Continuous sepn. of fatty acid mono:glyceride from mixed glyceride(s) - by countercurrent extn. with supercritical carbon di:oxide in 2 packed columns in series, with higher gas pressure in second column

摘要

A process is claimed for separating fatty acid monoglyceride (I) from a mixt. of mono- (I), di- (II) and tri- (III) -glyceride, using a counter-current of supercritical CO2 as extractant; the novelty is that the (III) and part of the (II) are sepd. in a first stage at 50-130 deg.C and 100-160 bar (pressure P1), then (I) is sepd. from the remaining mixt. in a sec. stage at a higher pressure (P2). Unit for the process comprises a first extn. column with liq. inlet at the top and gas inlet at the bottom, a stripper connected to the top of the column, a second column connected to the bottom of the column via a compressor and fitted with a liq. inlet at the top and a gas inlet at the bottom, a second stripper connected to the top of the second column and a third stripper connected to the bottom of the second column compressed gases are expanded in strippers. Sepn. is pref. carried out in packed columns as a continuous process. The bottom prod. from the 1st column is fed into the top of the second column and (I) is taken off as bottom prod. from the 2nd column. After each stage, the loaded gas is expanded to a lower pressure and recycled, pref. via a filter. USE/ADVANTAGE - The invention enables the sepn. to be carried out as a continuous process on the industrial scale, without using an entraining agent; (I) only comes into contact with CO2, which is an advantage w.r.t. to the use of (I) as a food additive.