VFT’s fiber reactors are the ideal choice for the removal of free fatty acids (FFAs), gums, metals, and waxes from crude vegetable oils. The patented process improves upon traditional methods for oil degumming and FFA removal. A single pass through a fiber reactor can reduce FFAs from over 15% to 0.1% and gums from 2.7% to 0.03%. The processed oil is an ideal feedstock for producing biodiesel and for refinement into edible, food grade oils.
DEGUMMING:
Gums, or phosphatides, exist in hydratable and non-hydratable forms and cause a multitude of downstream processing issues. A simple water wash is capable of removing hydratable compounds, while acids are added to make non-hydratable species hydratable. The fiber reactor is an optimum vessel for either process to effectively extract these gums from oils in a single step.
METALS REMOVAL:
Trace metals in a feedstock are a problem for renewable diesel catalysts. By removing the majority of trace metals, fiber reactor pretreatment reduces guard column maintenance costs, down-time, and associated costs during renewable diesel production.
Benefits of Fiber Reactor Technology For Refining Feedstock:
- Gums and FFAs are effectively removed without the need for centrifuges, eliminating costly rotating equipment within the processing facility.
- Oil loss in the FFA extraction by fiber reactors is significantly less than existing processes.
- Certain carotenoids (naturally derived pigments) are extracted with the FFAs and can enrich the resultant acid oil for higher nutrition animal feed.
- Trace metals are significantly reduced.