Process for making high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters
First Claim
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1. A process for making high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters, comprising the steps of:
- (a) converting a source of fatty acids to a product mixture comprising fatty acid lower alkyl esters and by-products;
(b) water-washing the product mixture at a temperature of from about 60°
C. to about 93°
C. and an elevated pressure to remove at least a portion of the by-products from the product mixture; and
(c) fractionally distilling the water-washed product mixture to obtain high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters; and
wherein at least a portion of the fatty acids have from about 20 to about 24 carbon atoms and further wherein the high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters have an acid value of no greater than about 1.0.
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Abstract
Processes for the synthesis of high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters comprise the steps of: (a) converting a fatty acid source to a product mixture comprising lower alkyl esters and by-products; (b) water-washing the product mixture at elevated temperature and elevated pressure to remove by-products; and (c) fractionally distilling the water-washed product mixture to obtain high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters. At least a portion of the fatty acids have from about 20 to about 24 carbon atoms. The high purity lower alkyl esters have an acid value no greater than about 1.0.
42 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A process for making high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters, comprising the steps of:
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(a) converting a source of fatty acids to a product mixture comprising fatty acid lower alkyl esters and by-products; (b) water-washing the product mixture at a temperature of from about 60°
C. to about 93°
C. and an elevated pressure to remove at least a portion of the by-products from the product mixture; and(c) fractionally distilling the water-washed product mixture to obtain high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters; and wherein at least a portion of the fatty acids have from about 20 to about 24 carbon atoms and further wherein the high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters have an acid value of no greater than about 1.0. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A process for making high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters, comprising the steps of:
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(a) converting a source of fatty acid to a product mixture comprising fatty acid lower alkyl esters and by-products; (b) water-washing the product mixture at a temperature of from about 60°
C. to about 93°
C. and an elevated pressure to remove at least a portion of the by-products from the product mixture; and(c) fractionally distilling the water-washed product mixture to obtain high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters; and wherein the step of fractionally distilling is selected from the group consisting of fractionally distilling in the absence of base at a temperature of from about 163°
C. to about 246°
C. and fractionally distilling in the presence of base at a temperature of from about 246°
C. to about 277°
C., and wherein at least a portion of the fatty acids have at least about 16 carbon atoms and further wherein the high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters have an acid value of no greater than about 1.0.- View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A process for preparing fatty acid polyol polyester comprising the steps of:
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(a) preparing high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters by (1) reacting a fatty acid glycerol ester with a lower alkyl alcohol in the presence of a catalyst to produce a product mixture of fatty acid lower alkyl ester, fatty acid glycerol ester and glycerol; (2) separating the product mixture into a glycerol-containing phase and a fatty acid lower alkyl ester-containing phase; (3) water-washing the fatty acid lower alkyl ester-containing phase at a temperature of from about 60°
C. to about 93°
C. and an elevated pressure to remove at least a portion of by-products from the fatty acid lower alkyl ester-containing phase;(4) fractionally distilling the resulting water-washed fatty acid lower alkyl ester; and (5) collecting at least one fraction of highly purified fatty acid lower alkyl ester; and (b) transesterifying the highly purified fatty acid lower alkyl ester of the collected fraction with a polyol to obtain a fatty acid polyol polyester; and wherein the high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters have an acid value of less than about 1.0. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A process for preparing a linked esterified alkoxylated polyol comprising the steps of:
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(a) converting a source of fatty acids to a product mixture comprising fatty acid lower alkyl esters and by-products; (b) water-washing the product mixture at a temperature of from about 60°
C. to about 93°
C. and an elevated pressure to remove at least a portion of the by-products from the product mixture;(c) fractionally distilling the water-washed product mixture to obtain high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters having an acid value of no greater than about 1.0; (d) reacting a polyol with an epoxide to form an alkoxylated polyol; (e) reacting the alkoxylated polyol with a linking segment to form a linked alkoxylated polyol; and (f) transesterification of the linked alkoxylated polyol with the high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters.
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22. A process for making high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters, comprising the steps of:
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(a) converting a source of fatty acids to a product mixture comprising fatty acid lower alkyl esters and by-products; (b) water-washing the product mixture at a temperature of from about 77°
C. to about 93°
C. and an elevated pressure to remove at least a portion of the by-products from the product mixture; and(c) fractionally distilling the water-washed product mixture to obtain high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters; and wherein at least a portion of the fatty acids have from about 20 to about 24 carbon atoms and further wherein the high purity fatty acid lower alkyl esters have an acid value of no greater than about 1.0. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification