ESTERIFICATION METHOD FOR FREE FATTY ACID IN TRIGLYCERIDE

• Main Authors: BANAVALI RAJIV MANOHAR, SCHULTZ ALFRED K, HANLON ROBERT TRYON
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 27.05.2010
• Subjects: ACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS; ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES AND WAXES; CANDLES; CHEMISTRY; CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION ORPROCESSING OF GOODS; DETERGENTS; FATS, OILS OR FATTY ACIDS BY CHEMICAL MODIFICATION OF FATS,OILS, OR FATTY ACIDS OBTAINED THEREFROM; FATTY ACIDS FROM FATS, OILS OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; METALLURGY; ORGANIC CHEMISTRY; REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGYGENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an esterification method for a free fatty acid in a triglyceride using methanol. SOLUTION: The esterification method for the free fatty acid using methanol includes (a) a step of contacting a heterogeneous esterification catalyst with a reaction mixture: containing (1) methanol and (2) a triglyceride mixture containing 70-99.8 wt.% of the triglyceride and 0.2-30 wt.% of the free fatty acid under conditions suitable for esterification in a reactor to generate a product flow; (b) a step of separating water and methanol from the product flow to generate a dried product flow; (c) a step of contacting the dried product flow with methanol to generate a methanol enriched phase and a triglyceride enriched phase; and (d) a step of separating the methanol enriched phase to recycle it into the reactor. COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT