30/10/21 19:55 Useful Technical Information – PORAM

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Useful Technical Information

The Refining and Fractionation of Palm Oil

Crude palm oil (CPO), like other crude edible oils, contains impurities such as gums, pigments, trace metals and a
host of other fat soluble compounds consisting primarily of free fatty acids (FFA) and odoriferous matters. When
required for edible purposes, it is important that all  constituents which give an unpleasant taste, odour and
colour are removed. Trace metals which  can give rise to poor storage stability in the refined oil, must also be
reduced to acceptable levels.

In most instances, crude palm oil in Malaysia is refined through a physical/steam refining  process. However,
chemical/alkali refining of crude palm oil is also carried out by small number  of refineries. The methods differ
basically in the way free fatty acids (FFA) are removed from the crude oil.

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CHEMICAL / ALKALI-REFINING

The process of alkali-refining treats the crude oil in three (3) stages of processing, namely, degumming – cum –
neutralization, bleaching and deodorization.

• Degumming cum Neutralization

The crude oil is first gum-conditioned with phosphoric acid followed by caustic neutralization. In this process, the
free fatty acids are first reduced to below 0.25% as soap-stocks with an alkali (caustic soda). The soap-stock, a
product of alkali treatment, is normally split with mineral  acid (sulphuric acid) and sold as a by-product called
Palm Acid Oil (PAO).

The neutralized oil, after separating from the soap-stock, is washed with water and dried under vacuum.

• Bleaching

After the phosphoric acid treatment for gum removal and neutralization for free fatty acids reduction, the oil still
contains undesirable impurities, odour and colour pigments which need  to be treated before the deodorization
process. Most of the impurities and residual soaps are removed in the bleaching process. The neutralized oil and
1%-2% of bleaching earth are mixed

under vacuum and at temperatures of 90°C – 130°C with a reaction time of 20-40 minutes.

Thereafter, the earth along with the impurities and some colouring substances are removed  from the oil by
filtration to obtain a clear and light coloured oil.

• Deodorization

Deodorization removes odours and flavours of the neutralized, bleached oil resulting in a bland finished product.
It is carried out under vacuum (2 – 6 mbar) and the FFA in the oil steam is stripped at the temperature of 200°C –
250°C to below 0.1%. Deodorization also eliminates peroxides, and the colour of the oil to Red 3 max. (5 1/4”
Lovibond cell).

PHYSICAL REFINING

Physical or steam refining of palm oil is widely used in Malaysia since 1976. It gives the benefit  of improved

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yields, efficiency in process, reduced processing time and the immediate recovery of high purity palm fatty acid
distillates (PFAD). It also reduces effluent problems arising from the treatment of soap-stock, as in the case of
alkali refining.

• Pre-treatment and Bleaching

The crude oil is treated with phosphoric acid at a temperature of 90°C-130°C to remove impurities such as gums,
trace metals, etc. The acid-treated oil is then bleached under vacuum with 1%-2% of bleaching earth, followed
by filtration.

• Deodorization

The bleached oil is then steam-stripped under vacuum (2-6 mbar) at a temperature of 250°C – 260°C to remove
the free fatty acids to below 0.1%. The RBD palm oil which leaves the deodorizer is bland in flavour and the
colour is below Red 3 (5 1/4” Lovibond cell). Simultaneously, the process also produces the Palm Fatty Acid
Distillate (PFAD), a by-product which has an FFA of 80-95%.

FRACTIONATION

Palm oil, with an iodine value (IV) of around 52 and a saturated to unsaturated fatty acids ratio of about 50:50, is
made of triglycerides of a wide range of melting points. This unique composition  enables it to be crystallized
under a controlled temperature programme. The mixture of oil and crystalized solid fat is then filtered to obtain a
low melting fraction (olein) and a high melting fraction (stearin).

In Malaysia, there are three (3) processes for fractionation, namely dry, detergent and solvent fractionation. The
main process is the dry fractionation. The detergent process is used in a  smaller scale whilst the solvent
fractionation is used for the production of specific fractions for specialty fat products.

• Dry Fractionation

This is a physical process normally carried out on neutralized palm oil and refined, bleached and deodorized palm
oil. The feed oil is stirred slowly under a controlled cooling programme in  a crystallizer to allow the higher
melting triglycerides to precipitate. The crystallized mass is  then filtered in an automated membrane filter to

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separate olein, the liquid fraction from stearin,  the solid fraction. The stearin fraction is then melted using hot
water heat exchanger before storage. In the whole process, no additive or any processing chemical is required.

• Detergent Fractionation

In the process, the crude palm oil is first cooled to allow the solid fat to crystallize. Then an aqueous surfactant
solution comprising a mixture of sodium lauryl sulphate and magnesium sulphate is introduced to ‘trap’ the solid
crystals which are then separated by a centrifuge from the liquid fraction. The ‘trapped’ solid fat in the detergent
solution is then heated to release the  melted stearin which, in turn is separated from the aqueous phase by
another centrifuge. Both  the liquid and the melted stearin are washed thoroughly with hot water to remove
traces of detergent and dried under partial vacuum to obtain the final olein and stearin.

• Solvent Fractionation

Due to the higher capital investment and operation cost, this process is used only for obtaining  high value
fractions such as palm mid-fraction for the production of cocoa butter equivalent (CBE). In this process, the crude
palm oil is first dissolved in a suitable solvent (usually hexane  or acetone) and the miscella thus obtained is
chilled under a controlled cooling progamme to  allow the solid triglycerides to crystallized. The solid phase is
then separated from the liquid  phase in an air-tight filter. The olein miscella and stearin miscella are then
separately distilled and stripped to recover the solvent which is recycled to the process.

DOUBLE FRACTIONATION PROCESS

In double fractionation process, the olein from the first fractionation is refractionated at a lower  temperature
(than the first stage) to obtain another liquid fraction with higher unsaturation, called superolein. The iodine value
of superolein is generally above 59. The characteristics can be  referred to Malaysian Standard for Palm
Superolein Specification (MS1762:2004) or Codex  Standard for Named Vegetable Oils (CODEX STAN 210-
1999). The oil has better clarity and lower tendency to turn cloudy compared to normal olein. Superolein is also
suitable as cooking  oil and frying oil. Blending normal olein or superolein with unsaturated oils allows for oils
with different composition and clarity to cater for different market requirements.

The Refining and Fractionation of Palm Kernel Oil

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As in crude palm oil (CPO), crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) can also be refined by either caustic soda or through a
physical process. However, as crude palm kernel oil is almost free of carotenes, and contains fatty acids of short
carbon chain length, the amount of bleaching clay  used is less compared to palm oil, and the temperature
required for deodorization is lower (usually <240°C).

FRACTIONATION

Palm kernel oil is fractionated industrially to yield palm kernel stearin and palm kernel olein. In contrast to the
palm stearin from palm oil, palm kernel stearin is of a higher value fraction as the  latter can be used for the
production of cocoa butter substitute (CBS). Three fractionation processes are commercially available, namely by
hydraulic pressing, detergent fractionation followed by centrifugal separation and solvent crystallization followed
by air-tight filtration. Usually either the crude oil or the RBD oil is used as a feedstock.

• Dry Fractionation

The palm kernel olein and palm kernel stearin are the products separated by pressing of the crystallized palm
kernel oil which has been tempered in a specially designed cold room.  With improvement in the design of
crystallization chamber and the hydraulic membrane presses, this process can now be semi or fully automated.

• Detergent Process

In this process, the palm kernel oil is first diluted with palm kernel olein and then cooled under  a preset
programme in a crystallizer . A detergent solution containing surfactant and electrolyte  is added to ‘wet’ the
stearin crystals which can then be separated from the olein using a  centrifuge. The stearin is again separated
from the detergent solution by heating followed by another centrifugation. After washing the separated phases,
palm kernel stearin and palm kernel olein are obtained.

• Solvent Process

This is an expensive process where a solution of palm kernel oil in a solvent (either acetone or hexane) is cooled
to a very low temperature for crystallization. The solid and the liquid  phases are then separated in an airtight
filter operated under vacuum. Simultaneous distillation  and stripping of the solvent from the solid and liquid

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phases produce the palm kernel stearin and palm kernel olein. The high production costs due to the high energy
requirement make this process less competitive to the others.

HYDROGENATION AND HYDROGENATED PRODUCTS

Hydrogenation is carried out either via a batch-wise or continuous process by reacting the palm kernel oil product
with hydrogen gas in the presence of a nickel catalyst. The extent of  hydrogenation depends on the desired
iodine value, slip melting point and solid fat content in the final product. This is shown in Table 6 below. These
are only guideline data and may vary depending on the processing conditions.

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