Global Fatty Acid Market Demand & Forecast Analysis, 2016-2032

Introduction:

Fatty acids are basic oleo-chemicals that are formed through the splitting of triglyceride molecules into fatty acids and glycerin. Fatty acids can be produced from any oil or fat by reaction with water at high pressure and temperature conditions or by reaction with enzymes.

Production Analysis:

The process of making fatty acids is carried out in a reactor by hydrolysis of fats and oils containing triglycerides at a temperature between 240⁰C -260⁰C and pressure of around 45 - 50 bar. Fatty acids can also be produced by another fat-splitting process where an enzyme catalyst called lipase is added with water to vegetable oils with controlled agitation at atmospheric pressure and temperature of 37⁰C. The triglycerides break and release the fatty acids and glycerin as separate materials. The mixture from the reactor is passed through a distillation to separate the desired fatty acids from other impurities. The final product received from distillation is referred to as the whole cut because the chain length present in oils will be present in fatty acids in approximately the same proportions. Sometimes the fatty acids mixture from the reactor is passed through fractionation to obtain fatty acids of the required composition.

The oils are divided into two parts, (a) Laurics contain C₁₂ to C₁₄ linked carbon atoms obtained from coconut or palm kernel oil, and (b) Stearics which contain mainly C₁₆ to C₁₈ linked carbon atoms. These fatty acids are used as intermediates to produce natural chemicals which are used in lubricants, detergents, plastics, rubber, and many more industries.

Applications of Fatty Acids for different cuts are given in the following table