NMR INVESTIGATION OF FISCHER-TROPSCH WAXES .2. HARD WAX

In this paper the results of an NMR investigation of hard wax, with an average chain length of 50 carbon atoms and a chain length disorder DELTA m of 15. 7 are reported. Apart from the dynamics of the crystalline fraction of the wax, the narrow component of the proton line, usually associated with the mobile amorphous zone of the wax, has been studied as a function of temperature. The results are interpreted in terms of a model in which the wax melts over a wide temperature range. The influence of this melting process on the physical properties of the wax is discussed. It is concluded that the chain length disorder of a wax plays an important role as far as these properties are concerned.