Application of Molecular Distillation Technology

As a novel green separation technique, Molecular Distillation has successfully addressed the drawbacks of traditional separation and extraction methods due to its low temperature operation and short heating time characteristics. It not only separates components that cannot be separated by conventional distillation but also reduces costs. Particularly, it demonstrates strong advantages in the separation, purification, and concentration of natural products, including complex and thermosensitive substances such as vitamins and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Currently, The molecular distillation equipment produced by “BOTH” company is widely utilized in various fields including chemical industry, pharmaceuticals, food, and the development of polymer materials.|

1.Applications of Molecular Distillation Technology in Extracting Plant Active Ingredients

（1）Extraction and Purification of Natural Vitamins
With the increasing understanding of the health benefits of natural vitamin E, the demand for natural vitamin E in the international market is growing. Natural vitamins are mainly present in plant tissues, such as soybean oil, wheat germ oil, and other plant oils rich in vitamins, as well as in the deodorized fractions and oil residues produced during oil and fat processing. However, natural vitamins have high boiling points and are thermosensitive, making them prone to thermal decomposition and reduced yields when using conventional distillation methods.

Until the advent of molecular distillation technology, the yield and purity were greatly improved. The distillate of oil deodorization contains a certain amount of vitamins and is the main source of natural vitamins. The use of molecular distillation technology to extract it can turn waste into treasure and increase more income for oil plants.

（2）Extraction and Refinement of Volatile Oils
Natural essential oils are widely used in industries such as cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals. The main components of natural essential oils are volatile compounds, which are thermosensitive. Using conventional distillation methods for extraction and refinement can easily lead to molecular rearrangement, polymerization, oxidation, hydrolysis, and other reactions. Moreover, the high boiling points of volatile compounds require high temperatures in traditional distillation, leading to the destruction of effective components and compromising the quality of essential oils. Purifying and refining essential oils using molecular distillation can effectively prevent heat-induced degradation.

（3）Extraction of Natural Pigments
With the increasing pursuit of green natural foods in recent years, natural pigments are becoming increasingly popular due to their edible safety and non-toxic characteristics, such as carotenoids and capsanthin.

2.Applications in the Extraction of Active Ingredients from Animals

（1）Separation of Octacosanol from Beeswax
Octacosanol is a natural active substance found in beeswax and insect waxes. It has various functions such as enhancing physical strength, improving metabolic levels in the body, and promoting the breakdown of fat metabolism. However, most factories currently producing octacosanol use traditional synthetic methods, which are costly in terms of raw materials, involve complex preparation processes, and yield many by-products, thus affecting the widespread application of octacosanol in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Octacosanol purified and prepared using molecular distillation technology achieves a product purity of up to 89.78%, fully meeting the requirements of industries such as medicine and food.

（2）Extraction of Fish Oil
Fish oil is an oil extracted from fatty fish and is rich in cis-5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These two components not only have effects such as reducing blood lipids, lowering blood pressure, reducing platelet aggregation, and reducing blood viscosity, but also have effects such as improving immunity, making them considered promising natural medicines and functional foods. EPA and DHA are mainly extracted from marine fish oil. Traditional separation methods include urea complexation precipitation and freezing, but they have low recovery rates. Fish oil products produced by molecular distillation have good color, pure aroma, low peroxide value, and can separate mixtures into products with different proportions of DHA and EPA, making it an effective method for separating and purifying highly unsaturated fatty acids.
3.Applications in Other Fields

（1）Applications in the Petroleum Industry
In the petrochemical field, molecular distillation is used for the separation of hydrocarbons, crude oil residues, and similar substances, as well as for the production of low vapor pressure oils, highly lubricating oils, and the purification of surfactants and chemical intermediates. Molecular distillation allows for deep-cut separation and cutting of multiple heavy fraction oils, not only enabling the full recovery of saturated hydrocarbons from vacuum residues but also effectively removing most of the residual heavy metals. The resulting fractions are free of asphalt and have significantly higher quality compared to vacuum residues.

（2）Applications in Pesticides
Molecular distillation finds application in pesticides in two main ways. Firstly, it is used for refining and purifying pesticides and pesticide intermediates, including enhancers, chlorpyrifos, piperonyl butoxide, and oxadiazon. Secondly, it is employed for removing pesticide residues. By using thin film evaporation and multi-stage molecular distillation, adjusting the distillation temperature and pressure conditions, separation of plant drug standards from other components can be achieved.

In 15 years of development, "BOTH" have accumulated a large amount of users’ feedback, rich experience in the field of Extraction, Distillation, Evaporation, Purification, Separation and Concentration, and thus pride itself of the ability in developing customized design products in a short lead time. It is also known as a turkey solution provider for global customers from the Pilot Scaled to Enlarge Commercial Production Line.