a small number of oil companies in Japan and South Korea use isohexane as the extraction solvent.
From the late 1980s, China began to vigorously promote the use of n-hexane as a solvent for vegetable oil leaching.
Characteristics of the hexane leaching process: The hexane distillation range is short, the solvent and harmful substances are volatilized thoroughly, the vegetable oil nutrients are not destroyed by high temperature, the safety of the edible oil is enhanced, and the low solvent consumption, low residue, high oil yield, easy to industrial scale production.
At present, domestic Chinese-funded and joint-venture and private edible oil production companies mostly use n-hexane as a leaching solvent. These companies produce more than 90% of the edible oil in the domestic market.
The use of n-hexane as a vegetable oil extraction solvent is a strict requirement of the state for the edible oil processing industry and product quality standards. Therefore, n-hexane has become a commonly used solvent product in edible oil processing, which is also the domestic and foreign hexane in recent years. More than No. 6 solvent oil, butane and other solvents have become the most important varieties of vegetable oil leaching solvent.
Another point is that in the vegetable oil extraction industry, n-hexane has a unique and irreplaceable role. N-hexane has the title of “king of extraction”. So far, no solvent has been able to exceed n-hexane in extraction.