Fatty Acid Crystallization

⚗️ FATTY ACID DISTILLATION – SUMMARY

🔹 What is Fatty Acid Distillation?

Fatty Acid Distillation is a thermal separation process used to purify crude fatty acids by removing impurities such as:

• Free Fatty Acids (FFAs)

• Odorous substances

• Color pigments

• Waxes

• Residual solvents or moisture

This process yields high-purity fatty acids suitable for food, pharmaceutical, and industrial uses.

🔹 Where is it Used?

• Edible oil refining (to recover and purify FFAs from soapstock splitting)

• Oleochemical industry (for producing pure fatty acids used in soaps, detergents, lubricants)

• Specialty chemical manufacturing

🔹 Types of Fatty Acid Distillation

🔹 Process Overview

1. Feed Preparation

   • Crude fatty acids or soapstock acid oil are preheated.

2. Vacuum Distillation

   • Under high vacuum (1–10 mmHg), fatty acids are heated (~200–300°C).

   • Reduced pressure lowers boiling points, preventing decomposition.

3. Fractionation

   • Separation of fatty acids based on chain length and volatility.

   • Impurities (color bodies, odor, moisture) are removed.

4. Condensation & Collection

   • Purified fatty acids are condensed and collected.

   • Residue (heavier impurities) is removed as by-products.

🔹 Key Equipment

• Vacuum distillation column

• Preheating furnaces

• Vacuum pumps and condensers

• Feed and product storage tanks

• Heat exchangers

🔹 Advantages

• Produces highly pure fatty acids (>98% purity)

• Removes color and odor effectively

• Enables recovery of valuable by-products

• Protects heat-sensitive fatty acids by low-pressure distillation

🔹 Applications of Distilled Fatty Acids

🔹 Summary Table