Enrichment and purification of nervonic acid from Acer truncatum seed oil by combining vacuum distillation and low-temperature crystallization: Experiments and process modeling

Nervonic acid (NA) is a long-chain monounsaturated fatty acid with significant potential for neural fiber repair. In this study, a mixed fatty acid methyl ester was synthesized as the raw material through saponification of Acer truncatum Bunge seed oil. Based on the differences in boiling points and relative volatilities of various components, a four-stage vacuum batch distillation process was employed to enrich the nervonic acid methyl ester (NAME). The effect of distillation process parameters on enrichment efficiency was investigated, including distillation temperature, operating pressure, and reflux ratio. The purity of NAME achieved as 91.20% under optimal conditions and the corresponding yield was 48.91%. To further increase the purity, a low-temperature crystallization process was adopted and a final purity of NAME was obtained as 97.56%. Simulation of the above four-stage batch distillation was conducted using Aspen Plus software, and a continuous distillation processes was further simulated to establish a theoretical basis for future industrial-scale production. The results of experiments and simulation demonstrate that the integrated process of vacuum distillation and low-temperature crystallization exhibits remarkable separation performances, providing robust guidance for the production of high-purity NA.