Hydrocarbon Solvents – Distillates and Dearomatised Grades

Petroleum distillates are produced from crude oil in the refining process by fractional distillation. Distillates can be collected from the distillation column over a range of temperatures and are used in formulations for their physical properties (such as flash point, density, boiling point) rather than their chemical purity.

Distillates contain large numbers of hydrocarbons. Due to legislative demands, any aromatics which may have been present in the fraction within the collection range, can largely be removed by further processing. This gives rise to a Dearomatised grade or D-grade hydrocarbon.

Distillates, also known as kerosenes, D-grades or Special Boiling Points (SBPs) are often used in the manufacture of surface coatings, rubbers, thinners and functional fluids.