Oleochemical Fatty acids distillation and fractionation
Fatty Acid Distillation
The C.M. BERNARDINI fatty acid distillation plant contemplates a very compact design which incorporates condensation and scrubbing in the distillation column itself.
High quality fatty acids are obtained thanks to the washing stage , which allows to produce high quality products even with lower grade raw materials.
Operating temperatures are kept to a minimum due to the very low pressure drop of the tower. High flexibility is achieved by means of external pumparounds with a comprehensive automatic control system.
Maximum heat recovery is achieved by generating low pressure steam, which is used for the vacuum system. The distiller is a structured packing tower, with three packing layers (washing, condensation and scrubbing) and the vacuum system installed directly on the top of the tower. A separate distiller is included for pitch stripping. According to the raw material, the process may contemplate a pre-cut column, of the packing type (random or structured according to the product handled). The pre-cut tower, too, includes an internal condensation stage with external pumparound.
Fatty Acid Fractional Distillation
Fatty acids of different chain length are fractionated under high vacuum in order to the maximum extent the distillation temperatures. All C.M.
BERNARDINI fractionation columns are provided with structured packing of various types and various specific surfaces.
All process variables are under full automatic control. Heat recovery may be pushed to the maximum possible extent, generating low pressure steam that is used for the vacuum system. Like the fatty acids straight distillation, the condensation and scrubbing sections make use of structural packing and are included in the tower itself. The vacuum system is directly connected to the tower (s).
Column Reboiler(s) are of the forced circulation suppressed vaporization type, which reduces the local overheating and consequently the colour degradation of the product. A pre-cut tower can be contemplated upstream of the fractional distillation tower (s) according to the product . Materials of construction are carefully selected according to the fatty acid chain length.