Grease is the collective name for oil and fat. From a chemical composition perspective, oils and fats are esters formed from higher fatty acids and glycerin. Grease is a derivative of hydrocarbons. Grease is a special type of ester. The sources of oils and fats are very wide and varied. Natural oils can be divided into ten categories according to their fatty acid composition. Today, we will introduce you to lauric acid.
Lauric natural oils are obtained from the seeds of laurel and palm plants (such as laurel, coconut, oil palm and babassu tree). Its characteristics are:
1. The difference between this type of oil and other types of oil is that it contains a large amount of lauric acid (generally 40%~50%). Contains small amounts of saturated fatty acids with 8, 10, 14, and 18 carbon atoms. A small amount of unsaturated acids are mainly oleic acid and linoleic acid. It has the highest saturated fatty acid content among all commercial oils.
2. Due to the low average molecular weight of fatty acids, high saturation and moderate melting point, they become valuable special oils.
3. Sodium soaps prepared from this type of grease are hard and not easily oxidized, have good solubility and have many foams, so they are excellent raw materials for manufacturing. They are also the main source of medium chain fatty acids. Lauric acid, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are the main representatives of this type of oil.