Pulp and paper

Tall oil

Tall oil is produced in two steps. First, Kraft soap is extracted from black liquor, then the soap is further processed into tall oil. HEAD Engineering supplies complete systems that perform both these steps. The systems are based on the Pinola platform where Alfa Laval separation products play a key part.

The Pinola platform consists of two technologies:

  • BLiSS (Black Liquor Soap Separation)
  • TOPP (Tall Oil Production Plant)

These can be supplied together or separately, depending on your requirements and existing equipment.

Black Liquor Soap Separation – BLiSS

Removing Kraft soap and suspended solids from black liquor leads to reduced fouling in the evaporation plant and higher capacity in the recovery boiler.

The traditional way is to use large settling tanks. This is a slow process which requires a lot of installation space.

HEAD Engineering’s BLiSS technology uses Alfa Laval disk stack centrifuges for separating out suspended solids and Kraft soap from black liquor. Benefits compared to settling tank systems are many:

  • Significantly cleaner black liquor
  • Cleaner and fresher soap
  • Higher soap yield
  • Less fouling in the evaporation stage and higher capacity in the recovery boiler
  • Continuous, fully automated process with short residence time – about 2 minutes instead of several days in a settling tank)
  • High throughput
  • Compact installation, a factor 100 smaller than settling tanks

Tall Oil Production Plant – TOPP

HEAD Engineering’s process for tall oil production offers unrivalled yield and product quality. The incoming Kraft soap is further processed by first conditioning and acidulating it. The tall oil is then separated out using a disk stack centrifuge and an optional decanter centrifuge.

Benefits include:

  • High yield, >98% purity after first pass
  • Continuous, fully automated process with short residence time (about 2 minutes)
  • Automatic cleaning in place
  • Short shut-down and start-up times
  • Compact installation, about 30 m2
  • Low operating costs (labour, chemicals, energy, water)
  • Fast and easy installation