Advanced modeling of vegetable oils steam stripping with structured packing columns

Abstract This work presents an advanced modeling of the deodorization and the physical refining (steam stripping) of vegetable oils using structured packed columns, applying the non-equilibrium model developed by (Taylor and Krishna, 1993) and (Taylor and Kooijman, 1993). In this model, mass and energy balances are calculated separated through the interface for each liquid and vapor phase by using mass and energy transfer rates. The proposed modeling is implemented in a process simulation platform, which involves the collection of basic properties, the selection of equations for temperature dependent properties of each compound present in vegetable oils and the construction of a deodorization column as a stage to stage unit operation. Two cases are studied by applying the process model proposed: a free fatty acids stripping and deodorization process of bleached palm oil and a tocopherol stripping and deodorization process of soybean oil.