Pilot Plant Service For Refining of Oils and Fats

PILOT PLANT SERVICE FOR REFINING
OF OILS AND FATS

NOOR LIDA HABI MAT DIAN; MISKANDAR MAT SAHRI; RAFIDAH
ABD HAMID and MOHAMAD RODDY RAMLI 727
R
MPOB INFORMATION SERIES • ISSN 1511-7871 • JUNE 2015 MPOB TS No. 152
efining produces edible oils and fats with

characteristics that consumers desire such
Crude Palm Oil
as bland flavour and odour, clear appear-

ance, light colour, stability to oxidation,
suitability for frying and functionality. Physical Refining Chemical Refining
During refining, impurities such as moisture, insoluble
solids, gums, free fatty acid (FFA), waxes, metals com-
pounds, colour, odour and taste are removed. Howev- Degumming Gums Degumming
er, refining should preserve valuable components such
as vitamin E and phytonutrients, and prevent chemi-
cal changes in the triacyglycerols of the oils and fats Bleaching Soap
Stock
Alkali
Neutralisation
(Leong, 1992).
Splitting
There are two types of technology available to process Deodorisation Bleaching
crude or low quality edible oils into refined oils, name-
ly, chemical/alkali refining and physical refining. The FFA
difference between these two types is basically based Deodorisation
on the method of removing the FFA. Chemical refining Palm Refined

Fatty Acid
utilises an alkali to neutralise most of the fatty acids
Bleached
Distillates Deodorised Palm
which are removed as soap. The alkaline neutralisa- (PFAD) Oil (RBDPO) Neutralised,
tion process has major drawbacks: oil yield is relatively

Bleached’
Deodorised Palm
low; oil losses due to emulsification and saponifica- Oil (NBDPO)
tion of neutral oils; and some loss of tocopherols and

sterols during alkaline neutralisation (Johansson and Figure 1. Chemical and physical refining routes.
Hoffmann, 1979). Physical refining involves subject-
ing the oil to steam distillation under high temperature substances, which may contribute to off-flavours. The
and vacuum for removal of FFA. The advantages of the resulting deodorised oil is almost bland and tasteless.
physical refining method over the chemical method in
palm oil refinery are better yields, high quality fatty DESCRIPTION OF REFINING PILOT PLANT
acids as by-products, good oil stability, simultaneous
distillation of FFA and deodorisation, lower cost of Refining Pilot Plant at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board
equipment, and the simplicity of operation (Yusoff and (MPOB) is shown in Figure 2. The schematic diagram
Thiagarajan, 1993; Yusoff, 1994). of the pilot plant is depicted in Figure 3. Example of
REFINING PROCESS
The processing routes for chemical and physical refin-

ing of crude palm oil into refined palm oil are illustrat-
ed in Figure 1 (Rohani, 2006). Degumming removes hy-
dratable and non-hydratable gums. Hydratable gums
are removed by treating the oil with water to separate
the gums. Non-hydratable gums are removed by treat-
ing the oil with acids to separate the gums. Neutrali-
sation (in chemical/alkali refining) removes FFA by
treating the oil with caustic soda (NaOH). Bleaching
removes colour pigments from the oil by treating it
with bleaching clays that adsorb the colour pigments,
as well as trace metal complexes such as iron and cop-
per, phosphatides and oxidation products. Deodorisa-
tion removes FFA, carotenoid pigments, primary and Figure 2. Oils and Fats Refining Pilot Plant at MPOB.
secondary oxidation products and other odouriferous
Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Malaysia
6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. Tel: 03-8769 4400 Fax: 03-8925 9446 Website: www.mpob.gov.my
ATM
T143 T142
HT141
AG141
VP141
IE
STORAGE
HLA T141 TANK
141
F141 EMULSION
TO DRUM
S162
CPO
CRUDE
STORAGE
SOAPSTOCK
TO DRUM
SPENT
HLA
SC EARTH
165
T141 P140 HT5000 F141 T165 F165
Figure 3. Schematic diagram of the MPOB Oils and Fats Refining Pilot Plant.
oil before and after refining is shown in Figure 4. The sterols and sterol esters in soyabean oil. J. Amer. Oil
plant consists of a multipurpose tank for degumming, Chem. Soc, 56: 886-889.
neutralisation (for alkali refining) and bleaching of the
oil, a deodoriser tank (high temperature, low vacuum) LEONG, W L (1992). The refining and fractionation
and a scrubber to trap distilled fatty acid distillate of palm oil. Palm Oil Mill Engineers-Executives Training
(FAD). It is a batch-wise pilot plant with a flexible Course. 14th Semester 1. PORIM, Bangi. p. 1-6.
production capacity of 50 to 100 kg refined oil per
batch. ROHANI, M Z (2006). Process design in degumming
and bleaching of palm oil. Universiti Teknologi Ma-
laysia, Malaysia.
YUSOFF, M S A (1994). Refining and downstreaming

processing of palm and palm kernel oil. Selected Read-
ings on Palm Oil and its Uses. PORIM, Bangi. p. 35-50.
YUSOFF, M S A and THIAGARAJAN, T (1993). Refin-

ing and downstreaming processing of palm and palm
Figure 4. Crude (I) degummed and bleached (II) refined, bleached and kernel oil. Selected Readings on Palm Oil and its Uses.
deodorised (III) palm oil at room temperature (A) and 60°C (B). PORIM, Bangi. p. 150-174.
SERVICE OFFERED
MPOB offers a service of refining of oils and fats at the

For more information, kindly contact:
Refining Pilot Plant. The service is offered at a minimal
fee, depending on the type of method used and the
processes involved. The service fee includes the refin- Director-General
ing process, sample analyses before and after refining MPOB
(FFA value, peroxide value and moisture content), and 6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,
consultation. 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-8769 4400
REFERENCES Fax: 03-8925 9446
www.mpob.gov.my
JOHANSSON, A and HOFFMANN, I (1979). The effect
of processing on the content and composition of free

Pilot Plant Service For Refining of Oils and Fats

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pilot Plant Service For Refining of Oils and Fats

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pilot Plant Service For Refining of Oils and Fats

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PILOT PLANT SERVICE FOR REFINING

OF OILS AND FATS

efining produces edible oils and fats with

as bland flavour and odour, clear appear-

difference between these two types is basically based Deodorisation

on the method of removing the FFA. Chemical refining Palm Refined

tion process has major drawbacks: oil yield is relatively

tion of neutral oils; and some loss of tocopherols and

The processing routes for chemical and physical refin-

T141 P140 HT5000 F141 T165 F165

YUSOFF, M S A (1994). Refining and downstreaming

YUSOFF, M S A and THIAGARAJAN, T (1993). Refin-

MPOB offers a service of refining of oils and fats at the

You might also like