GB661374A - Process for separating oil-soluble substances - Google Patents

Abstract

Oil-soluble substances are separated from solutions or dispersions containing them by contacting the solutions or dispersions with a finely-divided elastomer, such as rubber, which is a selective absorbent for the substance and substantially insoluble in the solution, and separating the elastomer containing the absorbed substance from the liquid. The absorbed substance is then recovered by washing the elastomer with a suitable solvent. The solution may be in an oil, or in liquids miscible or immiscible with oils, or in a liquid having limited miscibility with oil such as an aqueous solution of an alcohol. The rubber is preferably in a finely-divided state formed by grinding small pieces which have been swollen with oil or an oil-miscible liquid in the presence of excess of the oil or liquid. The solution of the oil-soluble substance is either stirred with a quantity of the finely-divided elastomer or allowed to run through a column of the elastomer. The process is applied particularly to the separation of carotene and xanthophyll from palm oil. It can also be applied to the separation of constituents of animal, vegetable and mineral oils and hydrocarbons. In addition to rubber, artificial rubbers, guttapercha, and silicones may be employed as elastomers. Examples include the separation of carotene and xanthophylls from red palm and other oils in the presence of methanol, ethanol, petroleum ether, isobutanol, and other solvents, with or without saponification, of lauric from palmitic acids dissolved in alcohol and of benzene from crude hexane.ALSO:Oil-soluble substances are separated from solutions or dispersions containing them by contacting the solutions or dispersions with a finely divided elastomer, such as rubber, which is a selective absorbent for the substance and substantially insoluble in the solution, and separating the elastomer containing the absorbed substance from the liquid. The absorbed substance is then recovered by washing the elastomer with a suitable solvent. The solution may be in an oil, or in liquids miscible or immiscible with oils, or in a liquid having limited miscibility with oil such as an aqueous solution of an alcohol. The rubber is preferably in a finely divided state formed by grinding small pieces which have been swollen with oil or an oil-miscible liquid in the presence of excess of the oil or liquid. The solution of the oil-soluble substance is either stirred with a quantity of the finely divided elastomer or allowed to run through a column of the elastomer. The process is applied particularly to the separation of carotene and xanthophyll from palm oil, to the separation of fatty acids, and to the separation of more saturated from less saturated glycerides. It can also be applied to the separation of constituents of mineral oils. In addition to rubber, artificial rubbers, guttapercha, and silicones may be employed as elastomers. Examples include the separation of carotene and xanthophylls from red palm and other oils in the presence of methanol, ethanol, petroleum ether, isobutanol, and other solvents, with or without saponification, of lauric from palmitic acids dissolved in alcohol, of soybean oil into saturated and unsaturated constituents in the presence of acetone, of oleic from linoleic acids dissolved in alcohol, of herring oil into fractions of varying degrees of unsaturation, colour, and odour in the presence of acetone, and of benzene from crude hexane.