The present invention provides a chromatographic separation process for recovering a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) product from a feed mixture, which comprises: (a) purifying the feed mixture in a first chromatographic separation step using an eluent a mixture of water and a first organic solvent, to obtain an intermediate product; and (b) purifying the intermediate product in a second chromatographic separation step using as eluent a mixture of water and a second organic solvent, to obtain the PUFA product, wherein the second organic solvent is different from the first organic solvent and has a polarity index which differs from the polarity index of the first organic solvent by between 0.1 and 2.0, wherein the PUFA product is other than alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), linoleic acid, an ALA mono- di- or triglyceride, a GLA mono- di- or triglyceride, a linoleic acid mono- di- or triglyceride, an ALA C.sub.1-C.sub.4 alkyl ester, a GLA C.sub.1-C.sub.4 alkyl ester or a linoleic acid C.sub.1-C.sub.4 alkyl ester or a mixture thereof.

The present invention provides a chromatographic separation process for recovering a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) product from a feed mixture, which comprises: (a) purifying the feed mixture in a first chromatographic separation step using an eluent a mixture of water and a first organic solvent, to obtain an intermediate product; and (b) purifying the intermediate product in a second chromatographic separation step using as eluent a mixture of water and a second organic solvent, to obtain the PUFA product, wherein the second organic solvent is different from the first organic solvent and has a polarity index which differs from the polarity index of the first organic solvent by between 0.1 and 2.0, wherein the PUFA product is other than alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), linoleic acid, an ALA mono- di- or triglyceride, a GLA mono- di- or triglyceride, a linoleic acid mono- di- or triglyceride, an ALA C.sub.1-C.sub.4 alkyl ester, a GLA C.sub.1-C.sub.4 alkyl ester or a linoleic acid C.sub.1-C.sub.4 alkyl ester or a mixture thereof.

The present invention provides a chromatographic separation process for recovering a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) product from a feed mixture, which comprises: (a) purifying the feed mixture in a first chromatographic separation step using an eluent a mixture of water and a first organic solvent, to obtain an intermediate product; and (b) purifying the intermediate product in a second chromatographic separation step using as eluent a mixture of water and a second organic solvent, to obtain the PUFA product, wherein the second organic solvent is different from the first organic solvent and has a polarity index which differs from the polarity index of the first organic solvent by between 0.1 and 2.0, wherein the PUFA product is other than alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), linoleic acid, an ALA mono- di- or triglyceride, a GLA mono- di- or triglyceride, a linoleic acid mono- di- or triglyceride, an ALA C.sub.1-C.sub.4 alkyl ester, a GLA C.sub.1-C.sub.4 alkyl ester or a linoleic acid C.sub.1-C.sub.4 alkyl ester or a mixture thereof.

Systems and methods for processing crude fatty acid stream that comprises short chain fatty acids and impurities are disclosed. The crude fatty acid stream is mixed with activated carbon or acidified activated carbon for a predetermined duration to produce a fatty acid product stream that comprises short chain fatty acids and an amount of impurities that is lower than the amount of impurities in the crude fatty acid stream.

Systems and methods for processing crude fatty acid stream that comprises short chain fatty acids and impurities are disclosed. The crude fatty acid stream is mixed with activated carbon or acidified activated carbon for a predetermined duration to produce a fatty acid product stream that comprises short chain fatty acids and an amount of impurities that is lower than the amount of impurities in the crude fatty acid stream.

The present invention generally provides a process for treating a soapstock. The present invention more particularly provides systems and methods for treating a soapstock to generate free fatty acids and/or fatty acid derivatives, e.g. fatty acid alkyl esters. The present invention more particularly provides systems and methods for realizing the full fatty acid yield of a soapstock by first converting substantially all of the saponifiable material in a soapstock to salts of fatty acids (soaps) and acidulating the soaps to generate free fatty acids and/or fatty acid derivatives, e.g. fatty acid alkyl esters, wherein the soapstock comprises soaps and saponifiable lipids, e.g. glycerides and/or phospholipids, and the generating of free fatty acids and/or fatty acid is achieved without the use of a mineral acid.

The present invention generally provides a process for treating a soapstock. The present invention more particularly provides systems and methods for treating a soapstock to generate free fatty acids and/or fatty acid derivatives, e.g. fatty acid alkyl esters. The present invention more particularly provides systems and methods for realizing the full fatty acid yield of a soapstock by first converting substantially all of the saponifiable material in a soapstock to salts of fatty acids (soaps) and acidulating the soaps to generate free fatty acids and/or fatty acid derivatives, e.g. fatty acid alkyl esters, wherein the soapstock comprises soaps and saponifiable lipids, e.g. glycerides and/or phospholipids, and the generating of free fatty acids and/or fatty acid is achieved without the use of a mineral acid.

A method of producing high purity polyol esters comprises reacting a polyol with an excess amount of a linear or branched aliphatic monocarboxylic C3-20 acid to esterify less than the total amount of the polyol present to form an intermediate reaction composition having a hydroxyl value of from 7 to about 50 mg KOH/g. An anhydride of the corresponding linear or branched aliphatic monocarboxylic C3-20 acid is added to the intermediate reaction composition in an amount of from 1 to about 2.5 equivalents of available OH in the intermediate composition to form a reaction mixture. The reaction mixture is heated for 5-30 minutes or until all of the corresponding anhydride has reacted to form a reaction product. The reaction product is then de-acidified. No metal or acid catalyst or bleaching agents are present in any of the above reaction steps at a concentration above about 15 ppm.

A method of producing high purity polyol esters comprises reacting a polyol with an excess amount of a linear or branched aliphatic monocarboxylic C3-20 acid to esterify less than the total amount of the polyol present to form an intermediate reaction composition having a hydroxyl value of from 7 to about 50 mg KOH/g. An anhydride of the corresponding linear or branched aliphatic monocarboxylic C3-20 acid is added to the intermediate reaction composition in an amount of from 1 to about 2.5 equivalents of available OH in the intermediate composition to form a reaction mixture. The reaction mixture is heated for 5-30 minutes or until all of the corresponding anhydride has reacted to form a reaction product. The reaction product is then de-acidified. No metal or acid catalyst or bleaching agents are present in any of the above reaction steps at a concentration above about 15 ppm.

Processes and system for producing biofuels and coproducts are described herein. The processes include pretreating a feedstock comprising fatty acid glycerides and free fatty acids to remove contaminants, contacting the feedstock with alcohols and a solid acidic catalyst to produce a biofuel comprising fatty acid alkyl esters, and purifying the biofuel and coproducts from the resulting reaction mixture.