Natural fats production volume

When production volume is sufficient, it is economical to build one plant for one product. Batch production in a single unit may be limited by maximum reactor size. Holdups of greater than 20,000 gal are handled in separate parallel reactors. To use common upstream and downstream facilities, the reactors may not be operated simultaneously but on overlapping schedules. When long reaction times cannot be avoided, the reaction sections operate batch wise however, feeding reactants and recovering products may be continuous for economic reasons. This practice is typical of many processes, such as the saponification of natural fats in intermediate quantities. In the production of ethanol by fermentation, two reactions (saccharification and fermentation) are operated on a batch basis, while hydrolysis (conversion of starch to dextrin) and product recovery by distillation are continuous. 

Natural fats and oils, carbohydrates and proteins are key raw materials for the chemical industry using renewable resources. Although in general biomass is available in large amounts (e.g. cellulose), the annual production volumes of selected bio-based... 

Lubricants are not generally regarded as being corrosive, and in order to appreciate how corrosion can occur in lubricant systems it is necessary to understand something of the nature of lubricants. Once, lubricants were almost exclusively animal or vegetable oils or fats, but modern requirements in the way of volume and special properties have made petroleum the main source of supply. In volume, lubricants now represent about 2% of all petroleum products in value, considerably more. 

For anaerobic systems, methane gas is an important product. Depending on the type and nature of the biological components, different yields can be obtained for different biodegradable wastes. For pure cellulose, for example, the biogas product is 50% methane and 50% carbon dioxide. Mixed waste feedstocks yield biogas with methane concentrations of 40-60% (by volume). Fats and oils can yield biogas with 70% methane content. 

A broad overview of the biological effects of CLA is presented elsewhere in this volume (Chapter 17), so the emphasis in the following section will be two-fold. Firstly, the biology of trans-10, cis-12 CLA in the dairy cow will be summarized because under certain dietary conditions, production of this isomer in the rumen can profoundly affect milk fat synthesis. Secondly, the biological effects of RA when supplied as a natural component of the diet will be reviewed because this CLA isomer represents a functional component of milk fat that has potential health benefits. Although other CLA isomers are present in milk fat, they are present at concentrations much too low to have a significant effect. 

Solid Fat Index. This analysis has become the most important criterion for the melting behavior and crystalline structure of fats and oils products. It determines the proportion of solid and liquid materials at a given temperature. The solid fat index (SFI) analysis is an empirical measure of the solid fat content. It is calculated from the specific volume at various temperatures using a dilatometric scale graduated in units of milliliters times 1000. Values for the solid contents are usually determined at 50°F, 70°F, 80°F, 92°F, and 104°F or 10°C, 21.1°C, 26.7°C, 33.3°C, and 40°C. Unlike the tropical oils, cottonseed and the other oleic- and lino-leic-classification oils do not contain any significant quantity of triglycerides made up of two or three saturated fatty acids therefore, the solid fat index at the lowest temperature usually measured would have minimal values. Natural cottonseed oil can have a solid fat index content at 50°F or 10°C but not at the higher temperature measurements. 

All naturally occurring lipids from botanical sources (plants) or zoological sources (animals and humans) could potentially be used in the production of bioplastics. They have the same chemical structure and function in a very similar manner. Cholesterol (and its related esters) and fatty acids are commonly found in zoological sources, although the fats tend to be of a heavily saturated nature. It is feasible to create other products such as biodiesel from extreme sources including liposuction fat. However, a lack of volume and more importantly ethical approval have prevented their uptake further. The remainder of this chapter will focus on the use of triglycerides from plants and their related compounds for bioplastics production. 

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