Process for the production of fatty alcohols

Details Process for the production of fatty alcohols Process for the production of fatty alcohols

1991-08-12

1992-10-20

Evans, J. E.

Organic compounds -- part of the class 532-570 series

Organic compounds

Oxygen containing

568885, C07C 2702, C07C 31125, C07C 29149

Patent

active

051571684

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a process for the production of fatty alcohols.
Fatty alcohols, or higher alcohols as they are sometimes designated, are monohydric aliphatic alcohols containing six or more carbon atoms which are derived either from natural sources or are synthesised from petroleum feedstocks. They are often classified by their market usage. As the primary end use of primary alcohols containing between about 6 and about 11 carbon atoms is the production of plasticiser esters, such alcohols are often termed plasticiser alcohols. For higher alcohols containing, for example, from about 11 up to about 20 carbon atoms, the major use is for the production of synthetic detergents; hence such alcohols are often termed detergent alcohols. The distinction between plasticiser alcohols and detergent alcohols is somewhat arbitrary and there is some production of phthalate esters from a C.sub.13 "oxo" alcohol and also some production of, for example, nonionic surfactants from C.sub.8 to C.sub.10 alcohols.
Although there are some natural products which contain esters which can be hydrogenated to produce alcohols in the plasticiser range, these are more usually produced synthetically from petroleum feedstocks by, for example, the so-called "oxo" process, a process which is also termed oxonation or hydroformylation. Detergent range alcohols, on the other hand, are typically produced by hydrogenation of lower molecular alkyl esters of fatty acids. Such esters can be produced by transesterification of natural triglycerides or by esterification of the fatty acids obtained by hydrolysis of such triglycerides. Examples of triglycerides which can be used as raw materials include natural oils, such as coconut oil, rape seed oil, and palm oils, and animal fats, such as lard, tallow, and fish oil. As such natural raw materials usually contain mixtures of triglycerides, the alcohol products obtained upon hydrogenation are also mixtures of n-alkanols of differing molecular weight Such mixtures of alkanols are acceptable for production of detergents without prior separation of the alkanols one from another.
Whatever the commercial end use of the fatty alcohol or fatty alcohol mixture the user generally insists that the alcohol product must have as low an acid value as possible and also as low a saponification value as possible. The acid value (AV) is a measure of the free acid content of the alcohol product and is defined as the number of mg of KOH required to neutralise the free fatty acid in 1 g of alcohol. The saponification value (SV) gives, together with the acid value, a measure of the free ester content of the alcohol product and is defined as the number of mg of KOH required to saponify the esters and acids in 1 g of alcohol. The ester value (EV) is the number obtained by subtracting the acid value from the saponification value (EV=SV-AV). In all cases the lower the value is (AV, SV, or EV), the better is considered to be the quality of the alcohol product. Another measure of purity of saturated alcohols is the iodine value (IV), i.e. the number of g of I.sub.2 absorbed by 100 g of the alcohol The iodine value indicates the ethylenic double bond content of the alcohol product. Again, it is generally considered desirable to have as low an iodine value as possible for a saturated alcohol.
Examples of commercial fatty alcohol products are the products sold under the following trade names:


__________________________________________________________________________ Approx. composition, wt %, 100% alcohol basis Descriptive Name Trade Mark Derived from C.sub.12 C.sub.14 C.sub.16 C.sub.18 C.sub.20 __________________________________________________________________________ dodecanol CO-1214 coconut 67 26 7 Dehydag coconut 72 27 1 tetradecanol- CO-1418 coconut 12 43 22 23 octadecanol hexadecenol CO-1695 coconut 1 96 3 hexadecanol- TA-1618 tallow 4 28 .sup. 67.sup.a 1 octadecanol octadecenol CO-1895 coconut 2 97 1 octadecenol Dehydag HD natural oils 4 .sup. 94.sup.b 2

REFERENCES:
patent: 1491076 (1924-04-01), Burghart
patent: 3173959 (1965-03-01), Rittmeister
patent: 3949007 (1976-04-01), Grolig et al.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Process for the production of fatty alcohols does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Process for the production of fatty alcohols, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Process for the production of fatty alcohols will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-193396