9 replies to this topic

[chris.w]

Hi Guys, I am currently completing my final year design project. For my project I will be designing a distillation column capable of separating a mixture of long chain fatty acids from a mixture of tryglycerides.

 

I would like to run a simulation of this process and was after some guidance on what would be the best program to use to run the simulation. I have access to the full suite of Aspen programs.

 

Thanks

[Malti]

Hi, I am also doing a project on a similar topic for which I need to simulate the distillation column for fatty acid purification. Can you guide me how to do that?

[bmsharad]

Pro II has the property database for all fatty acids including long chain ( you are probably talking of erucic & behenic?)

You can use a packed column as basis, define type of packing, give feed composition and carry out the simulation. Very high vacuum levels ( 1-3-5 torr) are required

[Malti]

Thanks for the information. Long chain fatty acids like palmitic, oleic. It is a normal fatty acid distillation to separate them from triglyceride in a soap plant. Do I need to know the thermodynamic model for this?

[bmsharad]

First crude fatty acids are made from oil / fat by splitting. The crude fatty acids are fractionated to give the individual fatty acids

[bmsharad]

do refer kolmetz.com/pdf/Foo/RSCE2002_Fractionation.pdf

[bmsharad]

Also Prof Herman Stage has written an excellent paper in American Oil Chemist Society Journal ( JAOCS)

[Malti]

Here it is not a fractionation column, just simple packed distillation column to separate fatty acids and unsplitted triglyceride or to extract fatty acids from crude fatty acid. Can I simulate this on Aspen?

[bmsharad]

You will have to make a typical composition for triglycerides & fatty acids based on avg mol wt & use that data in aspen

[bmsharad]

Dr Herman Stage article is very useful in this case