Molecular distillation process for recovering biodiesel and carotenoids from palm oil

Carotenoids and biodiesel from palm oil were recovered through a process involving neutralization and transesterification of palm oil followed by molecular distillation of the esters. The concentrated obtained contains more than 30,000 ppm of carotenoids and the distillate contains above 95% of light-colored biodiesel. The experimental data were obtained from falling film and centrifugal molecular distillators. It can be seen that each one has its own characteristics, which are a function of the operating temperatures and of the tendency of the material thermal decomposition. These characteristics can determine the type of equipment to be used, since they have different operating conditions. The experimental results were compared to the ones from simulations using the mathematical modeling for the falling film and centrifugal distillators developed.