UDC 631.363.258/638.171
DOI 10.36461/NP.2026.77.1.008
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF WAX RAW MATERIAL CLEANING IN WATER
V.M. Zimnyakov1, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor,
A.A. Kurochkin2, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor,
D.E. Kashirin3, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Head of Department,
V.V. Pavlov3, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor
1Penza State Agrarian University, Penza, Russia, e-mail:
2Penza State Technological University,
3Ryazan State Agrotechnological University named after P.A. Kostychev,
Wax raw material is an important source for obtaining beeswax, which is widely used in food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and technical industries. The wax quality and the efficiency of wax processing are determined by the degree of contamination of the initial raw material with organic impurities, which include bee bread, cocoon residues, propolis, and hive debris. During traditional hot rendering, these contaminants adsorb the molten wax, converting it into a bound state, which leads to a reduction in wax quality and a deterioration of wax physicochemical properties. In this regard, the development of technologies for the pre-cleaning of wax raw materials prior to the thermal processing stage is relevant. Current research is aimed at developing cleaning regimes of wax raw material from bee bread in an aqueous medium with intensive stirring. The research was carried out on shredded wax raw material obtained from rejected honeycombs with varying degrees of contamination. The main factors of the process considered were the intensity of mechanical stirring and the processing duration, which determine the hydrodynamic conditions for the dispersion and dissolution of organic impurities. Experimental studies were organized on a laboratory setup with a paddle stirrer and an electric drive, employing second-order multifactor experimental design methods. The optimization criterion adopted was the percentage of removed contaminants, determined by the relative loss of mass of the wax raw material calculated on a dry matter basis. As a result of processing the experimental data, a regression model was obtained that describes the influence of the observed factors on the efficiency of the cleaning process. It was noted that both factors have a statistically significant effect on the degree of contaminant removal, with the stirring duration having the greatest influence. Rational process parameters were determined with the cleaning efficiency reaches a 23-25% mass loss of the contaminated raw material. The obtained results confirmed the feasibility of preliminary wet cleaning of wax raw material before hot processing and could be used in the development and improvement of resource-saving technologies in beekeeping.
Keywords: wax, wax raw material, bee bread, contaminants, stirring, cleaning.
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