United States Patent Kellens et al. 6 EQUIPMENT FOR PHYSICAL REFINING AND DEODORIZATION OF EDIBLE OIL: ‘AND FATS. (73) Inventors: Mare Kellens, Muizen (BE); Tony Harper, E. Yorkshire Hu (GB) (73) Assignve: De Smet Engineering, Naamloze ‘Vennootschap, Zaventem (DE) (2). Notice: Subject to any disclaimer the teem of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 USC. 154) by 16 days Appl. Now 10/144,068 May 14, 2002 Prior Publication Data Filed: (63) Us 2002016083 AI Now. 14, 2002 (30) Foreign Application Priority Data May 14,2001 EP) oy i BOLD 19/00 6: 96/181; 95/262; 961197; 96/200; 96/315; 422/120; 426,488) 554/175 (58) Field of Search 95/159-163, 165, 95/166, 168-171, 245, 346, 248, 254, 260265: 96181, 194, 197-300, 315; 54/175; 42215, 1201766 Int US.Cl SOA is Ego a Us00695349912 US 6,953,499 B2 Oct. 11, 2005 (20) Patent No. (5) Date of Patent: B747.304 A+ 7/19TS. Elmer tal 99179 Roa3os3 A+ 197% Leva >dotiss S3uc7 A + 81982 Skipper 95/248 Som0408 8 + 21950 Johason 20378 SBM4ISL A * 1211904 Cheng o 54/208 SABT7H4 A * R905 Cook etal 6/200 6,001,220 A + 12/1999 Hillstom eta. 207/183 6086749 * "2000 Ribeiro ta. 95 261 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS ep ps2om7 + waa sssiu7s co 2157887 * 10/1985 9/200, Wo WOOK 1/198 (OTHER PUBLICATIONS Petraushaite eta. Physical Reining of Coconut Oil: Effet fof Crude Oil Quality and Deodorization Conditions. on euteal Oil Loss, JAOCS, V.77, No. 6 2008), pp. 581-586, Jun, 2000. ‘Athanassidis, A. Elimination of Air and Water Poluion by Double-Stage Serubber, JCOS, V59, No. 12 (Dec. 1982}, pp. 5540557, * cited by examiner Primary ExaninerRichard L. Chiesa (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm Bacon & Thomas, PLLC 6 ABSTRACT. ‘Equipment for use inthe physical refining and deadorization of edible oils and fats, including a shell containing a number ‘of superimposed trays for degassing, heating, cooling and Seadorization purposes, ‘The equipment also includes @ scrubber that is foeated atthe lowest part inside the deodor- iser shel 10 Claims, 3 Drawing SheetsU.S. Patent Oct. 11, 2005 Sheet 1 of 3 US 6,953,499 B2U.S. Patent Oct. 11, 2005 Sheet 2 of 3 US 6,953,499 B2 24 1200mm, Kig.2U.S. Patent Oct. 11, 2005 Sheet 3 of 3 US 6,953,499 B2 Bigs V7US 6,953,499 B2 1 EQUIPMENT FOR PHYSICAL REFINING AND DEODORIZATION OF EDIBLE OILS AND FATS, BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates oa equipment and process used for physical refining sndjor desadorisation of edible ils and fats, ‘More particularly, the invention relates to a process for ‘vacuum stripping triglyceride oils and fats ‘More specifialy, the invention i also concerned with novel equipment used in this process. 2, Discussion of the Related Art ‘The invention i especially important for edible oils and fats to be sold for consumption or t0 be used in food products, since these outlets demand that these edible oils Andiot fats have a bland tase. In addition, the invention is applicable 10 all kinds of edible oils and. fats such as vegetable ols, animal fats and marine oils their blends as well as to hydrogenated oils, fractionated oils, ineresteri ‘ation procucts and ther blends. It will in general constitute the last step in edible oil processing before the product treated according 10 the invention is either packaged, of further processed into products such as for instance marga- In edible oil reining, two dlilerent routes are being ‘employed, The oldest route employs a chemical neutralise tion of the free fatty acids in the exude oil as obtained by ‘expelling andlor solvent extraction. This ute commonly uses calistic soda fo convert these free Tatty acids into sodium soaps which are then removed by a centrifugal Scpatilor amd water washing, Instead of removing residual soaps by Water washing, they can also be removed by adsorption by for example silica bydeogel Subsequently, the neural ol is bleached by an adsorptive treatment involving the use of bleaching earth andor acti vated carbon and then the malodorous compounds sill present in the oil are removed by a vacuum stripping process ‘alled deodorzation In the other route, the enide il is frst of all degummed by using an acid degumming or acid refining process 10 a Jow residual phosphorus content <10 ppm P) without remov- ing the five faty acids, If such a degummed oils is thea beached it ean be physically refined in vacuum stripping process that removes bottr the free fatty acids and the malodorous compounds so that a bland! tasting precuct of| goed! Keepability results. Physical refining therefore com- bines the ncuralsttion and the decdorization of the ail. "The process according 0 the invention can be usefully applied in both the deodorization process and the physical refining process. In the deodorization and physical refining processes already known, it is common to subject the oil to be processed fo temperatures as high as 250° C. or even higher, 4 pressure as low as 5 mbur or even lower and tothe action ‘of stripping medium, The commonly used stripping, ‘medium is steam but other inert gases such as for example nitrogen ate also being used as described in EP-A+0.580 896 to Cheng et al. In this context, the role of the stripping ‘medium isto dilute the volatile compounds to be removed from the oil so that they can evaporate at higher pressures than if no sipping medium were present For deadorization and physical refining tobe effective and mise the tripping medium usage, the concentration % o 2 ofthe volatile compounds tobe emoved from the oil should be as close as possible tothe pliysical equilibrium concen- tation as determined by the vapour pressures of the pure volatile compounds atthe prev soncenttations in the oil. To this end, i between the stripping medium and the oil to be vacuim Stripped is imperative. Such contact is achieved by inteo- ducing the stripping mum under the surface ofa pool af liquid oil to be deodrised theovgh small nozzles or by spreading this oil over a lage surface that isin contact with the stripping medium. The later method as described for instance in WO 9800484 to Hilsiom ot al, commonly employs packed columns for this purpose. However, when a small bubble of stripping medium is released under the susface of a pool of wl the pressure at the point of release is equal tothe sum of the system pressure And the pressure exerted by the oil clu abe the release point. When the bubble rises through the oil, the height of {his column decreases so thatthe pressure inside the bubble also deereases as a result of which the bubble will expand. ‘At the surface, the bubble will break aod the gas contained in the bubble will be removed by the vacuum system. However, in doing so, the bubble will also entrain Ligh il and if this ol were o reach the vacuum system, it would be Jnetcievably lost snd thus would eonsttue a yield Joss, This Joss is often refered to asthe “neutral oil loss” o¢ NOL. ‘Accordingly, most industrial deodorisers have been pro- vided with bafiles that aim at retaining the oil that is being entrained by the emerging stripping medium and thus at reducing the NOL. However, these bales often constitute a resistance to the vapour How and thus ease the pressire at the point where the bubble leaves the oil surface to be ‘considerably higher than the vacuum attained by the vactm system itself, Packed columas suffer les fom NOL since these columns the stripping medium strikes over the oil seface but then, these eolumas themselves presenta resis- fance to the vapour flow so that again, the pressure “seen” by the oil ean be quite a bit higher than the pressure attained by the vacuum system, ‘As mentioned before, ol to he deodorised or physically refined is brought to elevated temperatures since the vapour pressures of the volatile compounds to be removed by Stripping increase with an increase in temperature so that theie volailityinreases. In onder to save energy, the incom- ing oil is often pre-heated by the outgoing ol by an il-to-oi beat rovery process so that external energy i only needed ‘o raise the oil temperature from the level attained by heat exchange to the deodorization temperature. The heal ‘exchange system and/or the final heating system can located futside the deodborization vessel proper But most insalla- ‘ions in use ineoporate these systems within the deodoriza- tion shel. The de-2ration stage on the other hand, tends 10 be outside this shel. Accordingly, such a shell usually contains « number of superimposed trays from which the oil to be deodorised Flews downwards by gravity. From top to bottom these trays may serve the following functions: de-aeration if this is tcontsined within the shell, heating by heat exchange with ‘ulgoing oil, heating to final deodorzation temperature, ‘eadlrization proper, cooling by heat exchange with incom w ol and finally further cooling to oil discharge tempera ture. In general, all trays are sparzed with stripping, medium ‘which not ony strips volatiles from the oil being processed, but also ensures agitation ofthe oil and thus promotes heat transfer. Deodorization proper necd aot be confined to 2US 6,953,499 B2 7 single tray but may be caried out in a numberof supesim= posed trays. Similarly, the oils can be heated or cooled! ater having been subjected to the fist deodorization treatment before being subjected to a subsequent deodorization trea ment. Ifthe trays within the deodorser shell are fixed to the ‘deodoriser shell wall and surround central chimney which collects the vapour emerging from the trays and mechani cally supports these trays, the deodoriser is. generally feferred to a8 4 single shell Ueodoriser.Insead of a eenial ‘chimney, the gases can also be removed from each try by individual vacuum connections. connected to commer ‘duct Ian annular gap between the ays and the outer shell, acts asthe vapour duct, the system i efered 1038 a double shell deodorisr Flow diagrams ofthe various types, double shell, single shell, continuous and semi-continuous ean be found in the Practical Handbook of Soybean Processing and Utilization, ‘edited by DR. Erickson, AOCS Press ancl United Soybe Board, 1995 on pages 251 and following, In general, a single shell deodoriser i less expensive to construct than a double Shell deodoriser Tn order to maintain & low pressure within the deodoriza- tion shel, it has to be connected to a vacuum system, This system removes the seippig medium that is introduced into the shel, the wolatiles entrained by ths medium and any gas leaking into the shell. These volatiles have 10 be removed from the gas leaving the deodorization sell and to this end, the gas is commonly passed through a serubber, In this scrubber, the hot gas is contacted with cooled distillate into ‘hich the volatiles will condense. Accordingly, the vacuum system will not have to transport these volatiles and can thus have a smaller capacity which is especially important in the cease of physical refining. ‘Tis serubher can be located in the top ofthe deodorser shell and below the connection tothe vacuum system, Liguitled distilate is collected at the bottom of this scrubber and thea itis partially reeyeled t0 the top of the ‘scrubber via a cooler; wha isnot reeycled is collected in a0 intermediate distillate storage vessel. However, this set-up implies thatthe low temperature scrubber sceton is imme= diately above a bot ol try and this pts high demands upon the construction and construction material ofthe deodoriset whieh will have to withstand considerable thermal and mechanical stress in addition to remaining vacuum tight Consequently, the serubber can also be located outside the \deodorization shell in the duet that connects the deodoiser to the vacuum system, If his duet i located at the top of the ‘deodoriser shel, the serubber is usually nearby to minimise the pressure drop in the vacuum duct, If the vapours are collected from each individal tray into common dict, the ‘scrubber will be located elose to this common duet but that ‘ean be a the Lop of this dic, atthe bottom of this duct oF somewhere in between, For the generation of the vacuum, steam ejectors and ‘condensers are commonly used, Since these sequice baro= metric legs, the vacuum sYslem requies atleast 101m height. Consequently, commonly used deodorisers display a con- nection tothe vacuum system atthe top ofthe vacuum shell for instance just above the serubber if this is located within the deodoriser shell. Since gas needs a pressure difference to flow, this means that the system pressive in th lowest part inside the deodoriser shell is somewhat higher than al the top. Accordingly, the oil being deodorsed is exposed 10 a higher pressure than the oil Being heated or degassed since the heating and deaeration trays are sitvated above the % o 4 eodorization trays, This is a drawback of this type of ‘consiuction since preferably, deodorization should be ried out at the lowest pressure the vacuum system ean generate SUMMARY 1 Js an object of the invention to provide equipment for the physica refining andor deodorization of edible ols that is less subject to thermal and especially mechanical stain than currently used equipment Tis also an object of the invention to reduee the neutral oil los eased by entrainment Is a furter object of the invention to ensure that cil being deodorised is exposed to as low as possible pressure and thereby reduce stripping medium usage. Is yet another object of the invention to simplify the ‘constuction of the deodorization equipment and especially the mounting ofits auxiliary vessels and equipment. is also an object of the invention to provide equipment {or both continuous and semi-continuous operation. Iisa further object ofthe invention to provide a process that ean profitably be used in both single shell and double shell deodorisers. ‘Accoading tothe iavention the equipment for use in the physical refining andior deodorization of triglyceride oils comprises_a shell containing a number of superimpesed trays for degassing, healing, cooling and/or deodorization purposes and a suber, whereby the seubber is located at the lowest part of the deodorization shel ‘The invention also relates to a process for physical refining andor deodorization of edible oils and fas, char cterised in that an equipment according tothe invention is used, "The invention thus claims a process according to whicl the tray above the scrubber is used for de-arating the oil entering the deodorization shell, and from this tray the ‘degassed cil is then pumped 10 the top tay from where it slows down to the trays underneath by gravity [BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS ‘To more clearly show the characteristics of the invention, preferred embodiments of an equipment and process fccording tothe invention are described inthe follosing, a8 fan example without any limiting character and with refer- tence to the accompanying drawings, where FIG. I shows a flow diagram of deodorization equipment according to the invention, FIG. 2 represenis a cress section ofthe botlom part ofthe ‘deodoriser showing the pat followed by the gases leaving the deodoriscr shell FIG. 3 shows the flow diagram of a high eapacity dual temperature, dual condensation deodoriser DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT ‘As indicated in FIG. 1, refined and bleached il is continuously introduced into the deodoriser shell {by pump 2 into the de-aeraton way 3 located above the serubber 4. Pump 2 forces the oil through spraying heads § to ensure rapid degassing of te ol Tis ao possible to provide stripping steam via inlets 6 to the de-aeration tray 3 to assis the degassing process. A this stage, the ol temperature is for instance 90-100" that is to say the temperature oil normally has after having been bleached and filtered.US 6,953,499 B2 5 From tray 3; the oil is fed by means of degassed oil teansfer pump 7 tothe final beatin pre-sripping top tray 8 Within the deodoriser shell L via heat exchange coils 9 Jocated in heat recovery tray 10, Tn the top tray &, the oil i heated wo deodorization temporatut, for instance 230" C., by means of high pressure steam generated in boiler Il or by means of another heal ‘exchange medium, The fina heating top tay 8 is provided ‘with sparging seam inlets 6 to agitate the oil and promote heat transfer From top tay 8, the oil lows by gravity to the deador- ination way 12 underneath, where it is deodorised while boeing spanged with steam via inlets 6 From tray 12, the hot oil flows by gravity to the heat recovery tray 10 where itis cooled by degassed oil and finally, the oil is cooled! down t ol delivery temperature in al cooling ray 13 from where its extracted by pump M4 a fully refined, bleached and deosorsed ol Trays 10 and 13 are also sparged via stripping medium inlets 6 to facilitate heat transfer and also to remove mal- ‘xorous components from the oil The vapours emerging from the various tays 3,8, 10, 12 and 13 are collected in the central chimney 18 through Fegularly spaced windows 16 ia the chimney wal. From this chimney 18, they are pumped out of the ‘deodorisee shell I via vacuum connection 17 alter having passed Latly acid scrubber 4 and demister 18. ‘Some of the neural ol entrained by the stripping mestium bursting through the oil surfaces will eater the central ‘chimney 15 which therefore has been provided with baffles 19 on its wall. These bllles 19 cause the gas stream to adapt spiral motion o that the oil droplets are flung t this wall by centrifugal fore, Te bales 19 on the chimney wall 18 also cause the oil running down this wal to stream around its windows 16 so that this oil will collet in the bottom of chimney 15 from ‘where it flows 10 the degassing tay 3 40 be reprocessed, Vapors cave the central chimney through window 20 to ‘ener the semubber section 4. In seubber 4, cooled distillate is sprayed into the vapour ‘stream through nozzles 21 causing its volatiles to condense, Pump 22 collects this distillate trom the bottom pool of ‘deodorser shell 1 and pumps it via a cooler 23 through the ‘spray aozzles 21 located in the vapour steam, Distillate collected in demister 18 also trickles down into the bottom pool. Vacuum connection 17 of shell 1 is ‘connected to’one oF more booster pumps and atmospheric ‘condensers ensuring the vacuum in the system. These boost- ers ate preferably mounted on the side of deadorser shell Ina prefered embodiment of the invention, the diameter ‘of the cylindrical vapour enclosure 24 in the scrubber section is Jager than the diameter of the central chimney 18, This reduces the velocity ofthe vapoue when it reaches the serubber 4 and promotes condensation of the volatiles in the vapour stream by inereasng residence time. This in turn reduces the carry-over of fay matter ino the vacuum system. ‘Another way by which this cary-over is reduced even further i illustrated in FIG. 2. This gure shows the path the ‘vapour stream bas to follow to reach the wacuum system, ‘This vapour leaves vapour enclosure 24 through a window 25 that is located opposite the vacuum coanection 17 Consequently, the vapour bas t© travel around half the spour enclosure 24 before reaching wacwum connection 17. ‘This again causes a circular motion and separation of % o 6 condensate droplets by centrifugal force. These droplets collect on the wall of deodorization shell 1 and finally in its bottom pool Because the entire ross section of the deodor- iser shel is available for this path, is tortuous route will hardly eause any pressure drop so that the capacity of the vacuum generating system is fully utilised For simpliity’s sake only a single deodorization tray 12 has been shown in FIG. 1. However, equipment with ruliple of superimposed deadorization trays also falls ‘within the scope of the invention, ‘Similarly, FIG. 1 depicts single shell deodoriser where the tays are fastened to the deodoriser wall I, but double shell deodorsers where the trays age free from ibe wall and the vapours escape by passing theovgh the annular space between these trays and the wal instead of through a eental chimney, alo fall within the scope of the iaventoa, According 10 the invention, additional beating. andior cooling rays can be introduced into the deodorisersbell 110 allow the ol to be deodorised at different temperatures a5 shown io FIG. 3, In both physical refining and deodorization, it may be ound to be advantageous to (eat the ol fs at ily low femperature and to collect the bulk of the fre fatty acids and volatile malodorous aldehydes and Ketones, and then to heat the oil toa higher temperature to remove the residual acids and, if required, also strip tocopherols and sterols and bother minor constiticats from the oi "The condensate resulting from this high temperature stripping treatment will then have a relatively high content ff focopherols and serols and other minor constituents and ‘hus command a higher price per unit of weight than when thee content was low. Besides it will be furly devoid of| ‘malodorous components since most of them will already have been removed during the low temperature stripping stage. ‘Separate collection of low and high temperature distillates requires two separate serubher systems. According to the invention, one ofthese 4 shouldbe located at the lowest pat inside the deodorser shell but, a illusated by FIG. 3, the other serubber 26 can be located near the top ia which case {his tp is connected to the vacwum system by an extertal vapour duct 27. For constructional reasons, this second scrubber 26 is preferably located within the deodoriser shell 1 but a location outside this sell also falls within the seope of the invention FIG. 3, shosving a flow diagram of this cual temperature and dual condensation system, refers to a high capacity Seodboriser. Accordingly, it illustrates that both the low temperature treatment and the high temperature treatment ‘cet three trays 28 forming low temperature deadarising sections and three trays 29 forming high temperature Seodlorising sctions spectively and thal two trays 10 are oreseen forthe oil-o-oll beat eeovery. Since the first deadorization takes place ata lower tem= perature than the second decdorzation, the How diagram also incorporates an intermediate high temperature heating Section 30, ‘The flow diagram of FIG. 3 illustrates a system whereby the vapours emerging from the various trays are treated in either of two scrubbers (top vapour serubber 26 oF bottom vapour scrubber 4) but a system whereby all vapours are treated in two Scrubbers in series also falls within the scope of the invention, provided one of these scrubbers is located in the lowest part inside the deosoriser shell ‘The fist ofthese two serubberscan be operated at a rather ‘hgh temperature so tat it will eondense vapours with & ighUS 6,953,499 B2 1 boiling point such as partial glyoeries. The secood of these scrubbers should be operated ata mock lower temperature to really fee the vapours from condensibles. This system has particular advantages. for the physical refining and/or ‘deodorization of laure oils, espectally when the condensate from the high temperature sorubber i recycled so that loss ‘of partial glycerdes is minimise. Acombination of the dual temperature, cual condensation system, whereby one or even both of the condensation ‘stems consist of two scrubbers in series consitues an ‘embouiment ofthe invention provided one ofthe serubbers ‘of this system is located in the lowest pact inside of the ‘deodorser shel FIGS. 1 and 3 refer to fully contiquous deodorization process but by providing the various trys with appropriate ‘oullet valves, a semi-continuous operation according to the invention is also possible, Tn that eas, returning splash oil to the de-aeration tray may have to be suspended to avoid ‘ross contamination between subsequent charges. Although itis common to use trays with more or less shallow pools of oil in physical refloing and/or \deodorization, packed columns are also used industrially for these process, ‘When sich columns ae used, the ol is allowed to trickle ‘down the packing while the stripping. medium is passed ‘counter-curently aloag the ol ilm on the packing ‘Such colums can alsa be incogporated int the equipecal according (othe invention by replacing one or more deodor- ization trays. In that ease, the Vapours leaving te top of the packed column are tobe guided to an annular space between the cokumn and the deodorser shell and from there into the ‘central chimney if the deodoriser comprises only a single scrubber. Incase ofa dual condensation system, the vapours exiting the top of the column ean for example be condensed in the scrubber 26 located at the top of the deodoriser shel. ‘According to the invention itis not necesssty but only preferable to incorporate the de-tcration tray inside the ‘eodoriser shell. The flow diagram of FIG. 1 shows a situation whereby the degassing stage is performed by ‘praying the oil o de deedorsed inte vacuum inside the ‘deodorising shell but this ean also be done in a separate vessel outside the shell, Thea the tay above the scrubber Will be used for heat exchange purposes However, ftom a constructional point of view there ate advantages in having the coldest section serubbing at the lowest pat ofthe deodoriser, having a section ata somewhat higher temperature degassing above the coldest section, having a seetion with a still higher temperature oflto-ot heat recovery superimposed upon the degassing section and ‘only then allow ofa further inerease ofthe tay temperature as needed by deodarization, In summary, the advantages ofthe equipment and process according to the invention over the present slate of the at ‘an be listed as follows, whereby it should be noted that these advantages far outweigh the cost of the additional pump 7 lifting the degassed oil to the top tray 8 according to the inveation Reduced neural oil loss since splash oil is effectively ‘separated from the gas steam in the central chimney andor the vapour path inside the serubber and thus recuperated automatically witin the system Improved vapour subbing and condensation leading (0 ‘reduced fouling ofthe hot wells i the vacuum systems Reduced pressure drop over te scrubber section; % o 8 Proximity of the final deodorization tray to the serubber ‘0 that this tray i exposed foe lowest possible system pressure, Minimisation of thermal and thus mechanical stains in the equipment by the separation of high and low temperature trays by intermediate temperature trays, ‘Self supporting stricture that is easy and fast to exec, that ‘dovs not ruguire to be housed inside 4 building and requires little floor spaces, Adaplability i that existing deodorisers according ta the invention can be easily upgraded by adding further teayss [Near absence of auxiliary vessels. ‘Wiha is claimed is 1. Equipment for use in the physical refining andlor decdlorization of edible oils and fas, comprising & deodor- ier shell containing a number of superimposed trays for ‘degassing, heating, cooling andor deodorization purposes and containing one or more scrubbers, wherein one of said Scrubbers is located at the lowest pat inside the deodviser sell and includes « scrubbing zone having a bottom pool containing cooled disillate and at least one spray nozzle Smranged lo spray said cooled distillate into the serubbing 2."The equipment according to claim 1, comprising a ‘dadorizer of the double shell construction, 3. The equipment according 10 claim 1, including a countercurrent packed column that has replaced a deodor- liner tray. 4. The equipment secording to elsim 1, including two or more deodorization sections operating a diferent tempera- tures. ‘8. The equipment aecording to claim 1, including valves arranged to permit semi-continuous operation, 6. The equipment according to claim 1, wherwin said equipment has two scrubbers, one serubber being located at the lowest part inside the deodorizer shell and tbe other scrubber being located within said deodorizer shell 7. The equipment according to claim 1, furtber compris: ‘ng pump for pumping the oil from the tray above seid scrubber located at the lowest part inside the deodorizer shell to the top tray within the deodorizer shel 8. Equipment for use inthe physical refining and deodor- ination of edible oils and fats, comprising: a deodorizer shell containing 2 number of superimposed teays for degassing, heating cooling and deodorization purposes the deadorizer having a single shell conse tion and including. central chimney provided with ‘windows for extraction of gases, and balles arranged 0 prevent oil from leaving the chimney through the ‘windows; and ‘one or more serubbers, wherein one serubber i located at the lowest part inside the deodorizer shell; and wherein the central chimney of the deodbrizer shell is arranged to provide a gas stream with a spiral motion before the gas stream enters the scrubber through 3 Window opening into the serubber. 9. Equipment for use in the physics! refining. andor deodlorization of edible oils and fas, comprising & deodor- ier shell containing a number of superimposed trays for ‘degassing, heating, cooling and/or deodorization purposes, ‘wherein suid equipment his two scrubbers, one scrubber being located at the lowest part inside the deodorizer shell And the other serubber heing located near the top of the sid ‘eodorizer shelUS 6,953,499 B2 7 10, Equipmeat for use in the physical refining andioe deoderization of edible oils and Lats, comprising a deodor- iver sbell containing a number of superimposed trays for degassing, heating, cooling andlor dendorization purposes, ‘wherein Said equipment has to serubbers, one scrubber 10 being located atthe lowest pat inside the deodorizersbell and the other scrubber being located outside said deodorizer shel