(Process Cells) AN24-01: Monitoring Tall Oil Distillation using a Vortex™ process flow cell

In this note: NIR measurement of crude tall oil
The distillation of crude tall oil (CTO) occurs in four
fractional distillation columns: the first separates
pitch from the CTO; the second removes the rosin
soaps from the de-pitched CTO; the third distills crude
fatty acids, and the final column (Figure 1) separates
these into tall oil fatty acids and distilled tall oil (DTO)
[1]. Traditional process analytics require samples
to be removed from the process line for testing by
chromatographic or wet chemistry techniques. The
length of time between sampling and analysis delays
the taking of corrective action if the process has
drifted out of specified bounds. This can cause costly
production delays and result in wasted material
and effort. With on-line near-infrared sampling,
instantaneous feedback is possible.

Related Application Notes