METHOD AND DEVICE FOR OBTAINING FATTY ACID ESTERS FROM NATIVE OILS AND FATS BY MEANS OF ENZYMATIC CLEAVAGE THEREOF

摘要

The invention relates to a method and a device for obtaining fatty acids or fatty acid esters from native oils and fats. According to the invention, lipases act on a mixture of an oil or a fat, water and optionally an oil-soluble or fat-soluble alcohol, said lipases acting as biocatalysts for separating the oil or fat and optionally for forming an ester. The reaction mixture thus formed is then placed in a self-emptying centrifuge in order to be separated into an aqueous, glycerine-containing phase and an organic phase. The centrifuge is adjusted in such a way that an intermediate layer enriched with lipase which forms between the flow of the aqueous phase and the flow of the organic phase is concentrated in the centrifuge which is emptied at pre-determined intervals. The content emptied out of the drum of the centrifuge is then reintroduced into the combined separation process or the combined separation/ester formation process.