Chapter I

Introduction

To be able to cope up with the fast paced growth of the world in the

field of science and technology, the Philippines is making a move towards

industrialization. Being a country which boasts rich natural resources, the

country is presently focused on the agricultural development programs

which focus on the improvement of different agricultural sectors which

would be great help in accelerating the economic growth.

The coconut industry is a dominant sector of Philippine agriculture.

In the Philippines, it is considered a major dollar earner that provides

livelihood to over 25 million Filipinos that depend on the industry, directly

and indirectly.Coconut farms are widely distributed nationwide, largely in

regions of Southern Luzon in the North and Mindanao in the South. There

are around 324 M coconut trees in the country, about 85% of which are

considered productive.

The coconut is known for its versatility as seen from the different

uses of its parts. It provides a vast variation of products and one of those

products is coconut oil. Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from copra; a

dried coconut meat that boasts a high oil content, as much as 64%. It is

also the most readily digested of all the fats of general use in the world,

and furnishes about 9,500 calories of energy per kilogram. The Philippines

have been the world’s leading exported of coconut oil in the world.

Due to the various uses of coconut oil and its many health benefits, there is

a large demand of it all over the world.To compensate with this large

demand, coconut oil processing plants are made.

A Coconut Oil Processing Plant is an assemblage of equipment,

permanently located on a chosen site, which has widely accessibility (in

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 terms of marketing, road, communication, water supply and socio-economic

environment) to render service on various communities.

1.1 General Introductory Statement

Industrial Plants play a vital role in the manufacturing industry of a

country. Through the years, industrial plants have been established

throughout the country to meet the growing demands of different products

to satisfy man’s needs.

The design and construction of an industrial plant has a lot of

considerations such as plant location, plant layout, time and money,

availability of raw materials, and many more. The demands of the

consumers in the local market should also be taken into consideration to

get the plant capacity needed to design the plant.

As being required in the completion of the Industrial Plant Design

subject, the group proposes a coconut oil processing plant as their chosen

type of industrial plant for the design project. For us to design this

industrial plant rightfully, the knowledge gained from the industrial plant

subject should be applied together with the guidance of our subject

instructor.Subjects in the previous semesters like Airconditioning,

Refrigeration, Engineering Economy, Fluid Machinery, and Machine

Design will also be essential to the calculations and assumptions to be

made to design the industrial plant.

1.2 Subject of the Report

The focalpoint of this design project is to design an industrial plant

based on the existing industrial plants. The design project is apportioned

into three chapters that will further elaborate the details of the plant. The

first chapter includes the introduction and the review of related literature.

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 The introductionis composed of the basic concepts, facts about the

product of the plant to be designed, and the overview of the

considerations in designing the plant. The review of related literature

includes the profile of existing industrial plants having the same product in

order to have a reference and guide in designing our plant. The second

chapter is theDesign Proper, which is composed of several parts, the

scope of the design of the selected plant, design basis, the sequence of

plant production process, diagram of the process, specification of the

equipment, plant layout and capacity. The third chapter will focus on the

Economic Analysis which includes the cost overview of the design project,

cost calculation, plant total cost calculation, observation, conclusion and

recommendation.

1.3 Review of Related Literature

Coconut oil or Copra oil is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or

meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconut palm

(Cocosnucifera). It has various applications in food, medicine, and

industry. Because of its high saturated fat content it is slow to oxidize and,

thus, resistant to rancidification, lasting up to two years without spoiling.

Coconut oil is commonly used in cooking, especially for frying, and

is a common flavor in many South Asian curries. In recent years despite

its high saturated fat content, virgin coconut oil has become popular and

was described in a New York Times article as having a "haunting, nutty,"

flavor with a touch of sweetness, which works well in baked goods,

pastries, and sautés. Coconut oil is used by movie theatre chains to

pop popcorn, adding a large amount of saturated fat in the process.

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 Other culinary uses include replacing solid fats produced

through hydrogenation in baked and confectionery goods. Hydrogenatedor

partially hydrogenated coconut oil is often used in non-dairy creamers and

snack foods, including popcorn. Hydrogenated coconut oil is sold in

Australia under the brand-name Copha and is the main ingredient in

Australian snacks such as Chocolate crackles and White Christmas.

Coconut oil has been tested for use as a feedstock for biodiesel to

be used as a diesel engine fuel. In this manner, it can be applied to

power generators and transport using diesel engines. Since straight

coconut oil has a high gelling temperature (22–25 °C), a high viscosity,

and a minimum combustion chamber temperature of 500 °C (932 °F) (to

avoid polymerization of the fuel), coconut oil typically is transesterified to

make biodiesel. Use of B100 (100% biodiesel) is possible only in

temperate climates, as the gel point is approximately 10 °C (50 °F). The oil

must meet the Weihenstephan standard for pure vegetable oil used as a

fuel, otherwise moderate to severe damage from carbonisation and

clogging will occur in an unmodified engine.

The Philippines, Vanuatu, Samoa, and several other tropical island

countries are using coconut oil as an alternative fuel source to run

automobiles, trucks, and buses, and to power generators. Coconut oil is

currently used as a fuel for transport in the Philippines. Further research

into the potential of coconut oil as a fuel for electricity generation is being

carried out in the islands of the Pacific, although to date it appears that it is

not useful as a fuel source due to the cost of labour and supply

constraints.

Coconut oil (and derivatives, such as coconut fatty acid) are used

as raw materials in the manufacture of surfactants such

as cocamidopropylbetaine, cocamide MEA, andcocamide DEA.

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 Coconut oil can be used as a skin moisturizer, helping with dry

skin and reduces protein loss when used in hair. Coconut oil can also be

used as sexual lubricant, although it can damage latex condoms.

Before the advent of electrical lighting, coconut oil was the primary

oil used for illumination in India and was exported as cochin oil.

Coconut oil is an important base ingredient for the manufacture of

soap. Soap made with coconut oil tends to be hard, although it retains

more water than those made with other oils and therefore increases

manufacturer yields. It is more soluble in hard water and salt water than

other soaps allowing it to lather more easily. A basic coconut oil soap is

clear when melted and a bright white when hardened.

A repellent made from coconut oil may be effective to

prevent tungiasis-causing sand fleas from penetrating the skin.

Related Existing Plants

Coconut Industry Investment Fund Oil Mills Groups(CIIF OMG)

The Philippines has an abundant number of cooking oil and coconut oil

processing plants. The Coconut Industry Investment Fund Oil Mills Groups (CIIF

OMG), a group widely known for its coconut oil export and dominant

manufacturer of premium coconut cooking oil established since 1970 is a

conglomerate of six oil mills and refineries strategically located in the Philippines.

The CIIF OMG steadily operates to produce fats and oils not only to serve

domestic but global market as well. The operating plants have a combined

crushing capacity of 740,000 metric tons of copra with a refining capacity of

280,000 metric tons of different grades of processed coconut oils. The oil mills'

total crushing capacity controls 16% of the country's coconut oil milling industry.

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Based on annual Philippine copra production, the CIIF OMG maintains 25-30%

share.

The company-owned fleet, Iligan Bay Express Corporation, is engaged to

transport raw materials (copra) from CIIF Copra Buying Stations in the

countryside to the oil milling plants/refineries. This engagement assures the oil

mill plants sufficient stocks to keep the manufacturing operations dynamic. A

number of Copra Buying Stations (CBS) are in place nationwide to gather and

buy the copra harvest from the coconut farmers.

Through the years, the company has proven to serve global demands for

fats and oils and animal feeds of the world's biggest and prestigious customers.

The United Coconut Planters International (UCPI) in France serves as the

marketing arm for Europe, whereas the Granex Corporation USA, a Granex

subsidiary, with offices in San Francisco and New Jersey.

CIIF OMG's very own local coconut cooking oil brand Minola dominates

the consumer pack market segment with overall leadership in the Philippine

vegetable oil business. It has been in the Philippine market for over 50 years and

continues to soar in Asia, Middle East and North American markets as well.

Other known coconut oil products are the following:

1. Crude Coconut Oil (CNO)

2. Refined Bleached Oil (Cochin)

3. Refined, Bleached and Deodorized Coconut Oil (RBDCNO)

4. Low Acid Oil

5. Shortening

6. Biscuit Improvers

7. Blended Oil

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 8. Margarine

9. Frying Fats

Its By-Products are:

1. Copra Meal

2. Copra Solvent Extraction Pellets

3. Coconut Acid Oil (CAO)

4. Coconut Fatty Acid Distillates (CFAD)

5. Coconut Shell Charcoal

6. Other Coconut Oil Products at buyer's specifications

The manufacturing processes in their plant includes Oil Milling/ Solvent

Extraction/Pelletizing, Physical and Chemical Refining, Deodorizing,

Crystallizing.

Oil Milling / Solvent Extraction/ Pelletizing

Copra (about 64% oil content) from the warehouse bin is fed to a belt

conveyor where dirt and other foreign materials are manually removed. Metallic

objects are disposed of by means of magnets strategically installed along the

conveying lines. The cleaned copra next passes through a series of size

reduction equipment – primary grinders, secondary grinders and flakers, where

the size is reduced to about 6 mesh (1/8"). The material is then, conveyed to the

driers where the final moisture is adjusted to 2%-3%.

The cooked/dried copra is fed to the expellers for extraction of the oil by

means of mechanical pressing to about 15%-18% residual oil in the cake.

Expeller oil, containing fine solids, is conveyed to the filtration section for

purification then pumped to the storage tanks. Copra cake from the expellers

goes to the solvent extraction plant where it undergoes continuous washing with

hexane in a countercurrent operation in the extractor. The spent meal containing

25%-30% solvent carryover passes to heated screws and desolventizer/toasters

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to remove the remaining traces of hexane from the material. It then goes to the

pelleting plant. Then finally to the warehouse for storage. The hexane vapors

pass to the condensation and recovery system where the solvent is recovered

and recycled to the extractor. The extracted oil, on the other hand, is pumped to

the filtration section for purification and blending with the expeller oil.

Solvent Extraction Plant's Extractor System

Oil Milling Expeller Machines

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Physical Refining

The crude oil is pre-treated with phosphoric acid or citric acid to hydrate

the non-hydratable phospolipids and chelate trace metals impurities. This helps

reduce the total phospholipids in the oil to a low level. The oil is bleached in a

vacuum bleacher using the acid activated clay. This removes the remaining

phospholipids, trace metals, oil decomposition products, and color bodies such

as chlorophyll, carotene, etc. from the oil. The bleached oil is filtered. The filtered

oil is called refined and bleached oil (RB oil). The RB oil is deodorized at high

temperature under very low pressure using live steam stripping to remove the

FFA, monoglycerides, oil decomposition products, etc. The oil at this stage is

called refined bleached and deodorized (RBD) oil. The RBD oil is cooled, added

with citric acid to chelate metal ions to minimize oxidation and stored. Then oil is

deodorized.

Plant Oil Bleacher

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Chemical Refining

Refining process involves treatment of the crude coconut oil (CNO) with

caustic soda solution to reduce the Free Fatty Acid (FFA) content to a final value

of 0.05% Lauric and the reduction of color from 12 red to 0.7 red via addition of

bleaching earth and activated carbon. In addition, other impurities in the oil such

as gums, phosphatides, pigments and other oxidation products which would

impair the taste, odor, keeping quality and other desired properties of the oil are,

likewise, removed.

The unit operations consist of degumming and neutralization processes by

means of phosphoric acid and caustic soda. The soap-stock formed from this

reaction is separated from the bulk of the oil in the primary centrifuge followed by

water washing and separation in the secondary centrifuge for removal of any

entrained soap particles. The soapstock and washwaters are pumped to the

acidulation and wastewater treatment. The neutral oil is next mixed with

bleaching earth and activated carbon for reduction of the color. Final purification

is effected by means of filter presses and polishing filters, then pumped to the

storage tanks.

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 Refinery Section

Deodorizing

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 All edible oils and fats contain certain compounds which impart peculiar

taste and odor unpalatable to human taste. Present in minor quantities, these

contaminants can, however, be removed by deodorization – a process of steam

distillation under a relatively high vacuum at elevated temperatures.

Refined bleached oil from the refining section is first transferred to a

deaerator operating under vacuum for removal of any entrained air. The oil then

passes through series of heaters where the temperature is raised to the level

desirable for efficient steam distillation and deodorization process. Live steam is

sparged at the bottom of the column to vaporize the odor and taste imparting

components from the bulk of the oil – unit. The fully deodorized and refined oil is

withdrawn from the column passing to a cooler and polishing filter basket for

removal of any fine suspension before being finally pumped to the storage tank.

Deodorizer Switch Room

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Crystallizing

The shortening or margarine base is held in the heated agitated tank. It is

pumped through one or more scraped coolers (unit A) where the product is

chilled down rapidly to a very low temperature using ammonia or Freon chilling

system. The scrape – wall coolers have rotating shafts that have fixed blades

along the horizontal axis of the shaft. It continuously scrapes the inner wall of the

chiller to facilitate formation of nuclei. Atomized nitrogen is injected into the oil as

it enters unit A when white aerated product is desired. The product then passes

through a work unit B which texturizes the fat nuclei at high working pressure.

The increase in temperature in unit B indicates crystallization of the fat.

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 MRC Specialty Fats and Oil (SFO) Plant Processing Area

MRC Specialty Fats and Oil (SFD) Plant Buffer Tank

Tantuco Enterprises Inc.

Tantuco Enterprises Inc. is one of the leading manufacturers of high

quality RBD Coconut Oil, Vegetable Shortening & Margarine carrying the brand

names: Exora, El Cielo and approved in the Philippines. Other products include

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Crude Coconut Oil, Coconut Fatty Acid Distillate, Copra Cake, Coconut methyl

ester and Glycerine for Industrial Use.

Its manufacturing plant is located in the heart of Copra-producing Region,

Quezon Province. They export our products to Russia, Argentina, Israel, Iran,

Africa, China, India & Taiwan. Locally, they serve major distributors, leading

supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and food industries. Not satisfied by their

current performance, they are continually expand our reach to serve both local &

international markets.

Tantuco Enterprises Inc is committed to supply the best quality RBD

Coconut Oil in wide variety of packing from tin cans, BIB, Drums, Flexitank or

Isotank.

They have utilized our resources and expanded our product line to include

Coco Methyl Ester (CME) and Glycerine. With CME production capacity in

excess of thirty million liters per year, our Oleo chemical Division is one of the

largest in the country. With Tantuco Enterprises, Inc. which has its own oil mill,

continuous supply of CME is guaranteed even during 'lean' months. The

division's production team have years of experience in the manufacture of CME

and Glycerine.

Chumporn Palm Oil Industry Public Company (CPI) Refining Plant

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 Chumporn Palm Oil Industry Public Company (CPI) started construction of

a state-of-the-art palm oil refinery in Salui, Tasae District, Chumporn province,

Thailand, in June 2004. The refinery was constructed to meet global demand for

palm oil products, particularly refined, bleached and deodorised components, for

use in high-quality food and cosmetic products. The 15,000m² facility was built on

a 32ha greenfield site near the city of Chumporn. The investment for the plant

construction and outfitting was estimated at $11.2m.

Construction began in mid-2004 following a long planning and

environmental consultation period that started in early 2003. The plant was

completed in February 2005 and full production was reached in September.

The refining capacity of the facility is sufficient to produce in excess of 600t of

refined palm oil per day. Plans have already been made for expansion which

could start in 2007. The site has ample room for future expansion. Although palm

oil products are used mainly as food additives and in the cosmetics and soap

manufacturing industries, there is a move towards using refined palm oil as bio-

diesel to power motor vehicles. CPI has expanded its palm oil plantation to over

20,000ha and installed a drip irrigation system and a cultivation area for the

production of over 500,000 breeding plants

Palm oil is divided into two types: crude palm oil, produced from the

pericarp of the fresh fruit bunch, and crude palm kernel oil, produced from the

kernel. The palm tree begins to bear fruit after around four years. he bunches of

fruit can grow to the size of a football for young trees and the size of a large

pumpkin for older trees. Every bunch contains more than 100 fruits. An adult

palm tree may produce up to 100kg of bunches per year with an average weight

of between 15kg and 25kg; the mature bunch contains 50–75% fruit. The

pericarp of the fruit is composed of an external hull (epicarp) and a pulp made of

oily fibres (35–85% of the fruit weight) containing 40–60% palm oil and 35–45%

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water. The pulp surrounds a ligneous shell which contains one or more very hard

kernels – palm kernels – that contain 45–50% palm kernel oil. The kernels and

the pericarp are cracked, cooked, flaked and expanded with steam to maximise

the yield of oil. The oil is then extracted by pressing and also by solvent

extraction which, following solvent removal, yields crude palm kernel oil and

crude palm oil. The empty bunches or stalks are burned to produce steam to run

the refining process.

The plant runs with De Smet Hytech refining and distillation equipment.

The first step in the refining process is degumming using Impac degumming

technology. This hydrates the crude oil to make various impurities (such as

phospholipids and proteins) more insoluble so that they can be filtered out. A

neutralisation process with sodium hydroxide follows which removes free fatty

acids as soap as well as more phospholipids and metal impurities. The next step

is a bleaching plant using De Smet Sparbleach and Combiclean equipment.

These processes use a combination of prefiltration through silica (Combiclean)

and mixing the oil with a bleaching earth. The resulting mixture is heated under

vacuum while sparging with steam, before it is finally filtered in a two-stage

process through hermetic stainless steel leaf filters and a final polishing filter. Oil

recovery is over 93%. During winterisation, the De Smet Wintrend process

removes small quantities of solids (up to 2,000ppm) that can cause cloudiness in

high-quality palm oils. The final stage of refining is deodorising using a De Smet

Qualistock continuous deodoriser in which the oil is scrubbed with sparging

steam. The deodorising process also uses Sublimax ice condensing technology

to remove the steam. The oil can then be distilled and fractionated to produce a

variety of high-quality, high-purity products using a vacuum distillation plant that

allows the use of lower temperatures to minimise running costs and avoid

denaturing the oil through the use of high temperatures.

The De Smet Sublimax is a new generation of vertical ice condensing

technology, optimised specifically for the deodorising process, which uses very

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low absolute pressures and reduces the running cost of the plant in terms of

energy consumption and wastewater processing. Special vacuum production

units have been developed to reach lower pressures and at the same time

reduce emissions by a more efficient condensation of the volatiles. The dry ice

condensing system is becoming the standard in new refining plants. In this

system, the sparge steam is iced on surface condensers working alternately at

extreme low temperatures (around -30°C). The remaining non-condensables are

removed either by mechanical pumps or roots blowers in series with a liquid ring

pump or by a vacuum steam ejector system. The dry ice condensation system

consists of two or more freeze condensers containing the cooled tubes, a

refrigeration plant for the generation of cold refrigerant which is evaporated in the

tubes, and a vessel with relatively warm water for defrosting and cleaning the

tubes after a period of freezing.

1.4 Location of the Selected Plant

Figure 1: Plant location

The proposed coconut oil processing plant would be constructed in

Brgy. Buhay na Sapa, San Juan, Batangas. The municipality of San Juan

is known for its abundant number of coconut trees, making it a perfect

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location for a coconut related processing plant.The selected location is will

be located near the national road for ease of accessibility of the plant.

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