What is a tall oil loading solution, and what are the different types?

An example of an oil loading system in shipping would load heavy, viscous oils through a pipe from storage tanks to ships. The size or shape of this tank will depend on how much volume it needs to carry and its height – with taller tanks requiring more space for piping and valves than shorter ones do. Different shapes may also affect design considerations: while square-shaped vessels can pack tightly together at ports due to their ability not only to stack but fit side by side. Cylindrical hulls have less flexibility when docked alongside each other because they cannot share walls, so that rounder barrels might work better in tight quarters.

Crude Tall Oil (CTO), also referred to as “liquid rosin” or tallol, is a viscous yellowish-black odorous liquid. It’s a by-product of the Kraft process of wood pulp manufacturing after being separated from the black liquor sulfate. Tall oil extraction consists mainly of 15% – 35% rosin acids and 30% – 50% fatty acids and 30% – 50% pitch, a bioliquid used for energy generation and also as an intermediary in the chemical industry.

In Canada, most crude tall oil is incinerated as fuel in the lime kilns of pulp mills to displace the burning of fossil fuels. However, in the South Eastern United States, tall oil facilities fractionate the crude tall oil into value-added components. These include converting both the fatty and rosin acids into a feedstock for green diesel fuel.