| abstract |
Naturally occurring lipids of vegetable and animal origin are broken into smaller molecules, and used as dewatering aids. The process of breaking the molecules include transesterification, interesterification, and saponification followed by acidulation. The modified lipid molecules can adsorb on the surface of the particles to be dewatered and greatly enhance their hydrophobicity, which will help increase the rate of dewatering and hence reduce cake moisture. The modified lipids are more effective dewatering aids than the naturally occurring unmodified lipids, possibly because they can more readily form close-packed monolayers of hydrophobes on the surface of the particles. |