tall oil

Thân thiện

A worker checks a vat of tall oil at the paper mill.

Definition

Noun: A dark, viscous liquid by-product obtained from the chemical processing (kraft process) of wood pulp, primarily from coniferous trees. It is a mixture of resin acids, fatty acids, and other neutral materials, and is used industrially in the production of soaps, lubricants, emulsifiers, and other chemical derivatives.

Usage

"Tall oil" is an uncountable mass noun. It refers to the raw material itself. It is typically used in industrial, chemical, and manufacturing contexts.

Examples

• The paper mill sells its tall oil to chemical companies for further refinement.
• Tall oil is a valuable co-product of the papermaking industry.
• Soap manufacturers use tall oil fatty acids as a raw material.

Advanced Usage

• Crude tall oil (CTO): The initial, unrefined product separated from black liquor soap in the pulp mill.
• Distilled tall oil (DTO): The product obtained after fractional distillation of crude tall oil to separate it into different fractions like tall oil rosin and tall oil fatty acids.
• Tall oil pitch: The heavy residue left after distillation.

Variants and Related Words

• Tall oil fatty acids (TOFA): A specific fraction of distilled tall oil, rich in unsaturated fatty acids like oleic and linoleic acids, used in alkyd resins, soaps, and lubricants.
• Tall oil rosin: The resin acid fraction obtained from distilled tall oil, used in adhesives, inks, and rubber compounding.

Synonyms

• Liquid rosin (a less common, descriptive synonym).
• Pine oil derivative (a general, descriptive term, though not technically precise as tall oil is chemically distinct from pine oil).

Notes

• The name "tall oil" is derived from the Swedish word "tallolja," meaning "pine oil," reflecting its origin from pine wood pulp.
• It is not a true oil in the petroleum or edible sense but a mixture of organic acids and neutrals.
• Do not confuse with pine tar oil or rosin, which are related but distinct products derived from pine wood.

Học thuật

Noun

1. an oil derived from wood pulp and used in making soaps or lubricants