Paraffin wax was first produced commercially in 1867, less than 10 years after the first petroleum well was drilled.
When was paraffin used?
It was first produced in 1830 by Carl Reichenbach in Germany and commemorated a key advancement in candle making technology, as its burn was cleaner, more consistent than tallow candles and was cheaper to produce. Initially, paraffin wax had a low melting point, however, the addition of stearic acid later solved this.
Who discovered paraffin wax?
Paraffin is a name that is commonly used to denote a group of saturated alkane hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2, where “n” is greater than 20. They take both solid and liquid forms. The solid form known as paraffin wax was discovered by Karl Reichenbach in 1830.
