Process for refining crude glyceride oils by membrane filtration
AssigneeLever Brothers Company
InventorAchintya Kumar Sen Gupta
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Abstract
Crude glyceride oils are refined by membrane filtration under pressure in solutions in organic solvents, particularly to separate phosphatides, which may also be refined according to the invention. The solvents are non-acidic, non-hydroxy solvents, e.g., esters, hydrocarbons and halogenated hydrocarbons, particularly in which micelles are formed and the solution is contacted under pressure with a semi-permeable membrane, preferably anisotropic and made from synthetic resin. These pass a permeate fraction of low molecular weight components, eg the glycerides and solvent, and retain a fraction of higher molecular weight, e.g., phosphatide micelles.
Claims27
A process for refining crude glyceride oil compositions comprising the steps of
- a. diluting the composition with a non-acidic non-alcoholic organic solvent to provide a more mobile and essentially non-aqueous solution containing glycerides and components of greater effective molecular weight in the solution,
- b. contacting one side of a semi-permeable, non-porous, anistropic membrane having a retention cut-off limit between 1,500 and 200,000 with the resulting solution under positive pressure from 5 to 50 kgs/cm.sup.2 until constituents of the composition, of different molecular weight are separated into retentate and liquid permeate fractions in contact with the respective sides of the membrane containing the glyceride oil in substantially the same concentration in the two fractions, in solution in the said solvent,
- c. recovering at least one liquid composition comprising one of said fractions and removing solvent therefrom to provide a refined product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.