Desulfurized Tall Oil and Derivatives Thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020369916-A1
Application number	US-202015929779-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 21, 2020
Priority date	May 22, 2019
Publication date	Nov 26, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A process for reducing or removing at least 90% of sulfur in a tall oil composition, e.g., to a level of 15 ppm or less is disclosed. The process employs at least a first desulfurization and a second desulfurization treatment in parallel or in series. The first treatment comprises adsorptive desulfurization, wherein the adsorbent material comprises silica adsorbent having an average pore size between 50-200 Å, BET surface area of at least 300 mm2/, pore volume of 1.20 to 3.00 cc/g, and a silanol [Si—OH] level of 0.5 to 5 unit/nm2. The second desulfurization treatment is selected from adsorptive treatment, heat treatment, distillation, extraction, oxidation, reduction, hydrogenation, and sulfur scavenging for a reduced sulfur content.

First claim

1 . A process for desulfurizing a tall oil feedstock having a first sulfur content and an initial odor intensity, comprising:
subjecting the tall oil feedstock to a first desulfurization treatment by contacting an adsorbent material in an adsorbent bed, and at least a second desulfurization treatment selected from adsorptive treatment, heat treatment, distillation, extraction, oxidation, reduction, hydrogenation, and sulfur scavenging, obtaining a desulfurized tall oil composition having a reduced sulfur content; wherein the first desulfurization treatment is before or after the second desulfurization treatment; wherein the reduced sulfur content is less than 50% of the first sulfur content; and wherein the adsorbent material comprises silica adsorbent having an average pore size between 50-200 Å, a BET surface area of at least 300 mm 2 /g, pore volume of 1.20 to 3.00 cc/g, and a silanol [Si—OH] level of 0.5 to 5 unit/nm 2 .

2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the desulfurized tall oil has an odor intensity reduction of at least 1 unit on odor intensity scale of Offensive Odor Control Act as compared to the initial odor intensity of the tall oil feedstock.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the desulfurized tall oil has an odor intensity of reduction of at least 2 units on odor intensity scale of Offensive Odor Control Act as compared to the initial odor intensity of the tall oil feedstock.

4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the adsorbent bed is operated at an adsorption temperature of 20-30° C., at one bar pressure, and at a superficial velocity (V) of at least 0.3 ft/hr.

5 . The process of claim 4 , wherein the adsorption bed is operated at a superficial velocity (V) of at least 1 ft/hr.

6 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising collecting the adsorbent material and regenerating the adsorbent material bypassing a solvent over the adsorbent bed for a sufficient period of time for adsorption of at least a portion of the first sulfur content.

7 . The process of claim 6 , wherein the solvent used for regenerating the adsorbent material is selected from methanol, ethanol, acetone and mixtures thereof.

8 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the second desulfurization treatment is an adsorptive treatment.

9 . The process of claim 8 , wherein the adsorptive treatment comprises using an adsorbent material comprising any of activated carbon, clay, hydrated alumina, zeolite, calcium exchanged zeolite, a zinc exchanged zeolite, a manganese compound, copper oxide, iron oxide, zinc oxide, silver salt, copper salt, zeolite doped with a metal salt, alumina doped with a metal salt, and mixtures thereof.

10 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first desulfurization treatment comprises using multi-staged adsorbent system with at least two adsorbent beds in series, each containing same or different adsorbent materials.

11 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the second desulfurization treatment is an adsorptive treatment employing a reagent or catalyst on a support carrier, and wherein the support carrier is selected from activated carbon, clay, acid activated clay, mineral, zeolite, silica, alumina, ion exchange material, polystyrene, and combinations thereof.

12 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the tall oil feedstock comprises any of crude sulfate turpentine, a crude tall oil, depitched tall oil, a composition derived from crude tall oil, and mixtures thereof.

13 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the silica adsorbent particles has a surface area of at least 500 mm 2 /g, based on the Brunauer-Em-mett-Teller (BET) measurement technique.

14 . A desulfurized tall oil composition obtained by the process of claim 1 .

15 . The desulfurized tall oil composition of claim 14 , having a Gardner color less than 2.

16 . A desulfurized tall oil composition obtained by the process of claim 1 , for use as a lubricity enhancer.

17 . A desulfurized tall oil composition obtained by the process of claim 1 , for use in personal care applications.

18 . A process for desulfurizing a tall oil feedstock having a first sulfur content and an initial odor intensity, comprising:
contacting the tall oil feedstock with two adsorbent beds in series, a first adsorbent bed containing a first adsorbent material and a second adsorbent bed containing a second adsorbent material, obtaining a desulfurized tall oil composition having a reduced sulfur content; wherein at least one of the first adsorbent material and the second adsorbent material comprises silica adsorbent having an average pore size between 50-200 Å, BET surface area of at least 300 mm 2 /g, pore volume of 1.20 to 3.00 cc/g, and a silanol [Si—OH] level of 0.5 to 5 unit/nm 2 ; and wherein the reduced sulfur content is less than 50% of the first sulfur content.

19 . The process of claim 18 , wherein the first adsorbent bed and the second adsorbent bed are in same adsorbent column or different adsorbent columns.

20 . A desulfurized tall oil composition obtained by the process of claim 18 .

Assignees

• Kraton Polymers Llc

Inventors

• Ding Ruidong
• Tian Jason
• Reiter Chad

Classifications

• Y02W30/74

  Recovery of fats, fatty oils, fatty acids or other fatty substances, e.g. lanolin or waxes · CPC title

• B01J20/28004

  Sorbent size or size distribution, e.g. particle size · CPC title

• C11C1/08

  Refining · CPC title

• C11B13/005

  of residues of the fabrication of wood-cellulose (in particular tall-oil) · CPC title

• C09F1/02 Primary

  Purification · CPC title