CHEMICAL REFINING

PHYSICAL REFINING

VEGEATABLE OIL REFINING PLANT

Batch Refining Plant

Refining of vegetable oils is essential to ensure removal of gums, waxes, phosphatides and free fatty acid (F.F.A.)
from the oil; to impart uniform colour by removal of colouring pigments and to get rid of unpleasant smell from the oil
by removal of odiferous matter.
Refining is carried out either on batch operation or as continuous operation. With certain oils even physical refining
can be carried out instead of chemical.
For processing less than thirty tones of oil per 24 hours, and when oil has F.F .A. content of 1 % or less normally
batch process is recommended. Batch process
involves low capital investment, simplicity of
operation and low maintenance, making refining
economically a viable proposition even at
capacity as low as 10 tonnes per 24 hours.
The equipment involved are Neutralizer, Bleacher,
Deodorizer, Heat Exchanger, High & low vacuum
equipment & Filters. Troika plant with batch
process have been operating at number of
places, processing varity of vegetable oils.
If you are looking out for a refining line batch or
continuous, physical or chemical for conventional
or nor conventional vegetable oil -Get in touch
with Troika -The Technocrats to Oils & Fats
Industry, In the service since 1971.

Continuous Refining Line

Refining of vegetable oils is essential to ensure removal of Gums, Waxes, Phosphatides and Free Fatty Acids (F.F.A.)
from the oils.
For capacities higher than 30T/24hours Continuous Refining Process is recommended against Batch Refining.
Continuous Refining will comprise of following steps:Pretreatment / Degumming Section:-

Here the oils are given acidic treatment where by gums are precipitated and separated out by centrifugal separation
or some times only gum conditioning is carried out (when gum content is low) and gums are separated in subsequent
neutralising process.
Neutralising Section:The pretreated oil is subjected to Alkali Refining. The caustic soda reacts with Free Fatty Acids (F.F.A.) present in the
oil and forms soap stock, the soap stock is
separated out by centrifugal separator, oil is
washed with water for complete removal of soap
stock. The wash water is separated out by
centrifugal separators.
Bleaching Section:The neutralized oil is treated with bleaching
earth/activated carbon for removal of colouring
pigments. The bleaching agent is filtered out in
vertical pressure leaf filters. Troika design
ensures uniform consistency in colour with
minimum requirement of bleaching agent. The
bleaching line is versatile and adoptable for all
varieties of vegetable oils.

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Deodorization Process:As the name suggest process is meant for removal of odour. Every vegetable oil has its own distinct natural odour.
During neutralization and bleaching operation unpleasant odour is imparted to the oil, it is therefore essential to
remove this odour. The deodorisation is essentially a process of removal of odiferous matter. The operation is carried
out at high temperature by injecting open steam and maintaining high vacuum at which time all odoriferous matter is
distilled off and carried away to barometric condensors through vacuum system. The resultant oil is odourless
deodorized oil.

Dewaxing Section :Oils like sunflower oil or maize germ oil (corn oil) have waxes present in them. At low temperature these waxes gives
hazy appearance to oil, which is not liked by consumers. It is therefore essential to remove these waxes prior to
bottling and marketing of oil. Troika offers dewaxing units.
Physical Refining:For oils like palm oil there is no necessity to go for alkali refining. After pretreatment of oil the oil is deodorized cum
physically refined. The Free Fatty Acid (F.F.A.) present in the oil is distilled off at high temperature and high vacuum.
Troika offers physical refining system also.
Thus for any of your refining requirement of vegetable oils, whether batch or continuous Alkali Refining or Physical
Refining Troika is at your service for more information please contact.

TOP-NOTCH TECHNOLOGY IN PRODUCTION OF OILS AND FATS

Degumming / Neutralization | Bleaching | Deodorization | Dewaxing (Winterisation) | Dry Fractionation | Miscella
Refining

THE CHEMPRO UPGRADING APPROACH

When we come up with a plan to upgrade a plant, the first thing we try to do is preserve as much of original
investment as possible. With no need to duplicate existing facilities, one can enjoy savings in capital outlay. One can
count on the cost of upgrading being substantially less than the cost of procuring a completely new plant. In theory,
most of the existing equipment will be expanded to higher capacity. But after careful study of the cost-benefit analysis
we recommend upgrading for best overall results against the capital outlay. Ideally, state of the art equipment is
incorporated to make the existing plant operate with efficiency similar to a totally new plant.
CHEMPRO's customized approach to an upgrade gives the greatest benefits in the following areas :

To increase existing plant production capacity when one needs to meet new commitments in sales
increases.

To achieve economy of scale in production or to meet a lower break-even Production cost.

CHEMPRO started with replacing of obsolete filter presses with Pressure Leaf Filters and in a short span of 3 years
we installed more than 40 Pressure Leaf Filters from 10 sq. m. to 40 sq. m. filtration area which gave our customers
benefits in terms of expanded capacity, utility savings and ease of operation. Buoyed with the success of our
pressure leaf filter installations we found the need to offer continuous bleaching systems as an upgrade so that our
clients could achieve still higher production capacities, consistent quality , ease of operation and an automated
dosing of chemicals. In a span of 2 years we installed 20 such continuous bleaching systems which was again widely
acclaimed by the industry as better than the contemporary systems offered by multinationals at exorbitant prices.
We then found the need to upgrade the deodorization process by changing the Batch deodorizer into continuous by
installing SS trays, augmenting the heat exchange system by installing interchangers, revamping of existing vacuum

systems and thus enabling our customers achieve quality in comparison to that offered by the multinationals.
Again our customers rewarded us with orders varying from 25 TPD to 200 TPD complete grassroot vegetable oil
refining plants. In a short span of 2 years again we installed 8 plants upgrading each time to meet the ever changing
technology needs of the industry. The need of the hour in industry is plant which can cater to variety of oils like palm
oil, palm kernel oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, etc. We were required to upgrade
a 100 TPD tray column to a 200 TPD physical refiner with the same steam consumption which we did by installing a
Packed Column Prestripper and a cascade-tray Deaerator. This was another milestone we achieved heralding a new
era in the refining technology.
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THE NEUTRALIZATION PROCESS

Oil phase free of hydratable gums flows to a Centrifugal mixer after heating in a plate heat exchanger, where it is
added with phosphoric acid from acid storage tank by a metering pump. The mixture is further taken to a Centrifugal
mixer where it is added with caustic lye from lye solution service tank by a metering pump. The caustic solution circuit
is completed with storage tank and recirculation pump. The mixture is then taken to a centrifuge where the nonhydratable gums and soap stock are separated and are pumped out of the system by a pump via a soap collecting
tank.
Washing:
Oil free of gums and having traces of soapstock is pumped by a pump through a plate heat exchanger where it is
heated by steam. Then it is sent to the Centrifugal mixer to be mixed with water and further centrifuged in a centrifuge
for water washing. The washed water is then further sent to the slop oil tank for collection and recovery of escaped
neutral oil which is then taken back to the system by a pump.

THE BLEACHING PROCESS

The unique CHEMPRO "SOFTBLEACH" bleaching system gently removes residual phosphatides, metals, soaps and
oxidation products in addition to colouring matters. The feedstock is heated up in the Crude/Neutral Oil Economiser
or Crude/Neutral Oil Heater to degumming or bleaching temperature. When there is a need for acid pretreatment,
phosphoric acid is mixed vigorously with the oil in a Acid Mixer to ensure efficient mixing. The resultant mixture is than
held in a Retention Tank to allow for the precipitation of gums before going to the Bleacher through the cascade
vacuum dryer.
When acid pre-treatment is not required , the feed stock is fed directly to the Bleacher after heating through the
cascade vacuum dryer. Bleaching Earth and Activated carbon is added to the oil through a dosing unit which is
controlled by PLC. The Bleacher is proprietary designed with internal partitions and set of high efficiency turbine
agitators to avoid short cycling and provide necessary retention time before filtration. The conjunction of vacuum
dryer with a Bleacher is what is unique about "SOFTBLEACH" whereby oil going to the Bleacher is thoroughly dried
and deaerated in the cascade vacuum dryer besides the fugitive particles from the Bleacher are countercurrently
scrubbed by the downcoming oil and hence bleaching earth going to the hotwell is avoided. The bleached oil from the
Pressure Leaf Filters is transferred to the Bleached oil tank for intermediate storage.

THE DEODORIZATION PROCESS

The CHEMPRO "COMPACK DEODORISER" is based on thin-film, counter-current distillation technology which
drastically reduces steam consumption less than half of what one would use in a conventional tray deodorizer. The
COMPACK DEODORISER handles the most demanding of processing needs for a variety of stocks, in the most
efficient manner besides being gentle on the oil. This ensures an extremely high steam to-oil interfacial surface
without buildups or stagnant zones. Fatty acid removal occurs instantaneously and hydrolysis is avoided. Lower
temperatures and lower residence times result in lower trans-fatty acid formation.
The COMPACK DEODORISER is available in variants like single column and split column design whereby the
packed column and tray column are in series or in parallel respectively. The advantage in the latter being flexibility to
use only the tray column bypassing the packed column if need arises. Besides the other option available is final
heating and cooling under vacuum . The superior scrubbing equipment featuring structured packing and strategically
placed demisters ensures minimal carry-over of the fatty acid to the hot well.

THE DEWAXING PROCESS

Definition & Overview
Dewaxing: Separation of waxes, esters of long chain fatty acids and long chain primary alcohols present in mainly
sunflower and maize oil.
Winterisation: Separation of saturated triacylglycerols from e.g. cottonseed oil and partly hydrogenated oils.
Some oils are dewaxed before packing so as to remove waxes, which are dissolved in the oil. Most of the oils do not
need dewaxing as they contain little or no waxes. Only sunflower oil & Rice Bran oil contain appreciable quantities of
wax to give a hazy appearance during winter season due to precipitation of dissolved waxes and hence require to be
dewaxed. Dewaxing is carried out by chilling the oil up to 10-15C followed by filtration of precipitated solids. The oil
thus treated gives a sparkling appearance even in winter temperatures.
Winterisation is another name to the process of dewaxing. The name winterization appears as during winter when the
temperature is low, waxes present in the oil crystallizes, they give hazy appearance to the oil.
Description
Dewaxing (also called winterization) of sunower oil is essential when the oil is to be used as salad oil. The presence
of wax makes the oil appear cloudy at room temperature. The oil normally becomes cloudy in 56h but with proper
dewaxing the oil remains clear after 24h of storage at 0C.
The following steps are used to dewax sunower oil:

Crude oil is rened and bleached to low phosphorus (<1ppm) and low moisture content (<0.1%).

The oil is heated to 55C to make sure the oil is fully liquid.

The oil is cooled slowly to 78C.

Cooled oil is held in a specially insulated tank with a special slow-speed mechanical agitator.

Preferably, the oil is held for 1224h at this temperature.

The oil is mixed with diatomaceous earth/filter aid through an in-line mixing system and filtered through a
pressure leaf filter pre-coated with diatomaceous earth/filter aid.

The filtered oil is collected, checked for cold test and filterable impurities, and then deodorized.

The deodorized oil is checked again for cold test along with the other analyses listed earlier.

DRY FRACTIONATION
Overview
The widespread use of the three oil modification processes - hydrogenation, interesterification and fractionation extended the range of applications of the triglyceride oils. These processes principally serve the purpose of
modifying the melting properties of oils and fats in order to improve their functional properties in specific
applications, but the processes are also used to improve the stability of the oils and fats thus cessed.ntrifugation.
Natural oils and fats have different characteristics due to the fact that they are composed of a great number of
different triglycerides. These contain fatty acids with carbon chins of different lengths and with different degrees of
unsaturation.
Triglycerides with a high degree of unsaturation, indicated by a high iodine value, have a lower melting point than
those containing more saturated fatty acids. If oil is cooled to a certain temperature, the high melting triglyceride
(Stearin) will crystallize while the low melting ones will remain fluid. The stearin can then be separated from oil (Olein)
by different methods and the fat/oil is thus divided into two fractions: Stearin with a high melting point and olein with a
low cloud and melting points.
This technique is called fractional crystallization and used to obtain oils or fats more suitable for example, as cooking
oils or for margarine/shortening production.
Three palm oil fractionation processes which are in use:
Dry Fractionation: through batch crystallization of oil without using additives by controlled cooling and subsequent
continuous filtration.
Solvent Fractionation: through continuous crystallization of the oil in a solvent followed by separation of the liquid
and solid fractions through a continuous drum filter. Solvent fractionation, involves the use of hexane or acetone to let
the high-melting components crystallize in a very low-viscous organic solvent. This can be helpful with respect to the
selectivity of the reaction, but mainly offers advantages in the field of phase separation: much purer solid fractions
can be obtained, even with a vacuum filtration. Being a more expensive process, it is less common than dry
fractionation and only comes into the picture when a very high added value of (at least one of) the resulting fractions
makes up for the high cost.
Detergent Fractionation: through batch or continuous crystallization of the oil by controlled cooling and separation of
the fractions either by gravity or centrifugation after adding a surfactant.
Alternative Routes to Fractionate Palm Oil
Key: CBE =cocoa butter equivalent, CBI = cocoa butter improver, PMF = palm mid- fraction
Description
Dry fractionation of oils and fats is the separation of high-melting triglycerides from low-melting triglycerides by
crystallization from the melt. Apart from blending, it is the cheapest process in oils and fats processing. It is a pure
physical process compared to other chemical modification processes such as hydrogenation and interesterification

which modify triglycerides. Its most important applications are: palm olein used extensively as frying oil, palm super
olein as salad oil and frying oil, the palm-mid fraction as component of cocoa butter equivalent, palm kernel stearin as
cocoa butter substitute.
Dry fractionation, also known as crystallization from the melt, is fractional crystallization in its most simple form, and
the economy of the technology allows it to be used for production of commodity fats. Dry fractionation has long been
regarded as an unpredictable, tedious and labor-intensive process. However, the relatively cheap dry fractionation
technique has evolved to the modification technology of the 21st century, as without additives, polluting effluents or
post-refining involved, the sustainability and safety of the process is second to none.
It should be able to gently cool down a mass of oil and keep the resulting crystal suspension as homogeneous as
possible. Note that such gentle cooling means in fact imposing very low supercooling conditions, and it will result in a
formation of fewer and larger crystals, because the said conditions simply rule out the existence of a mass of tiny
crystals. Fat crystallization is a fairly exothermic reaction (up to 180 kJ can be released for every kg of crystals
formed), so the efficiency with which this energy can be removed is an important design feature. For most industrial
crystallizers, this ranges between 120 and 200 W/m2.K.
Although the triglyceride separation theoretically is already established during crystallization, it is clear that the
separation stage itself effectively determines the product yields as well as the stearin quality. As more residual olein
can be expelled from the solids cake, the final stearin will be more concentrated in crystals and will turn out purer
and will display higher and steeper melting. The olein quality is determined entirely by the amount and selectivity of
crystallization in the preceding stage. In some applications, the formed crystals are often not sufficiently stressresistant and get squeezed through the filter medium. Obviously, such contamination of crystals in the olein phase
affects the efficiency of the fractionation process negatively and results in a liquid phase with inferior cold stable
properties. Overall, the permitted degree of olein dilution in the stearin cake determines the choice for the applied
separation technology.
Figure: Pressure Leaf Filter
The development of membranes for use in pressure filtration had a widespread effect on fractionation technology,
making both vacuum filtration in dry fractionation as well as LIPOFRAC fractionation almost instantly redundant.
By using membrane filter presses, olein yields in palm oil fractionation could be raised to close on 80% when
aiming for an increase in Iodine Value of 5 units, and two-stage fractionation, which could be used to produce olein
of higher Iodine Values or stearin containing less entrained olein, became an attractive proposition.
When first introduced, pressure filtration using membranes was carried out at pressures of 6-8 bar, but in
more recent years higher pressures have been used. The use of high squeeze pressure (30 bar) in the filter makes
it possible to produce a palm mid-fraction that matches in its principal characteristics the mid-fraction obtained by
solvent fractionation. Also by changing the sequence of the fractionation stages in a two- stage process, different
qualities of the fractions may be obtained, thus enhancing the versatility of the process.
The first step of dry fractionation of palm oil yields olein fractions with a cloud point below 10C. The olein fractions
are used as a substitute for soft oils in frying, cooking and salad oils or are being further fractionated. Together with a
further development of single-stage palm oil fractionation by technological improvements, there is an increased
tendency to execute a double or triple fractionation of palm oil in order to produce fractions with specific
characteristics such as high IV superoleins (IV>65) and hard palm-mid-fractions (hard PMF) (IV<36).
The latter fraction can serve as a feedstock for the production of typical cocoa butter equivalents (CBE), which are
non-lauric fats similar in their physical and chemical properties to cocoa butter. They are often prepared by solvent
fractionation, though the more contemporary developments within dry fractionation (better suited crystallizers,
improved separation technologies) are closing the gap between the quality of solvent- and dry-fractionated hard

PMF.
Economics of Fractionation
Dry fractionation has the advantage of basically only requiring crystallisers and filters, though filter costs have risen
considerably as the separating performance of the filter has grown. Dry fractionation is also non-energy-intensive,
which obviously is advantageous from the point of view of operating costs.
It must be remembered, however, that in the case of fractionation the value of the secondary fraction(s) can play a
significant role in the economics of production., and it is in this respect that fractionation is at a disadvantage when
compared to the other oil modification processes, i.e. hydrogenation and interesterification , as these processes
produce no secondary products that
require marketing.
Flowchart
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MISCELLA REFINING
What is Refining?
The crude oil obtained either from expellers or solvent extraction plant contains impurities, which must be removed to
make the oil edible, more palatable and stable against rancidity upon storage. The process of removing these
impurities is called refining.

Impurities present in the Oil

Gums: Gums are phospholipids. There are two types of gums present, hydratable and non-hydratable.
Hydratable gums are removed during degumming steps.

Hydrolysis Products Of Oils: Like Diglycerides and monoglycerides and free fatty acids. These are
removed during neutralisation step.

Proteineous Matter, Carbohydrates, Resins: These are removed during neutralisation step.

Colouring Matter: Pigments such as chlorophyll (green colour) carotene (red colour), anthophyll (yellow
colour) and gossypol (orange colour). These colour bodies which impart distinct colour to the oil are removed during
neutralising and bleaching steps.

Odour-causing Chemicals: They are generally present in small quantities but their presence imparts
strong, sometimes objectionable odour to the oil. These substances are volatile in nature and removed by
deodorisation step.

Waxes: Some oils like sunflower contains appreciable amounts of waxes. Waxes are high melting esters of
fatty alcohol with long chain fatty acids. These are removed by dewaxing step.
What is Miscella Refining?
Miscella is defined as a mixture of oil and solvent that results from the extraction of flakes or extruded cottonseed
kernels. Thus the refining of the oil in a solvent (usually Hexane) in which it was extracted is known as miscella
refining. Refining is done to remove pigments, free fatty acids and other mucilaginous materials.
Process Description

The crude miscella feedstock from the extractor is first adjusted to the desired miscella concentration by
evaporation in the first stage evaporator or economiser against the outgoing vapours from the deodorosed tank.

The crude miscella is pumped through a heat exchanger to bring the miscella upto the desired processing
temperature.

The crude miscella proceeds through a flow measuring device enters the neutralization process.
This process is completed by a four step process: Conditioning, Neutralization, Washing, and

o
Drying.
o

The fats are heated between 40 and 85C and treated with an aqueous solution of sodium
hydroxide(Caustic Soda).

Conditioning transforms non-hydrate phospholipids into their hydrate form by breaking down
metal/phosphatide complexes with a strong acid(Phosphoric Acid).

In neutralization the removal of free fatty acids and residual gums takes place.

Washing is the removal of residual gums by hot water.

Drying is the removal of moisture under a vacuum.

The reacted mixture is then passed through a trim heat exchanger to ensure the proper temperature for the
centrifugation in the Hermetic Self cleaning centrifuge. The light coloured, refined miscella is easily separted from the
dark brown gelatinuous soapstock in the specially designed centrifuge with nitrogen blanketing. The oil is dissolved in
hexane in miscella refining, which is why the separators which separate the soapstock from the neutralization
process are blanketed with inert gas.

The refined miscella then reenters the extraction plant stripping system for removal of remaining hexane.

The soapstock, with its low hexane content, is usually pumped directly to the desolventiser-toaster for the
recovery of hexane.

The addition of soapstock to the meal in the deodorized tank helps prevent excessively dusty meal and
gives it a more natural appearance and makes it easier to handle. The soapstock generally increases the weight and
fat content of the meal by approximately 0.9% and adds to its nutrient and commercial value as an animal feed.

The soapstock also tends to decrease the free gossypol content remaining in the solvent extracted meal.
Advantages of Miscella Refining

Removal of colour bodies before the oil is heated to remove hexane. This gives a finished product with
excellent colour properties.

A lower refining loss due to less occluded neutral oil in the soapstock.

Elimination of the water washing and vacuum drying step which is necessary in conventional refining to
remove residual soap resulting in reduction in pollution problems.

Reduction in energy requirements due to the physical properties of Miscella ie. Low specific gravity and
lower viscosity.

Higher yields due the fact that the miscella does not easily emulsify and the soap tends not to entrain oil.

Removal of gums, colour bodies and other impurities in miscella refining helps prevent loss of efficiency in
evaporators.

The effluent is eliminated as the rerefining and washing step is eliminated.

Increased flexibility of operation because refining, degumming, dewaxing and hydrogenation can be
performed continuously in the miscella.

Allow adding purchased crude oil or off specification refined oil to current plant production of miscella for
refining or reprocessing.

The miscella containing soapstock can be advantageously added to the meal for solvent recovery and to
utilize nutrients in the soapstock.
Flowchart