Claims
- 1. A method for the acetone deoiling of crude lecithin comprising providing a vertically-extending column having in progression from the top: an upper settling and removal section, a lecithin feed section, a contacting section, an acetone feed section and a bottom settling and removal section, said lecithin feed section and contacting section being equipped with vertically spaced apart agitators, the agitators only in said contacting section being separated by vertically-spaced apart, aperture-equipped annular baffles wherein the open area of each annular baffle is from about 20% to about 40% of the outside diameter of the baffle, treating said lecithin with from about 5% to about 20% acetone to facilitate break-up of solids during extraction and to increase flowability, introducing said treated lecithin into said feed section while introducing acetone into said acetone feed section, said lecithin introduction being under conditions of agitation but without flow constriction and at essentially atmospheric pressure, thereafter flowing said lecithin in continuous, countercurrent relation to acetone at a rate of 3 to 10 parts acetone to one part lecithin by weight under conditions of agitation and flow constriction to provide a refined lecithin having an Acetone Insolubles content in the range of about 94% to about 99.9%.
- 2. A method for deoiling crude lecithin comprising treating said lecithin with from about 5% to about 20% acetone to facilitate break-up of solids during extraction and to increase flowability, introducing said treated lecithin into the upper part of a contacting chamber under conditions of agitation but without flow constriction at essentially atmospheric pressure, thereafter flowing said lecithin in continuous, countercurrent relation to acetone at a rate of 3 to 10 parts acetone to one part lecithin by weight under conditions of agitation and flow constriction to provide a refined lecithin having an Acetone Insolubles content in the range of about 70% to about 99.9%.
- 3. The method of claim 2 in which the viscosity of the treated lecithin is below about 10,000 centipoise.
- 4. The method of claim 2 in which said crude lecithin is a member selected from the class consisting of dry natural lecithin, hydroxylated crude lecithin, acylated crude lecithin, and hydroxylated-acylated crude lecithin.
- 5. The method of claim 2 in which said Acetone Insolubles Content is above about 90%.
- 6. The method of claim 2 in which said Acetone Insolubles Content is above about 94%.
- 7. A method for deoiling crude lecithin comprising introducing at room temperature crude lecithin which had previously been treated with from about 5% to about 20% acetone to facilitate break-up of solids during extraction and to increase flowability by reducing the viscosity to below about 10,000 centipoise into the upper part of a contacting chamber under conditions of agitation but without flow constriction at essentially atmospheric pressure, thereafter flowing said lecithin in continuous, countercurrent relation to acetone at a rate of 3 to 10 parts acetone to one part lecithin by weight under conditions of agitation and flow constriction to provide a refined lecithin having an Acetone Insolubles content in the range of about 90% to about 99.9%.
- 8. The method of claim 7 in which the Acetone Insolubles Content is above about 94%.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Ser. No. 897,288 filed Aug. 8, 1986 which was a continuation-in-part of our copending application Ser. No. 724,321, filed Apr. 17, 1985, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Perry, "Chem. Engin. Handbook", 5th Ed. McGraw-Hill (1973), pp. 19.3-19.6 and 11.17 to 11.18. |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
897288 |
Aug 1986 |
|
Parent |
724321 |
Apr 1985 |
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