DSC in a convenient and rapid method for determining the temperature limits within which a wax undergoes during transitions. The highest temperature transition is a solid-liquid transition associated with complete melting; it can guide the choice of wax storage and application temperatures. The solid-solid temperature transition is related to the properties of the solid, that is, hardness and blocking temperature.

Note 2-For a relatively narrow cut petroleum wax, the lowest transition will be a solid-solid transition. A narrow cut wax is one obtained by deoiling a single petroleum distillate with a maximum range of 120°F between its 5 % and 95 % vol in accordance with Test Method D 1160 boiling points (converted to 760 torr). The DSC method cannot differentiate between solid-liquid and solid-solid transitions. Such information must be predetermined by other techniques. In the case of blends, the lower temperature transition may be envelopes of both solid-liquid and solid-solid transitions.

Since petroleum wax is a mixture of hydrocarbons with different molecular weights, its transitions occur over a temperature range. This range is one factor that influences the width, expressed in °C, of the DSC peaks. The highest temperature transition is a first-order transition. If, for a series of waxes, there is supporting evidence that the highest temperature transition of each wax is the major first-order transition, its relative width should correlate with the relative width of the wax'molecular weight distribution.