HOLISTIC APPROACHES IN PALM OIL MILLING

Ahmad Jaril Asis, Nik Mohd Farid Mat Yasin, Norhafizi Hashim,
Syed Mohd Hadi Syed Hilmi & Kamal Wok
15 November 2017
Table of Contents

1. Introduction of Palm Oil Milling

- Challenges

1. Holistic Palm Oil Milling

 The Definition
 Maximizing oil recovery & minimize losses
 Fulfilling Quality requirement
 Reduction in Carbon and Water Footprint and
Waste Minimisation
 Simplify Mill & Process Design
 Addressing Labor Shortage Issue

3. Conclusion & Way Forward

2
Table of Contents

1. Introduction of Palm Oil Milling - Challenges

2. Holistic Palm Oil Milling

 The Definition
 Maximizing oil recovery & minimize losses
 Fulfilling Quality requirement
 Reduction in Carbon and Water Footprint and
Waste Minimisation
 Simplify Mill & Process Design
 Addressing Labor Shortage Issue

3. Conclusion

3
INTRODUCTION
Palm Oil Milling - Challenges

Stagnant process and

1 oil recovery efficiency

Milling practices;
Perception on Palm Oil –
Food or Non-Food 2

5 Additional new specs and

requirement on refined oil
demanded by customers

More stringent on waste

High Energy Utilization, water discharge and
Carbon and Water 3 particulate emission
Footprint
4
4
 INTRODUCTION
1) Stagnant Processes

1 Stagnant since inception of

commercial palm oil
processing in 1930-40s.
Complacent with very high
oil yield when compared to
other type of oils

2
Processes does not change.
Only equipment are
modified/innovated to
increase the efficiency

3
Palm oil milling has already recorded efficiency of 92-94%.
Further improvement not viable unless :
• reducing number of unit operation/equipment
• applying chemical or biological catalyst to enhance oil recovery during extraction
5
INTRODUCTION (Cont’d)
2) Additional New Specifications – Minor Contaminants

Among the Contaminants presence in Palm Oil

1,4 - Dioxin 3-MCPD Glycidyl Ester

• EU will impose 3-MCPD and GE limit in imported palm oil & food products
• Development of new processes to eliminate/reduce contaminants

Challenges to the Industry

Plantations/Mill
Removal of pre-cursor from early stage by ;
 Improvement on FFB handling
 Removal of soil contamination, trash,
etc.
 Clean-up CPO by Washing
 Minimise / eliminate Chlorine sources
during processing – flocculants for water
treatment
Refinery
• Innovation at refinery to use suitable
bleaching earth, degumming process
and deodorization at lower
temperature
• CPO Washing
• Re-introduce of Chemical Refining?
 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD)

• 3-MCPD ester found highest in refined palm oil and are not present in crude palm oil
(CPO). However they are formed during the refining process.

 3-monochloropropanediol
Ester (3MCPDE)
O

CH2 O R
O

CH O R

CH2 Cl

 Possible human carcinogens

 Nephrotoxic (Kidney tumors)

* Classification by International
Agency for Research on Cancer

Source: Matthaus, B. et al., (2011)

INTRODUCTION (Cont’d)
3) Stringent Emission and Discharge Limit

 Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulation 2014 and proposed Amendment of

Environmental Quality(Prescribed Premises)(Crude Palm Oil) Regulations

Palm Oil Mills

Effluent Discharge Standard Boiler Emission Standard

High CAPEX and OPEX to meet

Require high CAPEX to fulfill the
the standard discharge.
requirement.
– required new technology;
– Additional particulate
Membrane
emission removal ; ESP,
filtration,evaporation,
water scrubbing, cyclone, etc
polishing plant, etc

Required huge land area – if Effect on waste water treatment

conventional ponding treatment plant – water scrubber

Commitment on Carbon Dioxide Sophisticated instrument –

emission reduction - Methane requirement of more skill
Capturing /Avoidance by 2020 operators/workers
INTRODUCTION (Cont’d)
4) High Energy Utilization, Carbon and Water Footprint
 The current power requirement to produce CPO approx. 25 – 30 kW/mt
FFB instead of earlier 15 – 20 kW/mt FFB due to the additioned of
machineries to recover remaining oil to address machinery’s / process
inefficiency.

 Mill design traditionally to burn all the “solid waste” – tendency for low
efficiency boiler in used

 Need investment for more efficient boiler to utilize less fuel but
generating higher energy

 Very high amount of methane generated and emitted to the environment

since majority of mills are applying the biological anaerobic and aerobic
treatment using open ponding to treatment POME.
 Malaysian commitment for 40% Carbon Emission reduction by year 2020 requires all
mills to capture biogas emission during WWT or avoiding biogas generation by
installing zero discharge application

 The current palm oil milling require process water between 1.5 – 2.5
times of the FFB processed. Reduction in Water Footprint will require
process changes and additional investment for water recycling
INTRODUCTION (Cont’d)
5) Perception on Palm Oil – Food or Non-Food

 Consumer perception on non-hygienic

means of oil palm fruits handling and
processing during milling.

 Palm Oil industry shall move towards food

processing manufacturing facility

 GMP, HACCP, HALAL Certifications, etc

Table of Contents

1. Introduction of Palm Oil Milling - Challenges

2. Holistic Palm Oil Milling

 The Definition
 Maximizing oil recovery & minimize losses
 Fulfilling Quality requirement
 Reduction in Carbon and Water Footprint and
Waste Minimisation
 Simplify Mill & Process Design
 Addressing Labor Shortage Issue

3. Conclusion & Way Forward

11
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
The Definition

Maximising Fulfilment on
Oil Recovery Lower Cost
Quality of Production
& Minimising
Losses Requirement

Reduction in
Simplify Mill Water and Waste
and Process Carbon Minimisation
Design Footprint

Addressing By-product
Labour Recovery
Shortage

12
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Maximising Oil Recovery & Minimising Losses

1 Is there any significant remaining oil in oil palm fruit/mesocarp fibre?

2 Is the current processing of FFB maximises the oil recovery?

Is the current digestion and pressing able to maximize oil and kernel
3 recovery?
How

4 Can we maximize oil recovery in Diluted Crude Oil (DCO) ?

13
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Maximising Oil Recovery & Minimising Losses
1. Is there any additional oil that can be extracted?
26.1%
Extraction
Soxhlet

53.1%

Ultrasonic
Fluid Extraction

50.9%
Supercritical

14
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Maximising Oil Recovery & Minimising Losses

1. Is there any additional oil that can be extracted?

Solvent Extraction Control Treatment Different

time (Hours) (%) (%) (%)

4 48.25 49.28 1.03

6 49.65 50.25 0.60
8 50.02 53.09 3.07
10 51.23 55.98 4.75
12 52.24 56.59 4.35
14 52.69 57.68 4.99
16 52.98 58.95 5.97

Determination of Oil in Mesorcarp by Solvent Extraction

70
60
Oil Content %)

50
10.70%
40
30 Control
Control
20 Enzyme
Treatment
10
0
4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Hours of Extraction 15
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Maximising Oil Recovery & Minimising Losses

2. Is the current processing of FFB maximising oil recovery?

Sterilization Process is not

Attempt to Improve
optimized for FFB Solution?
Sterilization
Morphology

Hard Oil loss in

Technology to detach and
steam/heat bunch stalk Bunch Continuous
separate fruitlets from
penetration due and spikelet Crusher Sterilization
bunch
to compactness (EFB)

High steam Higher oil Digestion &

volume + High loss in EFB pressing of
pressure + + Partial the whole
longer FFA sterilised
processing + Increase fruits
high losses in
USB

16
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Maximising Oil Recovery & Minimising Losses

3. Is the current digestion and pressing process able to maximize oil and
kernel recovery?
 Present technology of digestion and screw pressing the sterilized fruitlets
need to balance the pressing pressure to avoid / minimise nut breakage

 Not able to maximize oil extraction from mesocarp fibre

 Tendency of high nut breakage  reducing KER

 Ideal condition for separation of nut from mesocarp fibre before pressing/oil
extraction

 Preliminary attempt by Perialisi BV in early 1990’s to remove the nut from

mesocarp by continuous slicing of the mesocarp:
 was terminated due to foreign material contamination that break-up the
rotating blades
 difficulty to optimize oil recovery from meshed mesocarp fibre.

17
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Maximising Oil Recovery & Minimising Losses

3. Is the digestion and pressing able to maximize oil and kernel recovery?
 Does the current digestion process able to break-up the cell wall for the oil
particle release?
 requirement for longer digestion/maceration
 Assistance for cell wall breakdown (ultrasonication, SFE, enzyme,
surfactant, etc)
Palm Mesocarp Prolong Digestion Period from 15 mins to 45
w/o Predigester
minsVs Predigester
Before treatment:
22
Many cells with oil
body
21

20

OER (%)
19.73%
19.17%

19

18

17
After treatment: w/o Predigester Predigester
Broken cells and 15 mins Digestion 45 mins Digestion
very few cells with
oil body 18
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Maximising Oil Recovery & Minimising Losses

4. Can we maximize oil recovery in Diluted Crude Oil (DCO) with minimizing the waste
water produce?

1 2 3
Centrifugation whether 2 @ Will need assistance to
The characteristic of DCO
3 stage decanter, high speed reduce the viscosity, different
that’s is high in viscosity and
separator and centrifuge in polarity and for the
non-Newtonian make it
have been in used to breaking up of the emulsion
difficult to maximizing oil
maximize the oil recovery, layer; ultrasonication,
recovery by static clarification
yet still high oil loss in POME enzyme, surfactant, etc

19
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Fulfilling Quality Requirement

• EU will impose 3-MCPD and GE limit in imported palm oil & food products.
• High quality CPO produced with very low FFA (<1.5%) able to meet the 3-MCPD limit
of < 1.0 ppm.
• New quality requirement for both 3-MCPD and GE is still pending outcome from EFSA.

CPO of Standard Quality (FFA < 5.0%) will require for the
development of new processes to eliminate/reduce contaminants

Mitigation at the mill Mitigation at the refinery

1. CPO Washing
1. CPO Washing
2. Separate Oil
2. Different
Recovery from by
Bleaching Earth
product Stream
3. Chemical Refining
3. FFB Washing?
20
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Reduction in Water and Carbon Footprint & Waste Minimisation

Development in Regulation
• Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulation 2014
• Proposed Amendment of Environmental
Quality(Prescribed Premises)(Crude Palm Oil)
Regulations
• RSPO/MSPO

Current - Reactive Approaches to Address the

Development
• More efficient POME Treatment C/W biogas capturing
and polishing plant
• Particulate emission control facility
• Scrubber
• ESP
• Multicyclone

Now & Future – Focus on Waste Minimisation

• Evaporation
• Membrane filtration
• Water recycling for POME Treatment
• High Efficiency boiler 21
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Reduction in Water and Carbon Footprint & Waste minimisation

22
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Simplify Mill & Process Design

 The present mill design that is based on mechanical extraction of FFB

requires bulky machinery with high power consumption.

 Lower energy requirement (steam and electricity) can be expected if the

holistic mill to just process loose fruit and/or with separating mesocarp and
nut before oil extraction process.

 Effective oil extraction from mesocarp fibre with biochemical assistance to

enhance oil recovery with final recovery either by evaporation/membrane
filtration.

 Elimination of nut-fibre separation by simplifying kernel-shell separation

 Smaller footprint is expected with simplified design.

 Higher components of automation and process control

23
HOLISTIC PALM OIL MILLING
Addressing Labor Shortage Issue

CENTRALISED MONITORING & CONTROL

DEVELOPMENT OF SENSORS AND

CONTINUOUS STERILISATION AUTOMATION ONLINE PROCESS CONTROL

24
Table of Contents

1. Introduction of Palm Oil Milling

2. Holistic Palm Oil Milling

 The Definition
 Maximizing oil recovery & minimize losses
 Fulfilling Quality requirement
 Reduction in Carbon and Water Footprint and
Waste Minimisation
 Simplify Mill & Process Design
 Addressing Labor Shortage Issue

3. Conclusion & Way Forward

25
CONCLUSION & WAY FORWARD

• High potential for higher efficiency of oil recovery

as currently we are not measuring the total
amount of oil present in the fruits

• The efforts to improve palm oil milling shall be

done holistically instead just focusing on specific
needs – the fist three elements of holistic palm oil
milling

• Will require multi-disciplinary approaches in

developing the milling process of the future

26
INTRODUCTION
Where are we in Palm Oil Milling ?

 Connects embedded system production technologies and smart production

processes to pave the way to a new technological age.
 The product/material communicates with the machinery to tell it exactly what to
do. 27
 WHERE ARE WE IN PALM OIL MILLING?
Thank you