Pilot-plant distillation of meadowfoam fatty acids

Crude meadowfoam fatty acids, which are mainly long chain monoenes, Delta-5 C20, were separated using a Myers 15 pilot plant centrifugal molecular distillation unit to give a distillate that was light in color (Gardner Color = 1). One of the problems with crude meadowfoam fatty acids is the color (Gardner Color = 18). The optimal distillation conditions were explored by varying the rotor temperature, degas temperature, rotor preheat, and flow rate onto the rotor. As the conditions were varied, the distillate was monitored for color, fatty acid composition, and mass split between distillate and residue. At very high rotor temperatures, the color of the distillate and the fatty acid composition deteriorated, but the same split was observed as with a low rotor temperature. All the variable conditions played a vital role in conducting a successful distillation. In most cases, direct correlations existed between temperatures and amounts of different fatty acids. The optimum conditions were determined through the course of numerous trials and used to distill a large quantity (95 1 of meadowfoam fatty acid), (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.