Organic compounds -- part of the class 532-570 series – Organic compounds – Fatty compounds having an acid moiety which contains the...
Patent
1997-10-03
1999-09-28
Geist, Gary
Organic compounds -- part of the class 532-570 series
Organic compounds
Fatty compounds having an acid moiety which contains the...
554211, 426417, C07C 5900
Patent
active
059591293
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention is concerned with a process for fractionating triglyceride oils, particularly lauric oils. The fractionation (fractional crystallization) of triglyceride oils is described by Gunstone, Harwood and Padley in The Lipid Handbook, 1986 edition, pages 213-215. Generally triglyceride oils are mixtures of various triglycerides having different melting points. Lauric oils are triglyceride oils which contain a considerable amount of esterified lauric acid, such as coconut oil (CN), palmkernel oil (PK) and derivatives thereof. The composition of triglyceride oils may be modified e.g. by fractionation yielding a fraction having a different melting point or solubility.
One fractionation method is the so-called dry fractionation process which comprises cooling the oil until a solid phase crystallises and separating the crystallised phase from the liquid phase. The liquid phase is denoted as olein fraction, while the solid phase is denoted as stearin fraction.
The separation of the phases is usually carried out by filtration, optionally applying some kind of pressure.
The major problem encountered with phase separation in the dry fractionation process is the inclusion of a lot of liquid olein fraction in the separated stearin fraction. The olein fraction is thereby included in the inter- and intracrystal spaces of the crystal mass of the stearin fraction. Therefore the separation of the solid from the liquid fraction is only partial.
The solids content of the stearin fraction is denoted as the separation efficiency. In dry fractionation it seldom surpasses 50 to 60 wt. %. This is detrimental to the quality of the stearin as well as to the yield of the olein. For the related solvent fractionation process, where the fat to be fractionated is crystallised from e.g. a hexane or acetone solution, separation efficiencies may be up to 95%.
Dry fractionation, however, is a process which is more economical and more environmentally friendly than solvent fractionation. For dry fractionation an increase of separation efficiency is therefore much desired, particularly for the commercially very important lauric oils.
It is known to interfere with the crystallization by adding to a crystallising oil a substance which will generally be indicated as a crystallization modifying substance. The presence of small quantities of such a substance in the cooling oil may accelerate, retard or inhibit crystallization. In certain situations the above substances are more precisely indicated as crystal habit modifiers. Known crystallization modifiers are e.g. fatty acid esters of sucrose, described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,059,010, 3,059,010, JP 05/125389 and JP 06/181686, fatty acid esters of glucose and derivatives, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,059,011. These crystallization modifiers are effective in speeding up the crystallization rate.
Other crystallization modifiers, e.g. as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,158,490 when added to kitchen oils have the effect that solid fat crystallization is prevented or at least retarded. Other types of crystallization modifiers, particularly referred to as crystal habit modifiers, are widely used as an ingredient for mineral fuel oils in which waxes are prone to crystallize at low temperatures. U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,461 teaches the addition of a crystal habit modifier to fuel oil with the effect that the cloud point (or pour point) temperature is lowered far enough to prevent crystal precipitation. Or, alternatively, the solids are induced to crystallize in a different habit so that the crystals when formed can pass fuel filters without clogging them. Other crystal habit modifiers are actually able to change the habit of the crystallized triglyceride fat crystals in a way such that after crystallization the crystals, the stearin phase, can be more effectively separated from the liquid phase, the olein phase. Publications describing such crystal habit modifiers are e.g. GB 1 015 354, U.S. Pat. No. 2,610,915, co-pending PCT application WO 95/04122, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,059,008, 3,059,009 and 3,059,010.
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REFERENCES:
patent: 3059009 (1962-10-01), Schmid et al.
Yuki et al, J. Jpn. Oil Chem. Soc., 39(4):236-244 (1990).
Derwent Publications Ltd., Abstract AN 94-251621 (Jul. 5, 1994).
Derwent Publications Ltd., Abstract AN 93-200723 (May 21, 1993).
Hogervorst Wim
Kamp Frans
van Dam Petrus Henricus J
Carr Deborah D
Geist Gary
Unilever Patent Holdings B.V.
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