# US 2017/0283349 A1 · Method and device for producing l-menthol in solid form > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2017/0283349 A1 - Document ID: US20170283349A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/508,411 - Filed: 2015-08-27 - Published: 2017-10-05 - Earliest claimed: 2014-09-03 - Assignees: Sandvik Materials Technology Deutschland GmbH - Applicants: Sandvik Materials Technology Deutschland GmbH - Inventors: Bernhard ROTH - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170283349A1 ## CPC - C07C 29/76: by physical treatment - B01J 2/20: by expressing the material, e.g. through sieves and fragmenting the extruded length - B01J 2/26: on endless conveyor belts - C07B 2200/07: Optical isomers - C07C 2601/14: The ring being saturated - C07C: ACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS - B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS - C07B: GENERAL METHODS OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY; APPARATUS THEREFOR (preparation of carboxylic acid esters by telomerisation C07C67/47; telomerisation C08F) ## Abstract A process for producing L-menthol in solid form, including the following steps: providing a menthol melt, feeding the melt to a drop former having a rotating, perforated outer drum and a fixed nozzle strip adjacent to the inside of the outer drum, depositing the menthol melt produced by the drop former onto a continuous cooling belt, solidifying the menthol melt during transport on the cooling belt to form L-menthol pellets and taking the pellets off in the region of a deflection drum for the cooling belt. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A process for producing L-menthol in solid form, characterized by the following steps: providing a menthol melt, feeding the melt to a drop former having a rotating, perforated outer drum and a fixed nozzle strip adjacent to the inside of the outer drum, depositing melt drops produced by the drop former onto a continuous cooling belt, solidifying the melt drops during transport on the cooling belt to form L-menthol pellets and taking the pellets off in the region of a deflection drum for the cooling belt. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The process as claimed in claim 1, including conveying the menthol melt through a scraping cooler before feeding the melt to the drop former in order to produce seed crystals. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The process as claimed in claim 2, including producing more than 10% by weight, in particular 20% by weight, of seed crystals in the menthol melt in the scraping cooler. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The process as claimed in claim 3, including producing from 30 to 40% by weight of seed crystals in the menthol melt in the scraping cooler. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The process as claimed in claim 2, including setting a temperature at the scraping surfaces of the scraping cooler in a range from 26° Celsius to 32° Celsius. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The process as claimed in claim 2, including conveying the menthol melt in a circuit through the scraping cooler so that the menthol melt passes through the scraping cooler a plurality of times. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The process as claimed in claim 6, wherein an amount conveyed in the circuit through the scraping cooler is at least ten times, in particular twenty times, an amount conveyed from the scraping cooler to the drop former. ### Claim 8 (depends on 2) The process as claimed in claim 2, wherein the scraping cooler is cooled by means of a liquid coolant, in particular water, with an amount of coolant conveyed through the scraping cooler being at least ten times the amount of menthol melt conveyed through the scraping cooler. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The process as claimed in claim 8, including setting a temperature of the liquid coolant in a temperature control unit using hot cooling liquid or steam and cold cooling liquid. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The process as claimed in claim 1, including conveying the menthol melt through a precooler before feeding the melt to the drop former. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The process as claimed in claim 10, including conveying the menthol melt through a scraping cooler in order to produce seed crystals after conveying the menthol melt through the precooler and before feeding the melt to the drop former. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The process as claimed in claim 1, including setting a temperature in the drop former above the melting point of the menthol melt, so that crystallization of the menthol melt in the drop former occurs to only a very small extent and deposits are avoided. ### Claim 13 An apparatus for producing L-menthol in solid form, including means for providing a menthol melt, a drop former having a rotating, perforated outer drum and a fixed nozzle strip adjacent to the inside of the outer drum and also a continuous cooling belt arranged underneath the outer drum. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, including a scraping cooler for producing seed crystals in the menthol melt, with the scraping cooler being arranged upstream of the drop former. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the scraping cooler has a circular cylindrical, cooled interior surface which is scraped by scrapers arranged on a rotating shaft. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein a precooler for the menthol melt is arranged upstream of the scraping cooler. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the precooler, the scraping cooler and/or the drop former are provided with separate cooling liquid circuits. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein separate temperature control units are assigned to each of the cooling circuits, with each temperature control unit having a heating device for providing hot cooling liquid or steam and a cooling device for providing cold cooling liquid.