The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 03, 2013
Filed:
Jun. 28, 2007
Andrew Timothy Boam, London, GB;
Fui Wen Lim, London, GB;
Andrew Timothy Boam, London, GB;
Fui Wen Lim, London, GB;
Evonik Membrance Extraction Technology Limited, London, GB;
Abstract
There is provided a process for reducing the free fatty acid content of natural oils by contacting the crude natural oil with a solvent to produce an oil product phase substantially depleted in free fatty acids and a free fatty acid rich solvent phase containing the extracted free fatty acids and some of the glycerides, and processing the free fatty acid rich solvent phase with a membrane to recover the glycerides from the solvent phase, comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the crude natural oil with an immiscible solvent; (b) separating the deacidifed natural oil phase from the solvent phase; (c) providing a selectively permeable membrane having a first surface and a second surface; (d) transferring a portion of the solvent and a portion of the free fatty acids and a lesser portion of the glycerides from the first surface to the second surface across the membrane by contacting the free fatty acid rich solvent phase with the first surface, wherein the pressure at the first surface is greater than the pressure at the second surface, and wherein the membrane is a selectively permeable membrane such that the membrane rejections of the free fatty acids (RFFA) and glycerides (RGLY) are greater than 0%, and the membrane rejection (RGLY) of the glycerides is at least 5% greater than the membrane rejection (RFFA) of the free fatty acids.