Optimization of molecular distillation to concentrate ethyl esters of eicosapentaenoic (20:5 ω-3) and docosahexaenoic acids (22:6 ω-3) using simplified phenomenological modeling
✍ Scribed by Pablo C Rossi; María del C Pramparo; María C Gaich; Nelson R Grosso; Valeria Nepote
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 262 KB
- Volume
- 91
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-5142
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✦ Synopsis
BACKGROUND: Squid oil contains high concentration of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The purpose of this work was to optimize the process of separation by molecular distillation of ω-3 fatty acid ethyl esters obtained from squid oil. The separation process was conducted in two stages in a laboratory-scale molecular distiller. A mathematical model based on the mass transfer phenomena was developed. The Nelder-Mead numerical method was used to optimize the model. RESULTS: The ω-3 content in the output material of the stage II increased with the temperature of stage I (T 1 ). The amount of distillated material in stage I increased and the distillated material in the stage II decreased with the increment of T 1 . That implied a decreasing of the ω-3 recovery in the distillated material in the stage II. In addition, the ω-3 recovery increased with the temperature of stage II (T 2 ), but the temperatures should be less than 140 • C to avoid chemical changes. The optimization results showed an optimal process at T 1 = 120.5 • C and T 2 = 140 • C. CONCLUSION: The theoretical model and the optimization give decision criteria about the operative conditions for reaching the highest yield during molecular distillation of ω-3 fatty acid ethyl esters.