Oil Refining
Oil refining means conversion of crude oil for direct human consumption, edible processing, and industrial purpose.
The crude oil obtained from expellers or solvent extraction, contains impurities and so as to make the oil edible, these impurities must be taken out, such a process is called "Refining".
Oil Refining Process
Refining process is in two types, chemical refining & physical refining:
Chemical Refining: Degumming » Neutralisation (Caustic Alkali Treatment) » Bleaching » Deodorizatio
Physical Refining Super Degumming » Bleaching » Deacidification / Deodorization
Chemical Refining
The oil first been degummed (water degumming for oils like Soya / sunflower or acid degumming for rice bran oil) after degumming, the oil will be treated with help of Alkali (caustic soda) & washed to reduce the FFA (free fatty acid) level to below 0.15%. The oil is then bleached with help of belching agent such as bleaching earth / tonsil / activated carbon. The bleached oil is then filtered and you get bleached oil is then passed through heat exchanger, detractor and final heater to deodorizer having several compartment, Where the oil is treated with spurge steam under full vacuum to obtain clear odor free oil.
Physics Refining Deacidification
Physical refining is much suits to high FFA oil or palm oil and rice bran oil. The looses are high in chemical refining, so high FFA oils / palm oil and mainly rice bran oils are been physically treated (without Caustic treatment) so here the oil is to be first degummed which is called super degumming after super degumming the oil is then bleached and the FFA has been reduced in deacidifier under 0.5 TORR vacuum to reduce the FFA level below 0.1% and you get clear odor less oil.
The advantage of physical refining is you won't get any soap stock (as in case of chemical refining) which is to be further treated. Here you get DFA (distilled fatty acid) which will be used directly by soap manufacturers. As well no wash water which need very good water treatment plant. So it is pollution free.
Processes
Both continuous and batch processes are available depending upon the oil being refined and the customer choice consisting of:
- Degumming
- Neutralisation (for chemical refining)
- Bleaching
- Deacidification / Deodorising
- Dewaxing
- Acid Oil (for chemical refining)
As can be verified from our customer list, we are the leader who has secured the maximum number of orders for full refining plants in a short duration. The refined oil produced on Oiltek plant and equipment conform to the parameters prescribed by ISI in term of residual free fatty acid, moisture, color, peroxide values, etc.