SIMULATION OF DEACIDIFICATION PROCESS BY MOLECULAR DISTILLATION OF DEODORIZER DISTILLATE

A computer program has been developed to simulate the deacidification of sunflower deodorizer distillate. The developed mathematical model is based on momentum, mass and energy balances. The Langmuir-Knudsen constitutive equation was used in order to represent the kinetics of evaporation and condensation. Physical and transport properties have been evaluated using correlations, which are functions of temperature and composition. The obtained partial differential equation system was solved by means of the Crank-Nicholson technique, and the calculation programs employed were developed and debugged using Matlab 7.1. The mathematical model was used to analyze the phenomena that take place during the molecular distillation process, and it also allowed studying the influence of operating variables on the performance of the process. In this investigation, we analyzed the influence of the operating temperature on purity and yield of the components. Trials at three evaporating temperatures (110 degrees C, 130 degrees C, anti 140 degrees C) were carried out in a KDL4 (UIC) molecular distillation apparatus to verify the model.