Resitec Industria Quimica Ltda.

Sulzer Chemtech Ag

Resitec Participacoes Ltda

Rodolfo Rohr

Jose Anibal Trujillo-Quijano

Andrzej Kuszlik

Ali Nikzad

Raul Rohr

Andrzej Sulzer Chemtech Ag Kuszlik

Ali Sulzer Chemtech Ag Nikzad

This invention relates to a method and a device for purifying and/or separating preferably high melting organic raw products or compound mixtures containing, in particular, high melting and/or degradable sterols, by layer crystallization on first heat exchanger surfaces. The raw product is received in a solvent or solvent mixture, and then brought into contact with heat exchanger surfaces. The desired product crystallizes on the heat exchanger surfaces by slow cooling. Solvent evaporating during the crystallization or sweating process is condensed and returned to the mixture.

Method and device for purifying high melting organic raw products or compound mixtures by means of fractionated melting crystallisation from solvent mixtures

Disclosed are processes for separating valuable products, including unsaponifiable materials, from any given matrix of raw materials that is mainly composed of saponifiable components and unsaponifiable components. Preferred methods include converting sodium or potassium soaps obtained from the saponification of a starting material into metallic soaps which have a lower melting point, and when melted, have viscosity sufficiently low to enable processing such as by distillation evaporation processes. Preferred raw materials include animal or vegetable products, as well as by-products, residues, and waste products from the processing of animal or vegetable products, such as from food processing, cellulose processing and the like. Valuable products which may be obtained by the disclosed processes include sterols, vitamins, flavonoids, and tocopherols.

Process for separating unsaponifiable valuable products from raw materials

A process for the extraction and concentration of unsaponifiable substances, containing liposoluble vitamins and provitamins, growth factors and animal and vegetable hormones, from residues of the industrialization of animal or vegetable products. This process does not require the use of solvents. Its main goal is to obtain the separation of these &ldquo;valuable products&rdquo;, by means of distillation/evaporation at high vacuum, and the production of fatty acids and other high quality organic acids, once the recovery of the unsaponifiable fraction of residues from the industrialization of animal or vegetable products, is of great commercial interest. This is due to the fact that the &ldquo;valuable products&rdquo;, have in many cases, vitamin activity, such as: tocopherols, sterols, carotenoids, vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin D, while other products present cholesterol reducing properties, such as: sterols, tocotrienols, esqualene, etc; or even, anti-oxidant properties like: tocopherols, tocotrienols; as well as anti-carcinogenic properties such as: tocotrienols, sterols, lycopene, and alpha-carotene. Some other products are used as a structure for chemical-synthesis, like for example: sterols for hormone synthesis, vitamin D synthesis; and other products which have nutraceutic properties, apart from the commercial interest in some products, the cosmetic formulas of which present emulsifying properties, emulsion stabilizers and/or viscosity modifiers like for example sterols.

Process for extraction and concentration of liposoluble vitamins and provitamins, growth factors and animal and vegetable hormones from residues and by-products of industrialized animal and vegetable products

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Campinas, Brazil

Rodolfo Rohr