Processes And Systems For Catalytic Manufacture Of Wax Ester Derivatives
Patent No. US12180530 (titled "Processes And Systems For Catalytic Manufacture Of Wax Ester Derivatives") was filed by Cargill Inc on Jan 26, 2023.
What is this patent about?
’530 is related to the field of processing wax esters, specifically transesterification. Wax esters, formed from fatty acids and fatty alcohols, are used in cosmetics and personal care products. Traditional transesterification methods often involve chemical catalysts at high temperatures, leading to undesirable side reactions that degrade beneficial components and reduce product yield and stability.
The underlying idea behind ’530 is to use lipase enzymes to catalyze the transesterification of wax esters, particularly jojoba wax esters, at lower temperatures and ambient pressure. This enzymatic approach avoids the harsh conditions of chemical catalysis, preserving valuable components like antioxidants, sterols, and volatile compounds naturally present in the wax ester feedstock. The enzymatic process also avoids the formation of unwanted byproducts like fatty acid methyl esters and free fatty alcohols.
The claims of ’530 focus on a process involving contacting a feedstock containing jojoba wax esters, hydrogenated jojoba wax esters, and an antioxidant with a lipase enzyme. The lipase then catalyzes the transesterification of the wax esters, resulting in a product containing transesterified wax esters and the antioxidant. Crucially, the resulting product contains no free fatty alcohol .
In practice, the enzymatic transesterification can be performed in continuous reactors, where the wax ester feedstock flows through a column containing immobilized lipase. This continuous process allows for efficient and scalable production. The use of enzymes also simplifies the downstream processing, eliminating the need for neutralization, bleaching, and waste separation steps required in chemically catalyzed processes. The oxidative stability index (OSI) of the product can be greater than, equal to, or less than the feedstock.
This enzymatic approach offers several advantages over traditional chemical methods. By preserving natural antioxidants like tocopherols, the resulting transesterified product exhibits improved oxidative stability and shelf life. Furthermore, the absence of fatty acid methyl esters and free fatty alcohols results in a product with superior emollient and viscosity control properties, making it more suitable for cosmetic and personal care applications. The high yield of product per unit of catalyst is also a significant improvement.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical landscape at the time
In the mid-2010s when ’530 was filed, at a time when chemical processes were typically implemented using batch reactors or continuous stirred-tank reactors, optimizing reaction yields and product purity often involved careful control of temperature, pressure, and reactant ratios. When systems commonly relied on traditional separation techniques such as distillation or solvent extraction rather than more advanced membrane separation or chromatographic methods, achieving high selectivity in chemical transformations was non-trivial.
Novelty and Inventive Step
The application was a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/578,075, filed Dec. 19, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,248,245, issued Feb. 15, 2022. Claims were amended during prosecution. The examiner issued rejections based on anticipation, obviousness, and double patenting. The applicant made claim amendments and presented arguments to overcome these rejections. The application was issued as a patent.
Claims
This patent contains 20 claims, with independent claims numbered 1, 19, and 20. The independent claims focus on a process for preparing enzymatically transesterified wax esters using a lipase enzyme and a feedstock containing jojoba wax esters, hydrogenated jojoba wax esters, and an antioxidant. The dependent claims generally elaborate on specific aspects of the process defined in claim 1, such as the composition of the feedstock, the type of lipase enzyme used, and process parameters.
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Description
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US12180530
- Application Number
- US18159745
- Filing Date
- Jan 26, 2023
- Status
- Granted
- Expiry Date
- Dec 19, 2034
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO, Google Patents