1. A process, consisting of the steps:
(a) saponifying an oil comprising a blend of long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids to form a first admixture comprising free fatty acids wherein said oil is saponified by admixing the oil with a C1-3 alcohol or a combination of a C1-3 alcohol and water at an elevated temperature of about 60\xb0 C. to about 65\xb0 C. in the presence of an alkali catalyst;
(b) separating the free fatty acids from the first admixture;
(c) complexing the free fatty acids with urea dissolved in a C1-3 alcohol or a combination of a C1-3 alcohol and water at an elevated temperature of about 60\xb0 C. to about 65\xb0 C. to form a second admixture comprising urea-complexed free fatty acids;
(d) cooling the second admixture to room temperature to precipitate urea-complexed saturated free fatty acids therein; and
(e) separating the urea-complexed free fatty acids into a first fraction and a second fraction wherein the first fraction is enriched with saturated free fatty acids and depleted of unsaturated free fatty acids and the second fraction is enriched with unsaturated free fatty acids and depleted of saturated free fatty acids.
2. The process of claim 1 wherein the process further comprises transesterification of the second fraction to form long chain unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters suitable for use as a cold-tolerant biodiesel fuel.
3. The process of claim 1 wherein the C1-3 alcohol is ethanol and a majority of the ethanol is recycled ethanol recovered from the process.
4. The process of claim 1 further comprising the steps of (i) adjusting the pH of the first admixture below 6 by the addition of an acid after saponification of the blend of long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, and (ii) recovering a free fatty acid enriched fraction and a glycerine enriched fraction from the pH adjusted first admixture wherein the recovered free fatty acid enriched fraction is the source of free fatty acids complexed with urea in step (b).
5. The process of claim 1 wherein cooling the second admixture comprising urea-complexed free fatty acids forms a saturated free fatty acid enriched solids fraction and an unsaturated free fatty acid enriched liquids fraction.
6. The process of claim 5 wherein the step of separating the urea complexed free fatty acids into a first fraction and a second fraction comprises the step of separating the solids fraction and the liquids fraction.
7. The process of claim 6 wherein the solids fraction and the liquids fraction are separated by filtration or centrifugation.
8. The process of claim 1 further comprising the step of separating residual unsaturated free fatty acids in the first fraction from the saturated free fatty acids in the first fraction to obtain additional unsaturated free fatty acids.
9. The process of claim 8 further comprising the step of transesterification of the additional unsaturated free fatty acids to form long chain unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters suitable for use as a cold-tolerant biodiesel fuel.
10. The process of claim 8 wherein the additional unsaturated free fatty acids are separated from the saturated free fatty acids in the first fraction by chromatography.
11. The process of claim 2 wherein the alkyl esters are ethyl esters.
12. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of transesterification of the additional unsaturated free fatty acids to form long chain unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters suitable for use as enriched omega-3-fatty acids.
13. The process of claim 1 wherein the blend of long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids is an oil selected from the group consisting of plant oils, animal oils, fish oils, marine mammal oils, waste cooking oils, and microbial oils.
14. The process of claim 13 wherein the process further comprises transesterification of the second fraction to form long chain unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters.
15. The process of claim 14 wherein the alkyl esters are ethyl esters.
16. The process of claim 13 wherein the blend of long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids is a plant oil selected from the group consisting of black currant seed oil, borage oil, camelina oil, canola oil, castor oil, chia oil, corn oil, cotton seed oil, cuphea oil, flax oil, hemp oil, jojoba oil, mustard oil, olive oil, palm oil, peanut oil, primrose oil, rapeseed oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, soy oil, sunflower oil and tree nut oils.
17. The process of claim 8 further comprising the step of transesterification of the additional unsaturated free fatty acids to form long chain unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters.
18. A process of producing cold-tolerant biodiesel fuel, comprising:
(a) saponifying a blend of long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids to form free fatty acids,
(b) complexing the free fatty acids with urea,
(c) removing the saturated free fatty acids from the urea complexed blend of free fatty acids, leaving a fraction containing the unsaturated free fatty acids, and
(d) transesterifying the fraction containing the unsaturated free fatty acids to form long chain unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters suitable for use as a cold-tolerant biodiesel fuel.
19. The process of claim 18 wherein the blend of long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids is soy oil.
20. The process of claim 19 wherein the soy oil is saponified by admixing the soy oil with a C1-3 alcohol or a combination of a C1-3 alcohol and water at an elevated temperature of 60 to 65\xb0 C. in the presence of an alkali catalyst to form a first admixture.
21. The process of claim 20 wherein the C1-3 alcohol is ethanol and a majority of the ethanol is recycled ethanol recovered from the process.
22. The process of claim 21 further comprising the steps of (i) adjusting the pH of the first admixture below 6 by the addition of an acid after saponification of the soy oil, and (ii) recovering a free fatty acid enriched fraction and a glycerine enriched fraction from the pH adjusted first admixture wherein the recovered free fatty acid enriched fraction is the source of free fatty acids complexed with urea in step (b).
23. The process of claim 18 wherein the free fatty acids are complexed with urea by admixing the free fatty acids with urea dissolved in a C1-3 alcohol or a combination of a C1-3 alcohol and water to form a second admixture.
24. The process of claim 18 wherein complexation of the free fatty acids with urea forms a saturated free fatty acid enriched solids fraction and an unsaturated free fatty acid enriched liquids fraction.
25. The process of claim 24 wherein the step of removing the saturated free fatty acids from the urea complexed blend of free fatty acids comprises the step of separating the solids fraction and the liquids fraction.
26. The process of claim 25 wherein the solids fraction and the liquids fraction are separated by filtration.
27. The process of claim 18 further comprising the step of separating residual unsaturated free fatty acids from the removed saturated free fatty acids to obtain additional unsaturated free fatty acids.
28. The process of claim 27 further comprising the step of transesterification of the additional unsaturated free fatty acids to form long chain unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters suitable for use as a biodiesel fuel.
29. The process of claim 27 wherein the residual unsaturated free fatty acids are separated from the removed saturated free fatty acids by chromatography.
30. The process of claim 18 wherein the alkyl esters are ethyl esters.
31. A process of producing cold-tolerant biodiesel fuel, comprising:
(a) complexing a blend of long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters with urea, and
(b) removing the saturated fatty acid alkyl esters from the urea complexed blend of free fatty acid alkyl esters, leaving a fraction containing the unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters, whereby the fraction containing the unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters is suitable for use as a cold-tolerant biodiesel fuel.
32. The process of claim 31 wherein the blend of long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters is transesterified soy oil.
33. The process of claim 31 wherein the fatty acid alkyl esters are complexed with urea by admixing the fatty acid alkyl esters with urea dissolved in a C1-3 alcohol or a combination of a C1-3 alcohol and water to form a first admixture.
34. The process of claim 31 wherein complexation of the fatty acid alkyl esters with urea forms a saturated fatty acid alkyl ester solids fraction and an unsaturated fatty acid alkyl ester enriched liquids fraction.
35. The process of claim 34 wherein the step of removing the saturated fatty acid alkyl esters from the urea complexed blend of fatty acid alky esters comprises the step of separating the solids fraction and the liquids fraction.
36. The process of claim 35 wherein the solids fraction and the liquids fraction are separated by filtration.
37. The process of claim 31 further comprising the step of separating residual unsaturated free fatty acid alkyl esters from the removed saturated free fatty acid alkyl esters to obtain additional unsaturated free fatty acid alkyl esters.
38. The process of claim 37 wherein the residual unsaturated free fatty acid alkyl esters are separated from the removed saturated free fatty acid alkyl esters by chromatography.
39. The process of claim 31 wherein the fatty acid alkyl esters are fatty acid ethyl esters.
40. The process of claim 18 wherein the blend of long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids is an oil selected from the group consisting of plant oils, animal oils, fish oils and marine mammal oils.
41. The process of claim 40 wherein the oil is saponified by admixing the oil with a C1-3 alcohol or a combination of a C1-3 alcohol and water at an elevated temperature of 60 to 65\xb0 C. in the presence of an alkali catalyst to form a first admixture.
42. The process of claim 41 wherein the C1-3 alcohol is ethanol and a majority of the ethanol is recycled ethanol recovered from the process.
43. The process of claim 42 further comprising the steps of (i) adjusting the pH of the first admixture below 6 by the addition of an acid after saponification of the oil, and (ii) recovering a free fatty acid enriched fraction and a glycerine enriched fraction from the pH adjusted first admixture wherein the recovered free fatty acid enriched fraction is the source of free fatty acids complexed with urea in step (b).
44. The process of claim 40 wherein the alkyl esters are ethyl esters.
45. The process of claim 31 wherein the blend of long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters is selected from the group consisting of transesterified plant oils, animal oils, fish oils and marine mammal oils.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A smart switch comprising,
a magnetic operator;
at least one magnetic sensor located to sense relative movement between the magnetic operator and the at least one magnetic sensor, wherein the at least one magnetic sensor comprises first, second, and third magnetic sensor located so as to sense movement of the magnetic operator; and,
a processor arranged to process respective outputs of the first, second, and third magnetic sensors so a to detect a right over travel range of the magnetic operator, a left over travel range of the magnetic operator, and a normal operating range of the magnetic operator, and wherein the normal operating range separates the first and second over travel ranges.
2. The smart switch of claim 1 wherein the first, second, and third magnetic sensors comprise corresponding first, second, and third magnetoresistive sensors.
3. The smart switch of claim 1 wherein the processor comprises an analog processor.
4. The smart switch of claim 3 wherein the processor is arranged to process the outputs so that the outputs have a substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range, a substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range, and a sloped normal operating voltage versus position range between the substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range and the substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range.
5. The smart switch of claim 3 wherein the analog processor comprises:
a first comparator coupled to the first magnetic sensor;
an amplifier coupled to the second magnetic sensor;
a second comparator coupled to the third magnetic sensor; and,
a logical gate coupled to the amplifier and the first and second comparators.
6. The smart switch of claim 5 wherein the processor is arranged to process the outputs so that the outputs have a substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range, a substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range, and a sloped normal operating voltage versus position range between the substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range and the substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range.
7. The smart switch of claim 1 wherein the processor comprises a digital processor.
8. The smart switch of claim 7 wherein the processor is arranged to process the outputs so that the outputs have a substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range, a substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range, and a sloped normal operating voltage versus position range between the substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range and the substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range.
9. The smart switch of claim 7 wherein the digital processor comprises a microprocessor.
10. The smart switch of claim 9 wherein the processor is arranged to process the outputs so that the output have substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range, a substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range, and a sloped normal operating voltage versus position range between the substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range and the substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range.
11. The smart switch of claim 1 wherein tho processor is arranged to process the outputs so that the outputs have a substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range, a substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range, and a sloped normal operating voltage versus position range between the substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range and the substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range.
12. The smart switch of claim 1 wherein the processor comprises an ASIC.
13. A smart switch comprising:
a magnetic operator;
at least one magnetic sensor located to sense relative movement between the magnetic operator and the at least one magnetic sensor; and,
a processor arranged process an output of the magnetic sensor so as to detect an over travel range and a normal operating range of the magnetic operator,
wherein the processor is arranged to process the output of the magnetic sensor so as to detect a first over travel range of the magnetic operator, a second over travel range of the magnetic operator, and a normal operating range of the magnetic operator, and wherein the normal operating range separated the first and second over travel ranges.
14. A smart switch comprising:
a magnetic operator,
at least one magnetic sensor located to sense relative movement between the magnetic operator and the at least one magnetic sensor; and,
a processor arranged to process an output of the magnetic sensor so as to detect an over travel range and a normal operating range of the magnetic operator,
wherein the processor is arranged to perform self-diagnostics on the smart switch.
15. The smart switch of claim 14 wherein the self-diagnostics include determining that a failure has occurred when the processor detects that the output from the magnetic sensor is below a predetermined threshold.
16. The smart switch of claim 14 wherein the self-diagnostics include determining that a failure has occurred when an output from the magnetic sensor is not in accord with a predetermined pattern.
17. The smart switch of claim 14 wherein the processor comprises high temperature electronics.
18. A smart switch comprising:
a magnetic operator;
at least one magnetic sensor located to sense relative movement between the magnetic operator and the at least one magnetic sensor; and,
a processor arranged to process an output of the magnetic sensor so as to detect an over travel range and a normal operating range of the magnetic operator,
wherein the processor is arranged to provide temperature compensation to an output of the magnetic sensor.
19. A smart switch comprising:
a magnetic operator;
first, second, and third magnetoresistive sensors located to sense movement of the magnetic operator; and,
a processor arranged to process outputs of the first, second, and third magnetoresistive sensors so as to detect right and left over travel ranges and a normal operating range of the magnetic operator.
20. The smart switch of claim 19 wherein the processor is arranged to process the outputs so that the outputs have a substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range, a substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range, and a sloped normal operating voltage versus position range between the substantially flat left over travel voltage versus position range and the substantially flat right over travel voltage versus position range.
21. The smart switch of claim 19 wherein the processor comprises a microprocessor.
22. The smart switch of claim 19 wherein the processor comprises an ASIC.
23. The smart switch of claim 19 wherein the processor is arranged to determine a failure when the processor detects that the output from at least one of the first, second, and third magnetoresistive sensors is below a predetermined threshold.
24. The smart switch of claim 19 wherein the processor comprises:
a first comparator coupled to the first magnetoresistive sensor;
an amplifier coupled to the second magnetoresistive sensor;
a second comparator coupled to the third magnetoresistive sensor; and,
a logical gate coupled to the amplifier and the first and second comparators.
25. The smart switch of claim 19 wherein the processor is arranged to provide temperature compensation to an output of the first, second, and third magnetoresistive sensors.
26. A smart switch comprising:
at least one magnetic sensor located to sense movement relative to an object; and,
a processor coupled to the at least one magnetic sensor and arranged to produce an output indicating an over travel range and a normal operating range of the object, wherein the over travel range comprises substantially flat portion of the output, and wherein the normal operating range comprises a substantially sloped portion of the output.
27. The smart switch of claim 26 wherein the object comprise a magnetic operator.
28. A smart switch comprising:
at least one magnetic sensor located to sense movement relative to an object; and,
a processor coupled to the at least one magnetic sensor and arranged to an output indicating an over travel range and a normal operating range of the object, wherein the at least one magnetic sensor comprises first, second, and third magnetic sensors located so as to sense movement of the object, wherein the processor is responsive to the first, second, and third magnetic sensors so that the output comprises first and second portions separated by a third portion, wherein the first portion of the output comprises a first over travel range of the object, wherein the second portion of the output comprises a second over travel range of the object, and wherein the third portion of the output indicates a normal operating range of the object.
29. The smart switch of claim 28 wherein the first and second portions comprises corresponding substantially flat portions of the output, and wherein the third portion comprises a substantially sloped portion of the output.
30. The smart switch of claim 19 wherein movement of the magnetic operator comprises relative movement between the first, second, and third magnetoresistive sensors and the magnetic operator.
31. The smart switch of claim 19 wherein the movement of the magnetic operator comprises relative movement between the magnetic operator and the first, second, and third magnetoresistive sensors.
32. The smart switch of claim 26 wherein the movement of the object comprises relative movement between the object and the first, second, and third magnetoresistive sensors.