Process for obtaining fatty acid alkyl esters, rosin acids and sterols from crude tall oil

Abstract

The disclosed invention provides a process for obtaining fatty acid alkyl esters, rosin acids and sterols from crude tall oil (CTO), characterised in that the CTO is subjected to the following steps: (a) reacting the free fatty acids present in the CTO with lower alcohols; (b) separating the fatty acid lower alkyl esters thus obtained from the remaining CTO to produce a first stream of fatty acid esters; (c) esterifying the sterols in the remaining CTO with boric acid; (d) separating the remaining rosin acids from the sterol borates previously obtained to produce a second stream of rosin acids; and (e) converting said sterol borates into the free sterols to produce a third stream of free sterols.

1 - 10 . (canceled)  
   
   
       11 . A process for obtaining fatty acid alkyl esters, rosin acids and sterols from crude tall oil, the process comprising subjecting the crude tall oil to the following steps: 
 (a) reacting the free fatty acids present in the crude tall oil with lower alcohols;    (b) separating the resulting fatty acid lower alkyl esters from the remaining crude tall oil to produce a first product stream of fatty acid esters;    (c) esterifying the sterols in the remaining crude tall oil with boric acid;    (d) separating the remaining rosin acids from the resulting sterol borates to produce a second product stream of rosin acids; and    (e) converting the sterol borates into the free sterols to produce a third product stream of free sterols.    
   
   
       12 . The process according to  claim 11 , wherein the esterification of step (a) is carried out in the presence of an acid catalyst.  
   
   
       13 . The process according to  claim 12 , wherein the acid catalyst is methane sulfonic acid.  
   
   
       14 . The process according to  claim 11 , wherein the esterification of step (a) is carried out at a temperature of 120 to 150° C.  
   
   
       15 . The process according to  claim 11 , wherein the esterification of step (a) is carried out in the presence of one or more enzymes.  
   
   
       16 . The process according to  claim 15 , wherein the esterification of step (a) is carried out at a temperature of 20 to 50° C.  
   
   
       17 . The process according to  claim 11 , wherein the fatty acid lower alkyl ester separation step (b) is carried out by distillation.  
   
   
       18 . The process according to  claim 17 , wherein the distillation of step (b) is carried out by means of a wiped film evaporator.  
   
   
       19 . The process according to  claim 11 , wherein the rosin acid separation step (d) is carried out by distillation.  
   
   
       20 . The process according to  claim 19 , wherein the distillation of step (d) is carried out by means of a wiped film evaporator.  
   
   
       21 . The process according to  claim 18 , wherein the wiped film evaporator is operated at a reduced pressure of 0.01 to 10 mm/Hg and a temperature of 190 to 240° C.  
   
   
       22 . The process according to  claim 20 , wherein the wiped film evaporator is operated at a reduced pressure of 0.01 to 10 mm/Hg and a temperature of 190 to 240° C.  
   
   
       23 . The process according to  claim 11 , wherein the esterification of step (c) is carried out at a temperature of 200 to 230° C.  
   
   
       24 . The process according to  claim 11 , wherein the conversion of the sterol borates of step (e) is carried out by solvolysis.  
   
   
       25 . The process according to  claim 24 , wherein the solvolysis of the sterol borates of step (e) is affected by means of water.