Tall Oil Fatty Acid (TOFA)

Brief Overview

Tall oil fatty acid (TOFA) is derived from purified tall oil, which is a by-product of the Kraft process. Tall oil fatty acid is a low-cost and vegetarian lifestyle-friendly used to produce soaps and lubricants. It is also capable of going through chemical reactions to be used as a component in adhesives, varnishes, curing agents, and drilling oils. Tall Oil Fatty Acid Market size is expected to reach nearly US$ 1375.26 Mn. by 2029 with the CAGR of 4.25% during the forecast period.

Manufacturing Process

Crude tall oil is the by-product from the Kraft process, produced by skimming off of soap from the multiple-effect evaporator. The soap collected undergoes acidification to produce crude tall oil. Fractional distillation of crude tall oil produces tall oil rosin. By further reduction of rosin content from 10-35% to 1-10%, Tall Oil Fatty Acid is obtained, consisting mainly of oleic acid.

Tall Oil Fatty Acid (TOFA) is known for its excellent reactivity and stability, serves as an essential ingredient in various applications:

• Dimer Acids : Dimer acids are converted to noncrystalline polyamides with low softening points and transition temperatures. These polyamides find application in hot-melt adhesives, printing ink resins, and epoxy curing agents. Rosin is used mainly in printing ink and adhesives and, to some extent, as emulsifier in the manufacture of styrene–butadiene elastomer rubber and paper size.

• Alkyd Resins : An increase in the functionality of the polyol that is used in the alkyd resin synthesis was found to increase the reactivity of the polyol towards the diacid compared with the TOFA, which causes the formation of more branched and higher molar mass alkyd resin structures. During the copolymerization, polyacrylate chains were grafted to the double bonds and allylic sites of the fatty acid chains in the alkyd resin. Butyl acrylate preferentially grafted to the double bonds, while methyl methacrylate tended to graft to the allylic position

• Leather and Textile Chemicals : Fatliquors, oils applied as aqueous emulsions to leather while it is still wet from tanning, are available in a variety of ionic and anionic forms. Fatliquors soften leather by preventing the formation of adhesions between fibers during drying. Recent research on the effects of fatliquors on the fibrous structure and resultant physical properties of leather has concluded that the concentration of fatliquor applied was more important to the outcome than the type of fatliquor. In addition, the sound‐suppressing effect of fat in leather under test conditions supports acoustic emission testing as a way to monitor the degree of lubrication, and potentially optimize fatliquor usage.