Oleochemicals, Terpenes & Specialty Oils

It depends on drying speed and colour. Linseed fatty acid, rich in linolenic acid, gives fast air-drying but yellows more, so it suits industrial enamels and varnishes. Soybean and sunflower fatty acids are semi-drying with less yellowing; sunflower is preferred for white and pastel paints. Tall oil fatty acid is a semi-drying, economical option. Coconut fatty acid is non-drying and is used in short-oil alkyds for stoving enamels with amino resins.

It is the ratio of the oil blend saponified to make the noodles: about 80% non-lauric oil, typically palm oil or palm stearin, and 20% lauric oil such as palm kernel or coconut oil. The lauric part gives quick, open lather; the palm part gives hardness and a creamier, longer-lasting bar. Toilet-grade noodles are also specified by total fatty matter (TFM), commonly around 78% or more, plus moisture and colour.

Technical CNSL is the heat-processed oil from cashew nut shells; heating converts most of its anacardic acid into cardanol, leaving a mix of mainly cardanol with cardol and polymeric material. Distilling it gives cardanol, a purer phenol used for phenalkamine hardeners and resins. Residol is the heavier residue left after distillation, used in friction dust, brake-lining resins and black coatings. Composition varies with source and process, so check each COA.

All three are fatty alcohols that thicken and stabilise emulsions and act as co-emulsifiers; they do not emulsify on their own. Cetyl alcohol (C16) gives a lighter, softer feel, while stearyl alcohol (C18) gives firmer body and is used in sticks. Cetostearyl alcohol, a C16/C18 blend in ratios such as 50:50 or 30:70, is widely used in creams, lotions and conditioners. Behenyl alcohol (C22) adds body in hair care.

Both are camphor, C10H16O, but synthetic camphor is the racemic DL form made from turpentine: alpha-pinene is converted to camphene, then to isobornyl acetate and isoborneol, which is oxidised to camphor. Natural camphor from the camphor tree is the D (1R) form. Purity, melting range and impurity limits decide suitability more than origin, and pharmaceutical uses need a grade and documents that match the relevant pharmacopoeia.

CP grade refined glycerine suits alkyd resins, polyols, inks and other industrial uses. IP grade is tested to the Indian Pharmacopoeia monograph and is the usual choice for pharmaceutical, oral care and personal care products, where the documents matter as much as the purity figure. Glycerine is supplied in 200 L drums, 1,000 L IBCs or tanker loads, with the manufacturer's COA and SDS for every batch.