Process for pretreating vegetable oils or animal fats intended for processes of transformation into biofuels
AssigneeENI S.p.A.
InventorsThomas Pasini, Franco Baldiraghi
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Abstract
A method for pretreating and purifying crude bio-feedstocks intended for processes of transformation into biofuels is described, the method being characterized in that the crude bio-feedstock is subjected, in the form of an aqueous emulsion to a heat treatment by passing it through a coil visbreaker furnace at a temperature greater than 100° C. and a pressure greater than 3 barg, possibly in an inert atmosphere, for a pre-established contact/residence time, the effluent exiting the reactor being subsequently subjected to at least a non-absorbent physical separation to separate the bio-feedstock from metal contaminants and phosphorus.
Claims11
A method for pretreating edible or inedible crude/raw bio-feedstocks, intended for processes of transformation into biofuels, to remove metal contaminants and phosphorus in the form of phospholipids, the method including the following steps:
- placing said crude bio-feedstock in contact with acidic water to form, by mixing, an aqueous emulsion which constitutes a liquid phase,
- subjecting said aqueous emulsion to a heat treatment at a temperature greater than the temperature of the previous mixing with water and comprised between 200° C. and 400° C., by passing it into a coil, or in at least one tube, externally heated of a reactor, operating at a pressure comprised between 13-50 barg (1.3MPag-5MPag), optionally also in the presence of an inert atmosphere, so as to obtain an effluent at the outlet of said tube or coil, and
- subjecting said effluent to at least one non-absorbent physical separation to separate said bio-feedstock from said metal contaminants and phosphorus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.