Fatty acids: Production route
How the choice of oil decides the chain length
What this tab covers How it is made: the main production routes or, for product families, the main product types and technologies, compared on share of supply, inputs per tonne, plant scale, yield, co-products and unit cost.Most fatty acids come from splitting vegetable oils and tallow; the product mix depends on the oil. Lauric oils (palm kernel, coconut) give C8-C14 acids for soaps and surfactants; palm oil and tallow give palmitic, stearic and oleic acids. Physical refining of palm oil also yields palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), a by-product now largely sold to biofuels. Tall oil fatty acids come from wood pulping. Synthetic routes from petrochemicals are now marginal.
Routes compared
| Route | Share of supply | Inputs per tonne | Typical scale | Yield | Co-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous high-pressure fat splitting (Colgate-Emery) with distillation | most of world supply (indicative) | about 1.05-1.1 t oil and 1-1.5 t steam per t fatty acids (indicative) | 100-450 kt a year (KLK Indonesia 450 kt, 2025) | about 95-98% splitting (indicative) | glycerine about 0.1 t per t oil; distillation pitch | oil is 80-90% of cost (indicative) |
| Hydrogenation and fractionation (stearic acid) | part of the C16-C18 stream (indicative) | about 0.003-0.01 t hydrogen per t (indicative) | integrated with splitting | high | oleic acid (liquid fraction) | small adder to oil cost (indicative) |
| Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) from physical refining | by-product stream; much now goes to biofuels | by-product of refining | every palm refinery | about 4-5% of CPO (indicative) | none | trades below CPO (indicative) |
| Tall oil fatty acids (TOFA) | a few per cent (indicative) | about 2-2.5 t crude tall oil per t TOFA (indicative) | 100-300 kt a year | TOFA about 40-50% of crude tall oil (indicative) | rosin, pitch | competes with biofuel demand for tall oil (indicative) |
How each route works
Continuous high-pressure fat splitting (Colgate-Emery) with distillationOil is hydrolysed with water in a column without catalyst; sweetwater glycerine is drawn off and the acids are distilled and fractionated.
flexible on oils; energy-intensive steam
GlobalData presentation, Fedepalma International Conference, Aug 2025; indicative Hydrogenation and fractionation (stearic acid)Distilled acids are hydrogenated over nickel catalyst and crystallised or fractionated to make single-, double- or triple-pressed stearic acid.
makes high-value rubber and cosmetic grades; nickel catalyst handling
indicative Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) from physical refiningSteam stripping of crude palm oil removes free fatty acids as PFAD, about 4-5% of crude oil (indicative).
cheap feed; EU treats it as a co-product rather than a waste
indicative Tall oil fatty acids (TOFA)Crude tall oil from kraft pulp mills is fractionated into TOFA, rosin and pitch (Kraton, Ingevity, indicative).
non-food feedstock; limited supply
indicative Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs move with feedstock and energy prices, plant size and region.