Process for separating fatty acids from rosin acids

Abstract

This invention comprises a process for separating a fatty acid from a mixture comprising a fatty acid and a rosin acid, which process comprises contacting the mixture at separation conditions with a molecular sieve comprising silicalite, thereby selectively retaining the fatty acid. The fatty acid may be recovered from the molecular sieve by displacement with a displacement fluid. It is preferred that the displacement fluid comprise a liquid having a minimum polarity index.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The field of art to which this invention pertains is the solid bed molecular sieve separation of fatty acids. More specifically, the invention relates to a process for separating a fatty acid for a rosin acid which process employs a molecular sieve comprising silicalite.

2. Description of the Prior Art

It is well known in the separation art that certain crystalline aluminosilicates can be used to separate hydrocarbon types from mixtures thereof. As a few examples, a separation process disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,985,589 and 3,201,491 uses a type A zeolite to separate normal paraffins from branched chain paraffins, and processes described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,265,750 and 3,510,423 use type X or type Y zeolites to separate olefinic hydrocarbons from paraffinic hydrocarbons. In addition to their use in processes for separating hydrocarbon types, X and Y zeolites have been employed in processes to separate individual hydrocarbon isomers. As a few examples, adsorbents comprising X and Y zeolites are used in the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,114,782 to separate alkyl-trisubstituted benzene isomers; in the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,416 to separate alkyl-tetrasubstituted monocyclic aromatic isomers; and in the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,267 to separate specific alkyl-substituted naphthalenes. Because of the commercial importance of para-xylene, perhaps the more well-known and extensively used hydrocarbon isomer separation processes are those for separating para-xylene from a mixture of C.sub.8 aromatics. In processes described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,558,730; 3,558,732; 3,626,020; 3,663,638; and 3,734,974, for example, adsorbents comprising particular zeolites are used to separate para-xylene from feed mixtures comprising para-xylene and at least one other xylene isomer by selectively adsorbing para-xylene over the other xylene isomers.

In contrast, this invention relates to the separation of non-hydrocarbons and more specifically to the separation of fatty acids. Substantial uses of fatty acids are in the plasticizer and surface active agent fields. Derivatives of fatty acids are of value in compounding lubricating oil, as a lubricant for the textile and molding trade, in special lacquers, as a water-proofing agent, in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical fields, and in biodegradable detergents.

It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,205 to use type X and type Y zeolites for the separation of unsaturated from saturated esters of fatty acids. The type X and type Y zeolites, however, will not separate the esters of rosin acids found in tall oil from the esters of fatty acids nor the free acids, apparently because the pore sizes of those zeolites (over 7 angstroms) are large enough to accommodate and retain the relatively large diameter molecules of esters of rosin acids as well as the smaller diameter molecules of esters of fatty acids (as well as the respective free acids). Type A zeolite, on the other hand, has a pore size (about 5 angstroms) which is unable to accommodate either of the above type esters (or free acids) and is, therefore, unable to separate them. An additional problem when a zeolite is used to separate free acids is the reactivity between the zeolite and free acids.

We have discovered that silicalite, a non-zeolitic hydrophobic crystalline silica molecular sieve, is uniquely suitable for the separation process of this invention in that it exhibits acceptance for a fatty acid with respect to a rosin acid, particularly when used with a specific displacement fluid, and does not exhibit reactivity with the free acids.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In brief summary, the invention is, in one embodiment, a process for separating a fatty acid from a feed mixture comprising a fatty acid and a rosin acid. The feed mixture is contacted at separation conditions with a molecular sieve comprising silicalite, thereby selectively retaining said fatty acid. The rosin acid is then removed from fatty acid containing molecular sieve.

In another embodiment, our invention is a process for separating a fatty acid from a mixture comprising a fatty acid and a rosin acid, which process employs a molecular sieve comprising silicalite, which process comprises the steps of: (a) maintaining net liquid flow through a column of the molecular sieve in a single direction, which column contains at least three zones having separate operational functions occurring therein and being serially interconnected with the terminal zones of the column connected to provide a continuous connection of the zones; (b) maintaining a retention zone in the column, the zone defined by the molecular sieve located between a feed inlet stream at an upstream boundary of the zone and a raffinate outlet stream at a downstream boundary of the zone; (c) maintaining a purification zone immediately upstream from the retention zone, the purification zone defined by the molecular sieve located between an extract outlet stream at an upstream boundary of the purification zone and the feed inlet stream at a downstream boundary of the purification zone; (d) maintaining a displacement zone immediately upstream from the purification zone, the displacement zone defined by the molecular sieve located between a displacement fluid inlet stream at an upstream boundary of the zone and the extract outlet stream at a downstream boundary of the zone; (e) passing the feed stream into the retention zone at separation conditions to effect the selective retention of fatty acid by the molecular sieve in the retention zone and withdrawing a raffinate outlet stream from the retention zone; (f) passing a displacement fluid into the displacement zone at displacement conditions to effect the displacement of the fatty acid from the adsorbent in the displacement zone; (g) withdrawing an extract stream comprising the fatty acid and displacement fluid from the displacement zone; and, (h) periodically advancing through the column of molecular sieve in a downstream direction with respect to fluid flow in the retention zone, the feed inlet stream, raffinate outlet stream, displacement fluid inlet stream, and extract outlet and raffinate outlet streams.

Other embodiments of our invention encompass details about feed mixtures, molecular sieves, displacement fluids and operating conditions, all of which are hereinafter disclosed in the following discussion of each of the facets of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

At the outset the definitions of various terms used throughout the specification will be useful in making clear the operation, objects and advantages of our process.

A "feed mixture" is a mixture containing one or more extract components and one or more raffinate components to be separated by our process. The term "feed stream" indicates a stream of a feed mixture which passes to the molecular sieve used in the process.

An "extract component" is a compound or type of compound that is retained by the molecular sieve while a "raffinate component" is a compound or type of compound that is not retained. In this process, a fatty acid is an extract component and a rosin acid is a raffinate component. The term "displacement fluid" shall mean generally a fluid capable of displacing an extract component. The term "displacement fluid stream" or "displacement fluid input stream" indicates the stream through which displacement fluid passes to the molecular sieve. The term "diluent" or "diluent stream" indicates the stream through which diluent passes to the molecular sieve. The term "raffinate stream" or "raffinate output stream" means a stream through which a raffinate component is removed from the molecular sieve. The composition of the raffinate stream can vary from essentially a 100% displacement fluid to essentially 100% raffinate components. The term "extract stream" or "extract output stream" shall mean a stream through which an extract mateial which has been displaced by a displacement fluid is removed from the molecular sieve. The composition of the extract stream, likewise, can vary from essentially 100% displacement fluid to essentially 100% extract components. At least a portion of the extract stream and preferably at least a portion of the raffinate stream from the separation process are passed to separation means, typically fractionators, where at least a portion of displacement fluid and diluent is separated to produce an extract product and a raffinate product. The terms "extract product" and "raffinate product" mean products produced by the process containing, respectively, an extract component and a raffinate component in higher concentrations than those found in the extract stream and the raffinate stream. Although it is possible by the process of this invention to produce a high purity, fatty acid product or rosin acid product (or both) at high recoveries, it will be appreciated that an extract component is never completely retained by the molecular sieve, nor is a raffinate component completely not retained by the molecular sieve. Therefore, varying amounts of a raffinate component can appear in the extract stream and, likewise, varying amounts of an extract component can appear in the raffinate stream. The extract and raffinate streams then are further distinguished from each other and from the feed mixture by the ratio of the concentrations of an extract component and a raffinate component appearing in the particular stream. More specifically, the ratio of the concentration of a fatty acid to that of non-retained rosin acid will be lowest in the raffinate stream, next highest in the feed mixture, and the highest in the extract stream. Likewise, the ratio of the concentration of rosin acid to that of the retained fatty acid will be highest in the raffinate stream, next highest in the feed mixture, and the lowest in the extract stream.

The term "selective pore volume" of the molecular sieve is defined as the volume of the molecular sieve which selectively retains an extract component from the feed mixture. The term "non-selective void volume" of the molecular sieve is the volume of the molecular sieve which does not selectively retain an extract component from the feed mixture. This volume includes the cavities of the molecular sieve which admit raffinate components and the interstitial void spaces between molecular sieve particles. The selective pore volume and the non-selective void volume are generally expressed in volumetric quantities and are of importance in determining the proper flow rates of fluid required to be passed into an operational zone for efficient operations to take place for a given quantity of molecular sieve. When molecular sieve "passes" into an operational zone (hereinafter defined and described) employed in one embodiment of this process its non-selective void volume together with its selective pore volume carries fluid into that zone. The non-selective void volume is utilized in determining the amount of fluid which should pass into the same zone in a countercurrent direction to the molecular sieve to displace the fluid present in the non-selective void volume. If the fluid flow rate passing into a zone is smaller than the non-selective void volume rate of molecular sieve material passing into that zone, there is a net entrainment of liquid into the zone by the molecular sieve. Since this net entrainment is a fluid present in the non-selective void volume of the molecular sieve, it in most instances comprises non-retained feed components.

Before considering feed mixtures which can be charged to the process of this invention, brief reference is first made to the terminology and to the general production of fatty acids. The fatty acids are a large group of aliphatic monocarboxylic acids, many of which occur as glycerides (esters of glycerol) in natural fats and oils. Although the term"fatty acids" has been restricted by some to the saturated acids of the acetic acid series, both normal and branched chain, it is now generally used, and is so used herein, to include also related unsaturated acids, certain substituted acids, and even aliphatic acids containing alicyclic substituents. The naturally occurring fatty acids with a few exceptions are higher straight chain unsubstituted acids containing an even number of carbon atoms. The unsaturated fatty acids can be divided, on the basis of the number of double bonds in the hydrocarbon chain, into monoethanoid, diethanoid, triethanoid, etc. (or monethylenic, etc.). Thus the term "unsaturated fatty acid" is a generic term for a fatty acid having at least one double bond, and the term "polyethanoid fatty acid" means a fatty acid having more than one double bond per molecule. Fatty acids are typically prepared from glyceride fats or oils by one of several "splitting" or hydrolytic processes. In all cases, the hydrolysis reaction may be summarized as the reaction of a fat or oil with water to yield fatty acids plus glycerol. In modern fatty acid plants this process is carried out by continuous high pressure, high temperature hydrolysis of the fat. Starting materials commonly used for the production of fatty acids include coconut oil, palm oil, inedible animal fats, and the commonly used vegetable oils, soybean oil, cottonseed oil and corn oil.

The source of fatty acids with which the present invention is primarily concerned is tall oil, a by-product of the wood pulp industry, usually recovered from pine wood "black liquor" of the sulfate or kraft paper process. Tall oil contains about 50-60% fatty acids and about 34-40% rosin acids. The fatty acids include oleic, linoleic, palmitic and stearic acids. Rosin acids, such as abietic acid, are monocarboxylic acids having a molecular structure comprising carbon, hydrogen and oxygen with three fused six-membered carbon rings, which accounts for the much larger molecular diameter of rosin acids as compared to fatty acids. Feed mixtures which can be charged to our process may contain, in addition to the components of tall oil, a diluent material that is not adsorbed by the adsorbent and which is preferably separable from the extract and raffinate output streams by fractional distillation. When a diluent is employed, the concentration of diluent in the mixture of diluent and acids will preferably be from a few vol.% up to about 75 vol.% with the remainder being fatty acids and rosin acids. Although we have previously discovered that silicalite is effective for separating esters of fatty and rosin acids, separation of the free acids using silicalite has not heretofore been accomplished.

Displacement fluids used in various prior art adsorptive and molecular sieve separation processes vary depending upon such factors as the type of operation employed. In separation processes which are generally operated continuously at substantially constant pressures and temperatures to ensure liquid phase, and which employ a molecular sieve, the displacement material must be judiciously sleected to satisfy many criteria. First, the displacement material should displace an extract component from the molecular sieve with reasonable mass flow rates but yet allow access to an extract component into the molecular sieve so as not to unduly prevent an extract component from displacing the displacement material in a following separation cycle. Displacement fluids should additionally be substances which are easily separable from the feed mixture that is passed into the process. Both the raffinate stream and the extract stream are removed from the molecular sieve in admixture with displacement fluid and without a method of separating at least a portion of the displacement fluid, the purity of the extract product and the raffinate product would not be very high nor would the displacement fluid be available for reuse in the process. It is therefore contemplated that any displacement fluid material used in this process will preferably have a substantially different average boiling point than that of the feed mixture to allow separation of at least a portion of displacement fluid from feed components in the extract and raffinate stream by simple fractional distillation, thereby permitting reuse of displacement fluid in the process. The term "substantially different" as used herein shall mean that the difference between the average boiling points between the displacement fluid and the feed mixture shall be at least about 5.degree. C. The boiling range of the displacement fluid may be higher or lower than that of the feed mixture. Finally, displacement fluids should also be materials which are readily available and therefore reasonable in cost. In the preferred isothermal, isobaric, liquid-phase operation of the process of our invention, we have found displacement fluids comprising organic acids to be effective with short chain organic acids having from 2 to 5 carbon atoms preferred, particularly when, as discussed hereinafter, a diluent is used.

It has been observed that even silicalite may be ineffective in separating fatty and rosin acids upon reuse of the molecular sieve bed for separation following the displacement step. When displacement fluid is present in the bed, selective retention of the fatty acid may not occur. It is hypothesized that the displacement fluid, particularly an organic acid which is the most effective displacement fluid, takes part in or even catalyzes hydrogen-bonded dimerization reactions in which there is an alignment between the molecules of the fatty and rosin acids and, perhaps, the molecules of the displacement fluid. These dimerization reactions may be represented by the formulas:

FA+FA.revreaction.(FAFA) RA+RA.revreaction.(RARA) FA+RA.revreaction.(FARA) where Fa and RA stand for fatty acids and rosin acids, respectively. The organic acid displacement fluid molecules should probably also be considered reactants and product constituents in the above equations. The dimers would preclude separation of the fatty and rosin acids by blocking access of the former into the pores of the molecular sieve. This hinderance to separation caused by the presence of dimers does not appear to be a significant problem in the aforementioned process for separation of esters of fatty and rosin acids.

We have discovered that the above dimerization reactions may be minimized, at least to the extent required to enable separation of the rosin and fatty acids, by first flushing the molecular sieve with a suitable diluent. The diluent serves to remove displacement fluid at least from the non-selective void volume of the molecular sieves. Proper selection first requires solubility of the feed stream components in the diluent as well as easy separation of the diluent by conventional means, as with the displacement fluid.

We have also discovered that even the above pre-flush may be unnecessary if the displacement fluid comprises the organic acid in solution with a properly selected diluent. There are diluents which exhibit the property of minimizing dimerization. The measure of this property was found to be the polarity index of the liquid. Polarity index is as described in the article, "Classification of the Solvent Properties of Common Liquids;" Synder, L., J. Chromatography, 92, 223 (1974), incorporated herein by reference. The minimum polarity index of the displacement fluid-diluent required for the process of the present invention, if pre-flush is to be avoided, is 3.5, particularly when the displacement fluid is a short chain organic acid as discussed above. The diluent should comprise from about 50 to about 95 liquid volume percent of the displacement fluid. Polarity indexes for certain selected diluents are as follows.

______________________________________SOLVENT POLARITY INDEX______________________________________Isooctane -0.4n-Hexane 0.0Toluene 2.3p-Xylene 2.4Benzene 3.0Methylethylketone 4.5Acetone 5.4______________________________________

The molecular sieve to be used in the process of this invention comprises silicalite. As previously mentioned, silicalite is a hydrophobic crystalline silica molecular sieve. Silicalite is disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,061,724 and 4,104,294 to Grose et al., incorporated herein by reference. Due to its aluminum-free structure, silicalite does not show ion-exchange behavior, and is hydrophobic and organophilic. Silicalite thus comprises a molecular sieve, but not a zeolite. Silicalite is uniquely suitable for the separation process of this invention for the presumed reason that its pores are of a size and shape that enable the silicalite to function as a molecular sieve, i.e. accept the molecules of fatty acids into its channels or internal structure, while rejecting the molecules of rosin acids. A more detailed discussion of silicalite may be found in the article, "Silicalite, A New Hydrophobic Crystalline Silica Molecular Sieve;" Nature, Vol. 271, Feb. 9, 1978, incorporated hereby by reference.

Silicalite, like prior art adsorbents, or molecular sieves, is most advantageously used when associated with an appropriate binder material, particularly an amorphous material having channels and cavities therein which enable liquid access to the silicalite. The binder aids in forming or agglomerating the crystalline particles of the silicalite which otherwise would comprise a fine powder. The silicalite molecular sieve may thus be in the form of particles such as extrudates, aggregates, tablets, macrospheres or granules having a desired particle range, preferably from about 16 to 60 mesh (Standard U.S. Mesh). Since the conception of this invention it was discovered that colloidal amorphous silica is an ideal binder for silicalite in that like the silicalite itself this binder exhibits no reactivity for the free fatty and rosin acids. The preferred silica is marketed by DuPont Co. under the trademark "Ludox." The silicalite powder is dispersed in the Ludox which is then so as to substantially eliminate hydroxyl groups, such as by thermal treatment gelled and thermally treated in the presence of oxygen at a temperature from about 450.degree. C. to about 1000.degree. C. for a minimum period from about 3 hours to about 48 hours. The silicalite should be present in the silica matrix in amounts ranging from about 75 wt.% to about 98 wt.% silicate based on volatile free composition.

The molecular sieve may be employed in the form of a dense compact fixed bed which is alternatively contacted with the feed mixture and displacement fluid. In the simplest embodiment of the invention, the molecular sieve is employed in the form of a single static bed in which case the process is only semi-continuous. In another embodiment, a set of two or more static beds may be employed in fixed bed contacting with appropriate valving so that the feed mixture is passed through one or more molecular sieve beds, while the displacement fluid can be passed through one or more of the other beds in the set. The flow of feed mixture and displacement fluid may be either up or down through the molecular sieve. Any of the conventional apparatus employed in static bed fluid-solid contacting may be used.

Countercurrent moving bed or simulated moving bed countercurrent flow systems, however, have a much greater separation efficiency than fixed bed systems and are therefore preferred. In the moving bed or simulated moving bed processes, the retention and displacement operations are continuously taking place which allows both continuous production of an extract and a raffinate stream and the continual use of feed and displacement fluid streams and, for this invention if required, a liquid flush stream. One preferred embodiment of this process utilizes what is known in the art as the simulated moving bed countercurrent flow system. The operating principles and sequence of such a flow system are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,589 incorporated herein by reference. In such a system, it is the progressive movement of multiple liquid access points down a molecular sieve chamber that simulates the upward movement of molecular sieve contained in the chamber. Only five of the access lines are active at any one time; the feed input stream, displacement fluid inlet stream, liquid flush inlet stream, raffinate outlet stream, and extract outlet stream access lines. Coincident with this simulated upward movement of the solid molecular sieve is the movement of the liquid occupying the void volume of the packed bed of molecular sieve. So that countercurrent contact is maintained, a liquid flow down the molecular sieve chamber may be provided by a pump. As an active liquid access point moves through a cycle, that is, from the top of the chamber to the bottom, the chamber circulation pump moves through different zones which require different flow rates. A programmed flow controller may be provided to set and regulate these flow rates.

The active liquid access points effectively divide the molecular sieve chamber into separate zones, each of which has a different function. In this embodiment of the process, it is generally necessary that three separate operational zones be present in order for the process to take place, although in some instances an optional fourth zone may be used.

The retention zone, zone 1, is defined as the molecular sieve located between the feed inlet stream and the raffinate outlet stream. In this zone, the feedstock contacts the molecular sieve, an extract component is retained, and a raffinate stream is withdrawn. Since the general flow through zone 1 is from the feed stream which passes into the zone to the raffinate stream which passes out of the zone, the flow in this zone is considered to be a downstream direction when proceeding from the feed inlet to the raffinate outlet streams. The liquid flush stream (diluent) may be introduced in zone 1 at a point slightly downstream of the feed inlet stream. The diluent, if used, will be added at a rate sufficient to displace the displacement fluid associated with at least the non-selective void volume of the packed bed of molecular sieve in simulated movement in zone 1, thereby facilitating the retention of the fatty acid.

Immediately upstream with respect to fluid flow in zone 1 is the purification zone, zone 2. The purification zone is defined as the molecular sieve between the extract outlet stream and the feed inlet stream. The basic operations taking place in zone 2 are the displacement from the non-selective void volume of the molecular sieve by a circulating stream of any raffinate material carried into zone 2 by the shifting of molecular sieve into this zone. Purification is achieved by passing a portion of extract stream material leaving zone 3 into zone 2 at zone 2's upstream boundary, the extract outlet stream, to effect the displacement of raffinate material. The flow of material in zone 2 is in a downstream direction from the extract outlet stream to the feed inlet stream.

Immediately upstream of zone 2 with respect to the fluid flowing in zone 2 is the displacement zone or zone 3. The displacement zone is defined as the molecular sieve between the displacement fluid inlet and the extract outlet stream. The function of the displacement zone is to allow a displacement fluid which passes into this zone to displace the extract component which was retained in the molecular sieve during a previous contact with feed in zone 1 in a prior cycle of operation. The flow of fluid in zone 3 is essentially in the same direction as that of zones 1 and 2.

In some instances an optional buffer zone, zone 4, may be utilized. This zone, defined as the molecular sieve between the raffinate outlet stream and the displacement fluid inlet stream, if used, is located immediately upstream with respect to the fluid flow to zone 3. Zone 4 would be utilized to conserve the amount of displacement fluid utilized in the displacement step since a portion of the raffinate stream which is removed from zone 1 can be passed into zone 4 to displace molecular sieve present in that zone out of that zone into the displacement zone. Zone 4 will contain enough molecular sieve so that raffinate material present in the raffinate stream passing out of zone 1 and into zone 4 can be prevented from passing into zone 3, thereby contaminating extract stream removed from zone 3. In the instances in which the fourth operational zone is not utilized, the raffinate stream which would have passed from zone 1 to zone 4 must be carefully monitored in order that the flow directly from zone 1 to zone 3 can be stopped when there is an appreciable quantity of raffinate material present in the raffinate stream passing from zone 1 into zone 3 so that the extract outlet stream is not contaminated.

In the most preferred embodiment of the present invention, zone 4 will be employed and the liquid flush diluent stream, if used, may be introduced not into zone 1, but into zone 4 at the upstream boundary of zone 4. In this way, the displacement fluid that would otherwise move into zone 4 from zone 3 as part of the simulated moving bed will be kept in zone 3, assuming that the correct amount of liquid flush is used. This will also reduce the displacement fluid requirements. Thus, when the molecular sieve enters zone 1, it will have the proper minimum displacement fluid environment.

A cyclic advancement of the input and output streams through the fixed bed or molecular sieve can be accomplished by utilizing a manifold system in which the valves in the manifold are operated in a sequential manner to effect the shifting of the input and output streams, thereby allowing a flow of fluid with respect to solid molecular sieve in a countercurrent manner. Another mode of operation which can effect the countercurrent flow of solid molecular sieve with respect to fluid involves the use of a rotating disc valve in which the input and output streams are connected to the valve and the lines through which feed input, extract output, displacement fluid input and raffinate output streams pass are advanced in the same direction through the molecular sieve bed. Both the manifold arrangement and disc valve are known in the art. Specifically, rotary disc valves which can be utilized in this operation can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,040,777 and 3,422,848. Both of the aforementioned patents disclose a rotary-type connection valve in which the suitable advancement of the various input and output streams from fixed sources can be achieved without difficulty.

In many instances, one operational zone will contain a much larger quantity of molecular sieve than some other operational zone. For instance, in some operations the buffer zone can contain a minor amount of molecular sieve as compared to the molecular sieve required for the retention and purification zones. It can also be seen that in instances in which displacement fluid is used which can easily displace extract material from the molecular sieve, that a relatively small amount of molecular sieve will be needed in a displacement zone as compared to the molecular sieve needed in the buffer zone or retention zone or purification zone or all of them. Since it is not required that the molecular sieve be located in a single column, the use of multiple chambers or a series of columns is within the scope of the invention.

It is not necessary that all of the input output streams be simultaneously used and, in fact, in many instances some of the streams can be shut off while others effect an input or output of material. The apparatus which can be utilized to effect the process of this invention can also contain a series of individual beds connected by connecting conduits upon which are placed input or output taps to which the various input or output streams can be attached and alternately and periodically shirted to effect continuous operation. In some instances, the connecting conduits can be connected to transfer taps which during the normal operations do not function as a conduit through which material passes into or out of the process.

It is contemplated that at least a portion of the extract output stream will pass into a separation means wherein at least a portion of the displacement fluid, including diluent, can be separated to produce an extract product containing a reduced concentration of displacement fluid. Preferably, but not necessary to the operation of the process, at least a portion of the raffinate output stream will also be passed to a separation means wherein at least a portion of the diluent can be separated to produce a diluent stream which can be reused in the process and a raffinate product containing a reduced concentration of diluent. The separation means will typically be a fractionation column, the design and operation of which is well known to separation art.

Reference can be made to D. B. Broughton U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,589 and to a paper entitled "Continuous Adsorptive Processing--A New Separation Technique" by D. B. Broughton presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Society of Chemical Engineers at Tokyo, Japan on Apr. 2, 1969, both references incorporated herein by reference, for further explanation of the simulated moving bed countercurrent process flow scheme.

Although both liquid and vapor phase operations can be used in many adsorptive separation processes, liquid-phase operation is preferred for this process because of the lower temperature requirements and because of the higher yields of extract product that can be obtained with liquid-phase operation over those obtained with vapor-phase operation. Separation conditions will include a temperature range of from about 20.degree. C. to about 200.degree. C. with about 20.degree. C. to about 100.degree. C. being more preferred and a pressure sufficient to maintain liquid-phase. Displacement conditions will include the same range of temperatures and pressures as used for separation conditions.

The size of the units which can utilize the process of this invention can vary anywhere from those of pilot-plant scale (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,812) to those of commercial scale and can range in flow rates from as little as a few cc an hour up to many thousands of gallons per hour.

A dynamic testing apparatus is employed to test various molecular sieves with a particular feed mixture and displacement fluid to measure the molecular sieve characteristics of retention capacity and exchange rate. The apparatus consists of a helical molecular sieve chamber of approximately 70 cc volume having inlet and outlet portions at opposite ends of the chamber. The chamber is contained within a temperature control means and, in addition, pressure control equipment is used to operate the chamber at a constant predetermined pressure. Quantitative and qualitative analytical equipment such as refractometers, polarimeters and chromatographs can be attached to the outlet line of the chamber and used to detect quantitatively or determine qualitatively one or more components in the effluent stream leaving the molecular sieve chamber. A pulse test, performed using this apparatus and the following general procedure, is used to determine data for various molecular sieve systems. The molecular sieve is filled to equilibrium with a particular displacement fluid material by passing the displacement fluid through the molecular sieve chamber. At a convenient time, a pulse of feed containing known concentrations of a tracer and of a particular extract component or of a raffinate component or both, all diluted in displacement fluid is injected for a duration of several minutes. Displacement fluid flow is resumed, and the tracer and the extract component or the raffinate component (or both) are eluted as in a liquid-solid chromatographic operation. The effluent can be analyzed on-stream or alternatively, effluent samples can be collected periodically and later analyzed separately by analytical equipment and traces of the envelopes or corresponding component peaks developed.

From information derived from the test, molecular sieve performance can be rated in terms of void volume, retention volume for an extract or a raffinate component, and the rate of displacement of an extract component from the molecular sieve. The retention volume of an extract or a raffinate component may be characterized by the distance between the center of the peak envelope of the tracer component or some other known reference point. It is expressed in terms of the volume in cubic centimeters of displacement fluid pumped during this time interval represented by the distance between the peak envelopes. The rate of exchange of an extract component with the displacement fluid can generally be characterized by the width of the peak envelopes at half intensity. The narrower the peak width, the faster the displacement rate. The displacement rate can also be characterized by the distance between the center of the tracer peak envelope and the disappearance of an extract component which has just been displaced. This distance is again the volume of displacement fluid pumped during this time interval.

The following non-limiting working example is presented to illustrate the process of the present invention and is not intended to unduly restrict the scope of the claims attached hereto.

EXAMPLE

The above described pulse test apparatus was used to obtain data for this example. The liquid temperature was 60.degree. C. and the flow was up the column at the rate of 1.2 ml/min. The feed stream comprised 20 wt.% distilled tall oil, and 80 wt.% displacement fluid. The column was packed with 23 wt.% Ludox bound silicalite (77 wt.% silicalite) which had been prepared as required in the practice of the present invention. The displacement fluid used was 80 LV % methylethylketone and 20 LV % acetic acid.

The results of this example are shown on the accompanying FIGURE. It is immediately apparent from the FIGURE that the separation capable of being achieved by the present invention is excellent. The separation of the rosin acid from fatty acid curves is clear and distinct. Effective and practical separation of tall oil components has thus become a reality.

Additional runs on the pulse test apparatus were carried out, also in accordance with the present invention, but with different displacement fluids such as a propionic acid and heptane mixture and pentanoic acid. The results varied somewhat, as to the quality of separation, but in all cases clear separations were achieved. The combination of organic acid and diluent as set forth in this example appears to be among the most effective.

Claims

1. A process for separating a fatty acid from a feed mixture comprising a fatty acid and a rosin acid, said process comprising contacting said feed mixture at separation conditions with a molecular sieve comprising silicalite, thereby selectively retaining said fatty acid, removing rosin acid from the fatty acid containing molecular sieve and recovering said

2. The process of claim 1 wherein said fatty acid is recovered from said molecular sieve by displacement with a displacement fluid at displacement

3. The process of claim 2 wherein said displacement fluid comprises an

4. The process of claim 3 wherein said process is cyclical and said molecular sieve is flushed with a diluent at flushing conditions prior to

5. The process of claim 4 wherein said separation, flushing and displacement conditions include a temperature within the range of from about 20.degree. C. to about 200.degree. C. and a pressure sufficient to

6. The process of claim 3 wherein said displacement fluid comprises a solution of organic acid and diluent, said diluent being soluble in said

7. The process of claim 6 wherein said organic acid comprises a compound having from 2 to 5 carbon atoms per molecule and said diluent comprises

8. The process of claim 3 wherein said separation and displacement conditions include a temperature within the range of from about 20.degree. C. to about 200.degree. C. and a pressure sufficient to maintain liquid

9. A process for separating a fatty acid from a mixture comprising a fatty acid and a rosin acid, which process employs a molecular sieve comprising silicalite, which process comprises the steps of:

(a) maintaining net liquid flow through a column of said molecular sieve in a single direction, which column contains at least three zones having separate operational functions occurring therein and being serially interconnected with the terminal zones of said column connected to provide a continuous connection of said zones;

(b) maintaining a retention zone in said column, said zone defined by the molecular sieve located between a feed inlet stream at an upstream boundary of said zone and a raffinate outlet stream at a downstream boundary of said zone;

(c) maintaining a purification zone immediately upstream from said retention zone, said purification zone defined by the molecular sieve located between an extract outlet stream at an upstream boundary of said purification zone and said feed inlet stream at a downstream boundary of said purification zone;

(d) maintaining a displacement zone immediately upstream from said purification zone, said displacement zone defined by the molecular sieve located between a displacement fluid inlet stream at an upstream boundary of said zone and said extract outlet stream at a downstream boundary of said zone;

(e) passing said feed stream into said retention zone at separation conditions to effect the selective retention of fatty acid by said molecular sieve in said retention zone and withdrawing a raffinate outlet stream from said retention zone;

(f) passing a displacement fluid into said displacement zone at displacement conditions to effect the displacement of said fatty acid from the adsorbent in said displacement zone;

(g) withdrawing an extract stream comprising said fatty acid and displacement fluid from said displacement zone;

(h) periodically advancing through said column of molecular sieve in a downstream direction with respect to fluid flow in said retention zone, the feed inlet stream, raffinate outlet stream, displacement fluid inlet

10. The process of claim 9 wherein said displacment fluid comprises an

11. The process of claim 10 wherein a diluent inlet stream is passed into said retention zone downstream of said feed inlet stream to effect the flushing of said molecular sieve in said retention zone, said diluent inlet stream being advanced with the other process streams as in step (h).

12. The process of claim 11 wherein said separation, flushing and displacement conditions include a temperature within the range of from about 20.degree. C. to about 200.degree. C. and a pressure sufficient to

13. The process of claim 10 wherein said displacement fluid comprises a solution of organic acid and diluent, said diluent being soluble in said

14. The process of claim 13 wherein said organic acid comprises a compound having from 2 to 5 carbon atoms per molecule and said diluent comprises

15. The process of claim 9 further characterized in that it includes the step of maintaining a buffer zone immediately upstream from said displacement zone, said buffer zone defined as the molecular sieve located between the displacement fluid input stream at a downstream boundary of said buffer zone and a raffinate output stream at an upstream boundary of

16. The process of claim 15 wherein said displacement fluid comprises an

17. The process of claim 16 wherein a diluent inlet stream is passed into said buffer zone at the upstream boundary of said zone to effect the flushing of molecular sieve in said buffer zone, said diluent inlet stream being advanced with the other process streams as in step (h).