Soap-Making Manual Part 23

(3) There must not be too much discrepancy between the temperature of the bath and the clouding point of the oil. An oil that will cloud at the temperature of hydrant water should be tested in a bath of that temperature. An oil that will cloud in a mixture of ice and water should be tested in such a bath. An oil that will not cloud in a bath of ice and water must be tested in a bath of salt, ice, and water.

DETERMINATION--The oil is heated in a porcelain ca.s.serole over a free flame to 150 C., stirring with the thermometer. As soon as it can be done with safety, the oil is transferred to a 4 oz. oil bottle, which must be perfectly dry. One and one-half ounces of the oil are sufficient for the test. A dry centigrade thermometer is placed in the oil, and the bottle is then cooled by immersion in a suitable bath. The oil is constantly stirred with the thermometer, taking care not to remove the thermometer from the oil at any time during the test, so as to avoid stirring air bubbles into the oil. The bottle is frequently removed from the bath for a few moments. The oil must not be allowed to chill on the sides and bottom of the bottle. This is effected by constant and vigorous stirring with the thermometer. As soon as the first permanent cloud shows in the body of the oil, the temperature at which this cloud occurs is noted.

With care, results concordant to within 1/2 C. can be obtained by this method. A Fahrenheit thermometer is sometimes used because it has become customary to report results in degrees Fahrenheit.

The oil must be tested within a short time after heating to 150 C. and a re-test must always be preceded by reheating to that temperature. The cloud point should be approached as quickly as possible, yet not so fast that the oil is frozen on the sides or bottom of the bottle before the cloud test is reached.

Notes on the Above Methods.

SAMPLING.

The standard size of sample adopted by the committee is at least 3 lbs.

in weight. The committee realizes that this amount is larger than any samples usually furnished even when representing shipments of from 20,000 to 60,000 lbs. but it believes that the requirement of a larger sample is desirable and will work toward uniform and more concordant results in a.n.a.lysis. It will probably continue to be the custom of the trade to submit smaller buyers' samples than required by the committee, but these are to be considered only as samples for inspection and not for a.n.a.lysis. The standard a.n.a.lytical sample must consist of 3 lbs. or more.

The reasons for keeping samples in a dark, cool place are obvious. This is to prevent any increase in rancidity and any undue increase in free fatty acids. In the case of many fats the committee has found in its co-operative a.n.a.lytical work that free acid tends to increase very rapidly. This tendency is minimized by low temperatures.

MOISTURE AND VOLATILE MATTER.

After careful consideration the committee has decided that moisture is best determined in a vacuum oven of the design which accompanies the above report. Numerous results on check samples have confirmed the committee's conclusions. The oven recommended by the committee is constructed on the basis of well-known principles and it is hoped that this type will be adopted generally by chemists who are called upon to a.n.a.lyze fats and oils. The experiments of the committee indicate that it is a most difficult matter to design a vacuum oven which will produce uniform temperatures throughout; and one of the princ.i.p.al ideas in the design adopted is uniformity of temperature over the entire single shelf. This idea has not quite been realized in practice but, nevertheless, the present design approaches much closer to the ideal than other vacuum ovens commonly used. In the drawing the essential dimensions are those between the heating units and the shelf and the length and breadth of the outer casting. The standard Fat a.n.a.lysis Committee Oven (F. A. C. Oven) can be furnished by Messrs. E. H. Sargent & Company, 125 West Lake street, Chicago.

The committee realizes that for routine work a quicker method is desirable and has added one such method and has also stated the conditions under which comparable results can be obtained by means of the ordinary well-ventilated air oven held at 105 to 110 C. However, in accordance with a fundamental principle adopted by the committee at its first meeting, only one standard method is adopted and declared official for each determination.

The committee realizes that in the case of all methods for determining moisture by means of loss on heating there may be a loss due to volatile matter (especially fatty acids) other than water. The t.i.tle of the determination MOISTURE AND VOLATILE MATTER indicates this idea, but any considerable error from this source may occur only in the case of high acid fats and oils and particularly those containing lower fatty acids such as coconut and palm kernel oil. In the case of extracted greases which have not been properly purified, some of the solvent may also be included in the moisture and volatile matter determination, but inasmuch as the solvent, usually a petroleum product, can only be considered as foreign matter, for commercial purposes, it is entirely proper to include it with the moisture.

The committee has also considered the various distillation methods for the determination of moisture in fats and oils, but since according to the fundamental principles which it was endeavoring to follow it could only standardize one method, it was decided that the most desirable one on the whole was the vacuum-oven method as given. There are cases wherein a chemist may find it desirable to check a moisture determination or investigate the moisture content of a fat or oil further by means of one of the distillation methods.

However, in co-operative work the distillation method in various types of apparatus has not yielded satisfactory results. The difficulties appear to be connected with a proper choice of solvent and particularly with the tendency of drops of water to adhere to various parts of the gla.s.s apparatus instead of pa.s.sing on to the measuring device. When working on coconut oil containing a high percentage of free fatty acids, concordant results could not be obtained by the various members of the committee when working with identical samples, solvents and apparatus.

On the other hand, the committee found by individual work, co-operative work and collaborative work by several members of the committee in one laboratory, that the old, well-known direct heating method (which the committee has designated the hot plate method) yielded very satisfactory results on all sorts of fats and oils including emulsions such as b.u.t.ter and oleomargarine and even on coconut oil samples containing 15 to 20 per cent free fatty acids and 5 to 6 per cent of moisture.

Unfortunately, this method depends altogether on the operator's skill and while the method may be taught to any person whether a chemist or not so that he can obtain excellent results with it, it is difficult to give a sufficiently, complete description of it so that any chemist anywhere after reading the description could follow it successfully. The method is undoubtedly worthy of much confidence in careful hands. It is quick, accurate and reliable. It is probably the best single method for the determination of moisture in all sorts of samples for routine laboratory work. On account of this fact the committee desires to announce its willingness to instruct any person in the proper use of the method who desires to become acquainted with it and who will visit any committee member's laboratory.

INSOLUBLE IMPURITIES.

This determination, the t.i.tle for which was adopted after careful consideration, determines the impurities which have generally been known as dirt, suspended matter, suspended solids, foreign solids, foreign matter, etc., in the past. The first solvent recommended by the committee is hot kerosene to be followed by petroleum ether kept at ordinary room temperature. Petroleum ether, cold or only slightly warm, is not a good fat and metallic soap solvent, whereas hot kerosene dissolves these substances readily, and for this reason the committee has recommended the double solvent method so as to exclude metallic soaps which are determined below as soluble mineral matter.

SOLUBLE MINERAL MATTER.

Soluble mineral matter represents mineral matter combined with fatty acids in the form of soaps in solution in the fat or oil. Formerly, this mineral matter was often determined in combination by weighing the separated metallic soap or by weighing it in conjunction with the insoluble impurities. Since the soaps present consist mostly of lime soap, it has been customary to calculate the lime present therein by taking 0.1 the weight of the total metallic soaps. The standard method as given above is direct and involves no calculation. The routine method given in the note has been placed among the methods for the reason that it is used in some laboratories, but has not been adopted as a standard method in view of the fact that the committee has made it a rule to adopt only one standard method. It should be pointed out, however, that the method cannot be considered accurate for the reason that insoluble impurities may vary from sample to sample to a considerable extent and the error due to the presence of large particles of insoluble impurities is thus transferred to the soluble mineral matter. The committee has found one type of grease (naphtha bone grease) which shows most unusual characteristics. The type sample contains 4.3 per cent soluble mineral matter by the committee method which would be equivalent to 43.0 per cent free fatty acid. The kerosene and gasoline filtrate was particularly clear, nevertheless the ash was found to contain 36.43 per cent P_{2}O_{5} equivalent to 79.60 per cent of Ca_{3}(PO_{4})_{2} and 9.63 per cent of Fe_{2}O_{3}. The method, therefore, determines the soluble mineral matter in this case satisfactorily but the factor 10 is not applicable for calculating the fatty acids combined therewith. It is necessary, therefore, in order to determine the fatty acids combined with soluble mineral matter in the original sample to determine the actual bases in the soluble mineral matter as obtained by ashing the kerosene and gasoline filtrate. To the bases so determined the factor 10 can then be applied.

FREE FATTY ACID.

The fatty acid method adopted is sufficiently accurate for commercial purposes. In many routine laboratories the fat or oil is measured and not weighed, but the committee recommends weighing the sample in all cases. For scientific purposes the result is often expressed as "acid number," meaning the number of milligrams of KOH required to neutralize the free acids in one gram of fat, but the commercial practice has been, and is, to express the fatty acids as oleic acid or in the case of palm oil, as palmitic acid, in some instances. The committee sees no objection to the continuation of this custom so long as the a.n.a.lytical report clearly indicates how the free acid is expressed. For a more exact expression of the free acid in a given fat, the committee recommends that the ratio of acid number to saponification number be used. This method of expressing results is subject to error when unsaponifiable fatty matter is present, since the result expresses the ratio of free fatty acid to total saponifiable fatty matter present.

t.i.tER.

At the present time the prices of glycerol and caustic potash are abnormally high, but the committee has considered that the methods adopted are for normal times and normal prices. For routine work during the period of high prices the following method may be used for preparing the fatty acids and is recommended by the committee:

Fifty grams of fat are saponified with 60 cc. of a solution of 2 parts of methyl alcohol to 1 of 50 per cent NaOH. The soap is dried, pulverized and dissolved in 1000 cc. of water in a porcelain dish and then decomposed with 25 cc. of 75 per cent sulphuric acid. The fatty acids are boiled until clear oil is formed and then collected and settled in a 150-cc. beaker and filtered into a 50-cc. beaker. They are then heated to 130 C. as rapidly as possible with stirring, and transferred, after they have cooled somewhat, to the usual 1-in. by 4-in. t.i.ter tube.

The method of taking the t.i.ter, including handling the thermometer, to be followed is the same as that described in the standard method. Even at present high prices many laboratories are using the glycerol-caustic potash method for preparing the fatty acids, figuring that the saving of time more than compensates for the extra cost of the reagents. Caustic soda cannot be subst.i.tuted for caustic potash in the glycerol method.

UNSAPONIFIABLE MATTER.

The committee has considered unsaponifiable matter to include those substances frequently found dissolved in fats and oils which are not saponified by the caustic alkalies and which at the same time are soluble in the ordinary fat solvents. The term includes such substances as the higher alcohols, such as cholesterol which is found in animal fats, phytosterol found in some vegetable fats, paraffin and petroleum oils, etc. UNSAPONIFIABLE MATTER should not be confused in the lay mind with INSOLUBLE IMPURITIES OR SOLUBLE MINERAL MATTER.

The method adopted by the committee has been selected only after the most careful consideration of other methods, such as the dry extraction method and the wet method making use of the separatory funnel. At first consideration the dry extraction process would seem to offer the best basis for an unsaponifiable matter method, but in practice it has been found absolutely impossible for different a.n.a.lysts to obtain agreeing results when using any of the dry extraction methods proposed.

Therefore, this method had to be abandoned after numerous trials, although several members of the committee strongly favored it in the beginning.

IODINE NUMBER--The iodine number adopted by the committee is that determined by the well-known Wijs method. This method was adopted after careful comparison with the Ha.n.u.s and Hubl methods. The Hubl method was eliminated from consideration almost at the beginning of the committee's work for the reason that the time required for complete absorption of the iodine is unnecessarily long and, in fact, even after absorption has gone on over night, it is apparently not complete. In the case of the Ha.n.u.s and Wijs methods complete absorption takes place in from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on conditions. Formerly, many chemists thought the Ha.n.u.s solution rather easier to prepare than the Wijs solution, but the experience of the committee was that the Wijs solution was no more difficult to prepare than the Ha.n.u.s. Furthermore, absorption of iodine from the Wijs solution appeared to take place with greater promptness and certainty than from the Ha.n.u.s and was complete in a shorter time. Results by the Wijs method were also in better agreement in the case of oils showing high iodine absorption than with the Ha.n.u.s solution and showed a slightly higher iodine absorption for the same length of time. However, the difference was not great. The committee investigated the question of subst.i.tution since it has been suggested that in case of the Wijs solution subst.i.tution of iodine in the organic molecule might occur, and found no evidence of this in the time required for the determination, namely, 1/2 hr., or even for a somewhat longer period. One member of the committee felt that it was not desirable to introduce the Wijs method into these standard methods since the Ha.n.u.s method was already standardized by the a.s.sociation of Official Agricultural Chemists, but the committee felt that it must follow the principle established at the commencement of its work, namely, that of adopting the method which appeared to be the best from all standpoints, taking into consideration accuracy, convenience, simplicity, time, expense, etc., without allowing precedent to have the deciding vote.

IODINE NUMBER, TUNG OIL--The committee has made an extensive study of the application of the Wijs method to the determination of iodine value in the case of tung oil with the result that it recommends the method for this oil but has thought it desirable to limit the conditions under which the determination is conducted rather narrowly, although reasonably good results are obtained by the committee method without making use of the special limitations.

The co-operative work of the committee and the special investigations conducted by individual members bring out the following points:

_Influence of Temperature_--From 16 C. to 30 C. there is a moderate increase in the absorption, but above 30 the increase is rather rapid so that it was thought best to limit the temperature in the case of tung oil to 20 to 25 C.

_Influence of Time_--The absorption increases with the time but apparently complete absorption, so far as unsaturated bonds are concerned, occurs well within one hour's time. Consequently, one hour was set as the practical limit.

_Influence of Excess_--The excess of iodine solution also tends to increase the iodine number, hence the Committee thought it necessary to limit the excess rather rigidly to 55 3 per cent, although with greater lat.i.tude results were reasonably good.

_Influence of Age of Solution_--Old solutions tend to give low results although up to 2 mo. no great differences were observed. Nevertheless, it was thought best to limit the age of the solution to 30 days--long enough for all practical purposes.

_Amount of Sample_--As a practical amount of sample to be weighed out the Committee decided on 0.15 g. with a tolerance of 0.05 g. in either direction according to preference. In other words, the amount of sample to be taken for the determination to be from 0.1 to 0.2 g. in the discretion of the a.n.a.lyst.

The Committee's study of the Hubl method which has been adopted by the Society for Testing Materials in the case of tung oil indicates that this method when applied to tung oil is subject to the same influences as the Wijs method and it has the additional very serious disadvantage of requiring a long period of time for absorption which cannot be considered reasonable for a modern a.n.a.lytical method. When using the Hubl solution, the absorption is not complete in the case of tung oil at 3, 7, 18 or even 24 hrs.

The Ha.n.u.s method in the case of tung oil gives very high and erratic results, as high as 180 to 240 in ordinary cases for an oil whose true iodine number is about 165.

MELTING POINT.

A melting point is the temperature at which a solid substance a.s.sumes the liquid condition. If the solid is a pure substance in the crystalline condition the melting point is sharp and well defined for any given pressure. With increased pressure the melting point is lowered or raised, depending on whether the substance contracts or expands in melting. The lowering or raising of the melting point with pressure is very slight and ordinarily is not taken into consideration.

Melting-point determinations are commonly carried out under ordinary atmospheric pressures without correction. The general effect of soluble impurities is to lower the melting point, and this holds true whether the impurity has a higher or lower melting point than the pure substance (solvent). Thus if a small amount of stearic acid be added to liquid palmitic acid and the solution frozen, the melting point of this solid will be lower than that of palmitic acid. Likewise the melting point of stearic acid is lowered by the addition of a small amount of palmitic acid. A eutectic mixture results when two components solidify simultaneously at a definite temperature. Such a mixture has a constant melting point and because of this and also because both solid and liquid phases have the same composition, eutectic mixtures were formerly looked upon as compounds. The phenomenon of double melting points has been observed in the case of a number of glycerides. Such a glyceride when placed in the usual capillary tube and subjected to increasing temperature quickly resolidifies only to melt again and remain melted at a still higher temperature. This phenomenon has not yet been sufficiently investigated to afford a satisfactory explanation.

Non-crystalline substances such as gla.s.s, sealing wax and various other waxes and wax mixtures, and most colloidal substances do not exhibit a sharp melting point, but under the application of heat first soften very gradually and at a considerably higher temperature melt sufficiently to flow. This phenomenon of melting through a long range of temperature may be due to the amorphous nature of the substance or to the fact that it consists of a very large number of components of many different melting points.

The fats and oils of natural origin, that is, the animal and vegetable fats and oils, consist of mixtures of glycerides and, generally speaking, of a considerable number of such components. These components are crystalline and when separated in the pure state have definite melting points, although some exhibit the phenomenon of double melting point. For the most part the naturally occurring glycerides are mixed glycerides. In the natural fats and oils there are present also certain higher alcohols, of which cholesterol is characteristic of the animal fats and oils and phytosterol of many of the vegetable fats and oils. In addition to the crystalline glycerides and the higher alcohols present in neutral fats, there are in fats of lower grade, fatty acids, which are crystalline, and also various non-crystalline impurities of an unsaponifiable nature, and the presence of these impurities tends to lower the melting point. They also tend to induce undercooling and when the liquid fat or oil is being chilled for purposes of solidification or in determination of t.i.ter.

The presence of water, especially when this is thoroughly mixed or emulsified with a fat or oil, also influences the melting point to a marked extent, causing the mixture to melt through a longer range of temperatures than would be the case if the water were absent. This is particularly true of emulsified fats and oils, such as b.u.t.ter and oleomargarine, both of which contain, besides water, the solids naturally present in milk or cream and including casein, milk sugar, and salts. The melting-point method recommended by the Committee is not applicable to such emulsions or other watery mixtures and the Committee has found it impossible to devise an accurate method for making softening-point or melting-point determinations on products of this nature. Not only the amount of water present but also the fineness of its particles, that is, its state of subdivision and distribution, in a fat or oil influences the softening point or melting point and causes it to vary widely in different samples.

As a consequence of the foregoing facts, natural fats and oils do not exhibit a definite melting point, composed as they are of mixtures of various crystalline glycerides, higher alcohols, fatty acids, and non-crystalline substances. Therefore, the term melting point when applied to them requires further definition. They exhibit first a lower melting point (the melting point of the lowest melting component) or what might be called the softening point and following this the fat softens through a shorter or longer range of temperature to the final melting point at which temperature the fat is entirely liquid. This is the melting point determined by the Committee's melting-point method.

The range between the softening point and the final melting point varies greatly with the different fats and oils depending on their chemical components, the water a.s.sociated with them, emulsification, etc. In the case of coconut oil the range between softening point and final melting point is rather short; in the case of b.u.t.ter, long. Various methods have been devised to determine the so-called melting point of fats and oils.