Biorefining of crude tall oil

A process for the refining of crude tall oil (CTO), wherein the process comprises fractionation under vacuum of a refined CTO into at least one stream of refined tall diesel (RTD) or tall oil fatty acids (TOFA), said RTD or TOFA comprising from 2-30% by volume of resin acids (RA) and from 20-90% by volume of fatty acids, characterized by that:

• the refined CTO is charged to a first fractionation step for separation of TOFA and RA from tall oil pitch (TOP), followed by a second fractionation step wherein a stream rich in RTD or TOFA having a boiling point at atmospheric pressure in a range of 170-420° C. is separated from a stream rich in RA, and
• the RA is further purified in a third step,
• wherein the fractionation yields at least one stream of RA comprising less than 5% by volume of fatty acid, and
• wherein the fractionation of CTO is performed under vacuum in at least three units.