Candles, based on regional, renewable raw-materials

Status

completed

Summary

The applicant operates a candle production in Austria since 1418. At the beginning bees wax was the main raw material, but during the development of the last centuries production was switched over to paraffin, which is now used nearly 100% as the basic raw material. The company herewith declares to make an active contribution to achieve the Kyoto goals and therefore wants to establish a product line made of growing again raw material. Due to market studies and several trader inquiries it is known that there is a strong demand for such products.

In this project a feasibility study should be presented with the aim of finding a raw material based on growing again, regional sources, which can be used for candle production. This raw material should substitute today's paraffin, which only consists of fossil sources.

Due to experiments of our own made during the last years and continuing contacts with the international candle industry it is known that there already exist several products (such as different oil-lights in small containers), which are based on renewable raw materials. They, however, cannot be seen as the main turnover product --neither for the applicant nor for other international producers.

Until the autumn of 2004 it should be tested if Rape-Based Stearin can be used for producing fully-automatically competitive candles with our currently existing machinery - such as granulating, pressing, extruding and drawing.

It is expected that either chemical/technical modifications of the Stearin or changes in the current production techniques (e.g. working with higher pressure) are necessary.

The new biological candle should have the following characteristics, which mean an additional gain for the customer, society and the applicant:

• a raw material, which exists of (at least partially) growing again sources preferably from our own region
• a combination of an inner and outer part of the candle, which ensures - on the one hand - dripping firmness in rooms with slight draught (e.g. restaurants, acclimatised rooms) and - on the other hand - less soot while burning
• a high standard regarding security characteristics when using this candle

Project management

LUEGER Johann
Tel.: +43 (0) 7355/8731-70
E-Mail: johann.lueger@hofer-kerzen.at

Project or cooperation partner

• OFI - Österr. Forschungsinstitut für Chemie und Technik
  Hr. Dipl.-Ing. Walter BACHLEITNER
  Hr. Dipl.-Ing. Philipp KOSKARTI
• TDZ - Technologie- und Dienstleistungs-zentrum Ennstal GmbH
  Hr. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Werner AUER

HOFER Kerzen GmbH
HOFER Herbert
Unterer Markt 42
3335 Weyer
Tel.: +43 (0) 7355/8731-23
Fax: +43 (0) 1-524 68 47-20
E-Mail: herbert.hofer@a1.net