OIL AND FAT

TECHNOLOGY
LECTURES
III
(Crude Oil Production)

Prof.Dr.Ayta SAYGIN GMKESEN

Yrd.Do.Dr.Fahri YEMOLU

Extraction of Vegetable
Oils
Basic approaches :
Mechanical Oil Extraction
- cold pressing means no heat applied
- hot pressing - external heat is applied
Solvent Extraction
- organic solvent (hexane, isopropyl alchool)
- supercritical solvent (carbondioxide)

Mechanical oil
extraction

Mechanical oil extraction (expression) is a solidliquid phase seperation method which is

applied to cooked seed flakes.
It can be executed by batch, mainly hydraulically,
and by continous, mainly mechanically, working
presses.

Screw presses;
In oil industry, screw presses (expellers) are
mostly utilized for expression. The main
parts of continous-screw press are;
Seed feeder,
Cone-shaped cage
Adjustable cone for press-cake outlet
Worm (pressure and feed)

Cooked seed flakes

Screw pressAdjustable cone for presscake outlet

knife
Cone shaped pressure
Main worm shaft
cage

cake

Crude oil

The seeds enter the barrel and falls on the helical

pressure worm.During movement in the barell,
between worm and cage is gradually reduced and
the seed flakes are subjected to increasing
pressure.The cage is made of a number of special
stell bars which let liquids pass through. The oil
passes between the bars an flows out of the cage.
The cone moves along the shaft of the expeller and
the space between the worm and cone can be
regulated.This permits easy control of the
thichnesses of cakes and of the degree of pressure
to which the cooked flakes are subjected.

Screw Press

Shaft Arrangement-Screw Press

Cage Arrangement
French Press

Advantages and disadvantages of the

expeller process;
Expellers can be used with almost any kind of oilseeds and nuts. The
process is relatively simple and not capital-intensive. While the
smallest solvent extraction plant would have a processing capacity
of 100-200 tons per day, expellers are available for much smaller
capacities, from a few tons per day and up.
The main disadvantage of the screw-press process is its relatively low
yield of oil recovery. Even the most powerful presses cannot reduce
the level of residual oil in the press-cake below 3 to 5%. In the case
of oil-rich seeds such as sesame or peanuts this may still be
acceptable. Furthermore, most of the oil left in the cake can be
recovered by a stage of solvent extraction. Such two stage
processes (pre-press/solvent extraction) are now widely applied . In
the case of soybeans, however, a 5% residual oil level in the cake
represents an oil loss of about 25%. Solvent extraction of the cake
would not be economical, because of the bulk of material which
must be processed.

 The quality of the meal is therefore a factor of

particular importance in the selection of a
processing method for soybeans. In this
respect, the expeller process has several
disadvantages. The first is the poor storage
stability of the press-cake, due to its high oil
content. Furthermore,the extreme
temperatures prevailing in the expeller may
impair the nutritive value of the meal protein,
mainly by reducing the biological availability of
the amino acid lysine. At any rate, expeller
press-cake is not suitable for applications
requiring a meal with high protein solubility.

Crude oil production

(mechanical expression)

Cooked flakes
Screw press

Crude oil + seed particles

Crude oil

seed particles

Cake
(4-6%oil)

Crude oil production

(pre-pressing extraction + solvent extraction)
Cooked flakes

Screw press

Crude oil

Oily cake
(10-16% oil)

Cake (0.5% oil)

Solvent extraction
Crude oil

Solvent extraction
(solid-liquid extractionleaching)

The lowest levels of residual oil after

pressing are 3-8%; exhaustive removal of
the oil present in the cake by mechanical
means alone is imposible. The residual oil
in cake , therefore, only be removed by a
different approach, this being solvent aided
extraction.

Single stage leaching

miscella V1

Solvents V0

Seed flakes +
solvents
Cake L1

flakes L0

L0 + V0 = L1 + V1

Ideal equilibrium
A+C

A : inert solid
B : solvent
C : oil

B+C

B+C

 Basic principles of solvent extraction: The

extraction of oil from oilseeds by means of
non-polar solvents is, basically, a process
of solid-liquid extraction. The transfer of
oil from the solid to the surrounding oilsolvent solution ( miscella ) may be
divided into three steps:
* diffusion of the solvent into the solid
* dissolution of the oil droplets in the
solvent
* diffusion of the oil from the solid particle
to the surrounding liquid

Due to the very high solubility of the oil in the

commonly used solvents, the step of
dissolution is not a rate limiting factor. The
driving force in the diffusional processes is,
obviously, the gradient of oil concentration in
the direction of diffusion. Due to the relative
inertness of the non-oil constituents of the
oilseed, equilibrium is reached when the
concentration of oil in the miscella within the
pores of the solid is equal to the concentration
of oil in the free miscella, outside the solid.
These considerations lead to a number of
practical conclusions:

* Since the rate-limiting process is diffusion, much

can be gained by reducing the size of the solid
particle. Yet, the raw material cannot be ground
to a fine powder, because this would impair the
flow of solvent around the particles and would
make the separation of the miscella from the
spent solid extremely difficult. The oilseeds are
rolled into thin flakes, thus reducing one
dimension to facilitate diffusion, without
impairing too much the flow of solvent through
the solid bed or contaminating the miscella with
an excessive quantity of fine solid particles.

The effect of flake thickness on the efficiency of

solvent extraction

Solution extraction

Diffussion extraction

* The rate of extraction can be increased

considerably by increasing the
temperature in the extractor. Higher
temperature means higher solubility of the
oil, higher diffusion coefficients and lower
miscella viscosity.
* An open, porous structure of the solid
material is preferable, because such a
structure facilitates diffusion as well as
percolation. A number of processes have
been proposed for increasing the porosity
of oilseeds before solvent extraction.

* Although most of the resistance to

mass transfer lies within the solid, the
rate of extraction can be increased
somewhat by providing agitation and
free flow in the liquid phase around
the solid particles. Too much agitation
is to be avoided, in order to prevent
extensive disintegration of the flakes.

Choice of solvents:
An ideal solvent for the extraction of oil from oil seeds should possess
the following properties:
* Good solubility of the oil.
* Poor solubility of non-oil components.
* High volatility (i.e. low boiling point), so that complete removal of
the solvent from the miscella and the meal by evaporation is
feasible and easy.
* Yet, the boiling point should not be too low, so that extraction can
be carried out at a somewhat high temperature to facilitate mass
transfer.
* Low viscosity.
* Low latent heat of evaporation, so that less energy is needed for
solvent recovery.
* Low specific heat, so that less energy is needed for keeping the
solvent and the miscella warm.
* The solvent should be chemically inert to oil and other
components of the seed flakes.
* Absolute absence of toxicity and carcinogenicity, for the solvent
and its residues.
* Non-inflammable, non-explosive.
* Non-corrosive
* Commercial availability in large quantities and low cost.

A typical commercial solvent for oil

extraction would have a boiling point
range (distillation range) of 65 to 70oC
and would consist mainly of six-carbon
alkanes, hence the name "hexane by
which these solvents are commonly used
in oil extraction.
The quality parameters which make up the
specifications usually include: boiling
(distillation) range, maximum nonvolatile residue, flash point, maximum
sulphur, maximum cyclic hydrocarbons,
colour and specific gravity.

Types of Extractors
Solvent extractors are of two types:
batch
continuous
In batch processes, a certain quantity of
flakes is contacted with a certain volume
of fresh solvent. The miscella is drained
off, distilled and the solvent is
recirculated through the extractor until
the residual oil content in the batch of
flakes is reduced to the desired level.

Batch extractor
Seed flakes
solvent

cake

miscella

In continuous extraction, both the

oilseeds and the solvent are fed into
the extractor continuously. The
different available types are
characterized by their geometrical
configuration and the method by which
solids and solvents are moved one in
relation to the other, in counter-current
fashion.

Two different methods can be used to

bring the solvent to intimate contact with
the oilseed material:

percolation
immersion

In the percolation method, the solvent

trickles through a thick bed of flakes
without filling the void space completely.
A film of solvent flows rather rapidly
over the surface of the solid particles
and efficiently removes the oil which has
diffused from the inside to the surface.
This mode of contact is preferable
whenever the resistance to diffusion
inside the flake is relatively low (thin
flakes with large surface area, open
tissue structure).

In the immersion mode, the solid particles

are totally immersed in a slowly moving,
continuous phase of solvent. Immersion
works better with materials offering a
greater internal resistance to oil transfer
(thick particles, dense tissue structure ).

Percolation type extractor

Belt extractors_(DE SMET extractor); The extractor
consists of a horizontal, sealed vessel in which a
slowly moving screen belt is installed. Flaked oil
seeds are fed on the belt by means of a feeding
hopper. A damper attached to the hopper outlet acts
as a feed regulating valve and maintains the solids
bed on the belt at constant height. This height can
be adjusted according to the expected rate of
percolation of the miscella through the bed. Difficult
percolation is compensated for by lowering bed
height. The throughput rate of the extractor is
adjusted by changing the belt speed. There are no

dividing baffles on the belt and the solid bed

is one continuous mass. Yet the extractor is
divided to distinct extraction stages by the
way in which the miscella stream is
advanced.

The solvent is introduced at the spent flake

discharge end. It is sprayed on the flakes,
percolates through the bed, giving the spent
flakes a last wash and removing some oil.
The resulting dilute micella is collected in a
sectional hopper underneath the belt, from
which it is pumped and sprayed again on
the flakes at the next section in the direction
opposite to belt movement. This process of
miscella collection, pumping and spraying
at the next section is repeated until the
miscella leaves the hopper at the head-end
of the extractor, carrying the highest
concentration of oil (heavy miscella).

The screen is washed with heavy miscella

at the head-end, just before the entrance
of fresh flakes, and then again with fresh
solvent, right after the discharge of spent
flakes.Washing of the screen is essential
to prevent clogging. Washing with full
miscella at the feed-end provides surface
lubrication and prevents adhesion of the
flakes to the surface of the screen. The
entire extractor vessel is maintained at a
slight negative pressure so as to prevent
leakage of solvent vapours to the
atmosphere.

Belt Extractor (DeSmet)

Seed flakes
Miscella

high oil
seed
flakes

Full miscella 25% oil

Pure solvent

Cake (0.5% oil)

Continuous horizontal extractor

Bollmann extractor

Basket type- Sliding cell extractor (Lurgi)

In this class of extractors, the flakes do not constitute a continuous mass but are
filled into separate, delimited elements (baskets) with perforated bottoms for
draining. The baskets can be moved vertically (bucket elevator extractors),
horizontally ( frame belt and sliding cell extractors), or can be rotated around a
vertical axis (roto-cell extractors). Vertical bucket-chain extractors are among the
first industrial solvent extractors constructed for continuous operation. Many are
still in operation but they are less frequently found in more recent installations.

Sliding cell extractor (Lurgi)

Roto-cell extractor
(Reflex extractor-DeSmet)

Rotocell extractor

Hildebrandt extractor
(immersion type)
The solid material is extracted according to
the immersion method. Screw conveyors
are installed in the extractor for
transporting the solid material. Again the
solvent flows countercurrent to the solid
materials through the extractor.

Hildebrandt extractor

Extraction unit (DeSmet)

Post-extraction operations
Two streams leave the solvent extraction stage ;
an oil-rich fluid extract (full miscella)
cake meal (spent flakes)
The next operations have the objective of
removing and recovering the solvent from each
one the two streams.

a.Miscella distillation: Full miscella contains typically

30% oil. Thus, for every ton of crude oil some 2.5 tons of
solvent must be removed by distillation. Most
manufacturers of solvent extractors also offer miscella
distillation systems.

The characteristics of a good miscella distillation system

are:
good energy economy,
minimal heat damage to the crude oil and its
components,
minimal solvent losses ,
efficient removal of the last traces of solvent from the
oil
good operation safety.
The modes of solvent vaporization include flash evaporation,
vacuum distillation and steam stripping.

Miscella filtration ; Because of the quality criteria

for crude oils, but also to ensure the least
possible fluid transport defects (clogging in
pumps, pipes etc.) and heat transfer
resistances, the miscella must be freed of
solide meal particles with special closed filter
presses before proceeding to distillation.
Miscella distillation ; Distillation is the most
energy consuming part of the total extraction
process.In general the evaporation is carried
out in two or three stages, mostly in longtube
type evaporators with a vapor head.

b. Meal desolventizing: The spent flakes

carry with them about 35% solvent. The
removal and recovery of this portion of
the solvent is also one of the most
critical operations in oil mill practice,
since it determines, to a large extent, the
quality of the meal and its derivatives.

The most common type of desolventizertoaster consists of a vertical cylindrical

stack of compartments or "pans". Each
compartment is fitted with stirrers or racks
attached to a central vertical shaft. Spent
flakes are fed at the top of the
desolventizer-toaster. The pan floors are
equipped with adjustable-speed rotating
valve, to permit downward movement of
the material , through the pans, at the
desirable rate.

Two methods of heating are used:

direct steam heating
indirect steam heating
For heating with indirect steam, the pans
are equipped with double bottoms acting
as steam jackets. For direct steam
heating, hot live steam is injected into the
mass through spargers. The rotating
stirrers spread the material and provide
the necessary mixing action.

Direct steam is used for three reasons:

* The transfer of heat from the heated surface of the pan
floor to the oilseed material is slow and difficult,
especially after a considerable proportion of the solvent
has been removed and no fluid medium is available for
heat transfer. In this case, direct contact between the
solid material and condensing steam is a more efficient
method of heating. Condensation of the steam adds
moisture to the flakes.
* The added moisture facilitates the protein denaturation
reactions leading to the inactivation of trypsin inhibitor
(for soybean cake). It is also believed that the toasting
effect accomplished by the combined action of heat and
moisture enhances the palatability of the meal to
animals.
* The steam distillation effect is necessary in order to
remove last traces of solvent from the meal.

Desolventizer

Soybean oil production

Sunflower oil production

Sunflower seed
Cleaning

Dehulling

foreign matter

hulls

Flaking
Cooking

Pressing

crude oil

Oily cake
Solvent extraction

cake l + solvent

Miscella
Distllation

Crude oil

Toaster
solvent

Cake

solvent

Cottonseed oil production

Cottoseed
Cleaning

foreign matter

Delinting

lints

Dehulling

hulls

Flaking
Cooking

Pressing

crude oil

Oily cake
Solvent extraction

cake l + solvent

Miscella
Distllation

Crude oil

Toaster
solvent

Cake

solvent

Rapeseed oil production

Rape seed
Cleaning

foreign matter

Flaking
Cooking

Pressing

crude oil

Oily cake
Solvent extraction

cake l + solvent

Miscella
Distllation

Crude oil

Toaster
solvent

solvent
Cake