Tall Oil Production Plant
PINOLA TOPP – Tall Oil Production Plant
PINOLA TOPP is Head Engineering’s continuous tall oil production plant for kraft pulp mills. It acidulates tall oil soap and separates high-quality crude tall oil (CTO) from acid water, lignin and salts in a closed, fully automated process. With a guaranteed tall oil yield of ≥98% under specified conditions, PINOLA TOPP represents best available technology for modern tall oil recovery.
A higher CTO yield is the single most important economic driver in tall oil production. Compared to traditional tank-based processes operating at around 85% yield or less, PINOLA TOPP converts significantly more soap into sellable CTO instead of sending valuable tall oil to the recovery boiler. This not only increases tall oil revenue, it also frees recovery boiler capacity for black liquor and can support higher pulp production.
How PINOLA TOPP works
PINOLA TOPP is built around dedicated process units for acidulation, high-speed centrifugal separation, acid-water neutralisation and cleaning-in-place (CIP), optional H₂S gas scrubbing and CTO drying. The compact process layout can be adapted either to existing mill buildings or to greenfield installations, giving high flexibility in how the plant is integrated into the site. The small process-wetted volume makes automatic CIP fast and economical and helps to keep the plant clean and easy to operate.
The plant is designed for 24/7 operation and is fully integrated into the mill’s central DCS. Operators run the process from the main control room, while the closed design and dedicated H₂S handling provide a safe working environment around the equipment.
