GLYCERINE DISTILLATION
Technical & pharmaceutical grade glycerine can be produced starting from a wide range of natural feedstocks, mainly by-products of industrial processes for the production of soap (spentlyes), fatty acids (sweetwaters) or methylesters (biodiesel glycerine).
Andreotti Impianti Spa developed a proprietary technology for pharmaceutical glycerine production, will plants configurations best suited for each specific raw material.
REFINED GLYCERINE PRODUCTION STEPS
Typically, refined glycerine to EUP/USP XXIII standards is obtained through the following technological steps:
- Sweetwaters or spent lyes purification
- Sweetwaters or spentlyes concentration to respectively 88 or 80% glycerol content.
- Crude glycerine distillation, bleaching and deodorizing.
It is to be noted that crude glycerine coming from our transesterification plants for biodiesel production (with average glycerol content of 80 – 85%) can be sent directly to distillation making away with any prior dilution, purification and concentration steps.
Several purification steps can be combined in order to maximize process yields using lowest quantity of chemicals.
Special care is devoted to avoid ambient pollution, by providing those units with high efficiency air scrubbing system, and reducing to a minimum liquid and solid by-products sent to disposal or to treatment.
In case of crude glycerine deriving from fat splitting or saponification, one unit of water evaporation, typically double effect with energy saving system, is provided to concentrate the distillation unit feed up to residual water content of 5-15%.
Single step distillation units have been developed by us over the years by a continuous updating of proprietary technology. Today ANDREOTTI IMPIANTI offers plants that combine best specific utilities consumptions and maximum flexibility on process parameters adjustment referred to variation of feed composition.
As disposal of various by-products and air / water pollution is the biggest problem to be solved today in industrial plants, ANDREOTTI IMPIANTI has included in its plants special pitches stripping units, that help minimize the environmental impact.
ANDREOTTI IMPIANTI’S GLYCERINE TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
- Multi-feedstock plant, fully continuous
- Ease of operation thanks to completely automated control
- Low consumption due to high recovery rate
- Highest environment compatibility thanks to extremely reduced effluent emissions
- Low installation and operational costs
- Liquid-liquid glycerine distillation
- Single-column glycerine distillation
- Peculiar continuous residues stripping system, with possibility to obtain liquid or dry residues
- Continuous bleaching / purification by activated carbon
- Extremely low esters content in refined glycerine
- Increased refined glycerine yield thanks to the use of self generated low pressure steam
