Multi-User Equipment approved in grant 2017/50349-0: short path disliller

Abstract

The Molecular Distiller (short path distiller) has 5kg / h of nominal capacity of and operates up to 0.01mbar and 300oC. The equipment includes distillation and discharge of waste, a high vacuum system (0.0005 to 1300 mbar), heating and cooling units (30 to 300oC), heating for the power line (20 to 200ºC), heating for the line of residue (20 to 200 oC), unit for mixing the internal condenser and the distillation line (-40 to 200 °C). The equipment is designed for fractionation of substances sensitive to temperature, such as vitamins, pigments, terpenes, esters etc. The equipment will be used mainly in studies of by-products and residues composition in order to add value to food industries, mainly those of vegetable oil chemistry. Some applications are: the fractionation of deodorized vegetable oil (eg: recovery of nutrients such as vitamin E from by-products and residues of the oil industries vegetables); fractionation of urucum oil (by-product of the dye industry) with the recovery of tocotrienols (substances with vitamin activity and high antioxidant power). It will also be used in the production of biodiesel and valorization of its co-products, as well as in the development of vegetable oils processing conditions in order to eliminate or reduce some contaminants originating in current practice processes such as 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol (3 -MCPD-ester). This equipment will be of great value for the research and development of new ingredients, including the research aimed at obtaining new products and ingredients from food industry residues, one of the priority themes in the Strategic Area of ITAL's PDIP "Innovation in Products and Processes". (AU)