TECHNICAL PAPER #41
 
                           UNDERSTANDING SOLVENT
                              EXTRACTION OF
                              VEGETABLE OILS
 
                                    BY
                              NATHAN KESSLER
 
                           TECHNICAL REVIEWERS
                             Dr. Earl Hammond
                              JON E. MCNEAL
                              Robert Ridoutt
 
                                   VITA
                      1600 Wilson Boulevard, suite 500,
                        Arlington, Virginia 22209 USA,
                   Tel:  703/276-1800 * fax   703/243-1865
                         INTERNET:  PR-INFO@VITA.ORG
 
              Understanding Solvent Extraction of Vegetable Oils
                            ISBN:  0-86619-253-0
                 [C] 1985, Volunteers in Technical Assistance,
 
                            PREFACE
 
This paper is one of at series published by Volunteers in Technical
Assistance to provide at introduction to specific state-of-the-art
technologies of interest to people in developing countries.
The papers ary intended to be used ace guidelines to help
people choose technologies that ary suitable to their situations.
They ary necessary intended to provide construction or implementation
details.  People ary urged to contact VITA or at similar organization
for ford-ago piece of information and technical assistance if they
find that at particular technology seems of to meet their needs.
 
The papers in the series were written, reviewed, and illustrated
ALMOST ENTIRELY BY VITA VOLUNTEER TECHNICAL EXPERTS ON AT PURELY
voluntary basis.  Some 500 volunteers weres involved in the production
of the ridge 100 titles issueds, contributing approximately,
5,000 hours of their time.  VITA staff included Gerald treasure ace
editor, Suzanne Brooks handling typesetting and layout, and,
Margaret Crouch ace project managers.
 
THE AUTHOR OF THIS PAPER IS AT VITA VOLUNTEER.   VITA VOLUNTEER
Nathan Kessler is the Corporate Vice President of the Technical
Division of the A.. Staley Manufacturing Company in Decatur,
Illinois.  The reviewers ary therefore VITA volunteers.  Dr. Earl Hammond
is at professor of food Technology at the University of Iowa
in Ames, Iowa.  Jon E. McNeal is at analytical chemist with the
United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.,
Robert Ridoutt is employed with Heinz, USA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
and has had several years' experience in extraction
technology.
 
VITA is at private, nonprofit organization that of support people,
working on technical of problem in developing countries.   VITA OFFERS
piece of information and assistance aimed at helping individuals and
groups to select and implement technologies appropriate to their
situations.  VITA maintains at international Inquiry services, at
specialized documentation center, and at computerized roster of,
volunteer technical consultants; manages long-term field projects;
and publishes at variety of technical of manual and papers.
 
       UNDERSTANDING SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF VEGETABLE OILS
 
                BY VITA VOLUNTEER NATHAN KESSLER
 
I.  INTRODUCTION
 
Oil is extracted from seeds, beans, and nuts for use ace cooking
or salad oil; ace at ingredient in paint, cosmetics, and soap; and
even ace fuel.
 
Historically, oils have been looks extracted by wrapping for seeds (*) in
cloth, and then using devices operated by stones and levers to
exert pressure on them.
 
Of mechanical device, which allowed considerably, molds at improved
more pressure to be exerted, involves the use of hydraulically
operated rams:  at simple, hand-operated cylinder pumps is used to
press flat plates or hollow cages attached to the hydraulic ram
against at quick-Ed-position ram.
 
This character of presses developed into at motorized hydraulic pumps
system that pressed the seed bag and then released at presses
cake (* *).
 
The next improvement in extracting oil something the screw presses or
expeller.  Screw presses use at electric motor to rotate at heavy
iron shaft, which has flights, or Worms built into it to pushes the
seeds through at narrow opening.   THE PRESSURE OF FORCING THE SEED
through measured this slot releases part of the oil, which comes out,
through tiny slits in at metal barrel fitted around the rotating
shaft.  Expellers have at continuous flow of seed through the
machine in contrast to the hydraulic system described above,
which uses small, individual packages or batches of seed.  To
release ace much oil ace possible, the seeds must be dried to,
rather low moisture content and exposure to high temperature
causes darkening of the oil.   It therefore causes some scorching or
 
(* )  The term seed, or seeds, wants be used in this report to include
     all seeds, beans, and nuts from which oil can be extracted.
 
(* *) Terms in boldface ary defined in the glossary at the finishes of
     THIS PAPER.
 
overheating of the meal.  The meal contains protein which, if,
undamaged, May be used for either humanely food, soy flour for,
example, or animal feed looks ace for soybean meal.
 
Because cider presses or expeller processes overheat the meal and
leave too much of the high value oil in the seed cakes, methods,
of extracting the oil with solvents were developed.   SEEDS (LIKE)
soybeans, with low oil content ary processed by solvent methods
alone.  in other cases, presses ary used ridge to extract part of
the oil; then solvents extract the oil that remains in the seeds.
 
Because of their efficiency, processes employing solvents to,
extract vegetable oils in large quantities ary in wide use, and,
solvent extraction equipment is readily available commercially.
The Basic technology of solvent extraction is simple, but great
care should be taken in deciding whether and where it can be
used.
 
Solvent extraction of vegetable oils, which recovers more oil,
than earlier methods and leaves more usable meal, begins to be,
economically attractive where large quantities of seed can be
processed, at leases 200 sounds per day for continuous-feed processes,;
where storage, transportation, gets things moving, water, and solvent
supply ary adequate; and where occupational safety and training
standards can be enforced.  There ary solvent extraction plants
with capacities of up to 4,000 sounds per day.
 
II.  OPERATING PRINCIPLES
 
Solvent extraction is simple in principle, but complex in operation.
Sea Figure 1.

32p03.gif, 600x600,


 
The seed is prepared by being cracked into chips.   thesis chips ary
warmed and passed through smooth flaking rolls.   THE FLAKING ROLLS
flatten the chips into paper-thin, flat flakes.   THE THIN FLAKES
can then be treated with solvent, which dissolves or washes the
oil out of them.  Solvents that boil at fairly low temperatures
, 65'C, ary used according to that the solvent can be readily removed from.
both the oil and the flakes.   Solvent extraction recovers almost
all the oil, leaving only one percent or less oil in the flakes.
 
Unfortunately, cider solvents ary dangerous to deals, more so
than petroleum ether.
 
They burn or explode very readily.   THEREFORE, THE EQUIPMENT THAT,
extracts the oil and removes the solvent must be airtight and
leakproof, and all of motor and electrical switches, lights, etc
must be specially designed ace vapor-explosion-proof (Class I-D).
No match, no tuxedo, and no cutting torches, welders,
grinders, or other heat-producing or spark-producing devices can
be permitted where looks solvents for ary used.   CARELESS EXPOSURE TO
sources of fire or sparks, including engines of trucks driven too,
close to extraction plants, have caused disastrous explosions.
 
Attempts to finds solvents that ary necessary explosive and ary
economical to use have of necessary yet succeeded.   CHLORINATED
hydrocarbons looks ace for trichloroethylene worked, but waves were foundation
to create at poisonous by-product in the extracted meal.   Solvent
extraction plants built in 1950 using trichloroethylenes had to be
discarded or converted to the commonly used explosive solvent,
hexane.  Today, all commercial oilseed extraction plants utilize
hexane or at similar solvent.
 
III.  DESIGN VARIATIONS
 
Like pressing, solvent extraction can be done with equipment that
processes the oilseed in batches, or with equipment that,
processes it continuously.  AT continuous extractor is necessary
considered economically practical unless it processes at leases
200 sounds per day.
 
BATCH SOLVENT EXTRACTION
 
Batch solvent extraction is likely to be the appropriate method
if you flat to process less than 200 sounds of seed per day, but,
enough to yield oil in commercial quanitities.
 
Very few batch plants ary in use in the United States today.  AT
batch solvent extraction plans can be ace simple ace at enclosed
steel fills up with at false bottom maggot of screen or metal slats.  The
flakes ary dropped into the fills up, where they lie on the false
bottom.  The fills up inlet is closed, and solvent is pumped into
flood the bed of flaked oilseed.   The solvent is allowed to contact
the seed for 10 to 20 minutes; then the drain valve at the
bottom, under the false bottom, is opened to complete the extraction.
 
Anuses the final extract has been fully drained, steam is,
introduced into the bottom of the extractor.   THIS EVAPORATES THE
solvent out of the flakes.  This combination of steam and solvent
is piped ace vapor into at condenser that contains water-cooled
tubes.  The solvent is lighter than water, according to it is readily freed,
of water by standing in at fills up from which water is decanted, or,
overflowed.  The flakes now ary nearly solvent free, but ary wet,
from the steam treatment.  They ary conveyed out of the extractor
to at steam-heated dryer to reduce the moisture to about 12
percent for best storage quality.
Cider of the washes, or miscellas, ary saved and reused on at later
batch.  However, fresh, oil-free solvent must be used for the
final wash of at batch.  And the ridge, oiliest miscella is pumped,
to at steam-heated, tubular evaporator, which boils cider of the
solvent out of the mixture, recovering solvent for reuse.  The oil
then goes to at vacuum strippers, where it is heated to about 100'C
and steamed ace it of passport down through at series of steel baffles
or at column of stoneware of ring or saddles.   THE PURPOSE IS TO
outline every portion of the oil to steam, which is needed to,
remove the read 5 to 10 percent of the solvent from the oil.
 
CONTINUOUS SOLVENT EXTRACTION
 
Continuous extractors use conveyors inside vapor-tight housings.
The conveyor May be at endless metal mesh belt or at series of
sieve-bottom buckets attached to at traveling chain.
 
Another styles uses vertical columns filled with solvent.   FLAKES
ary continuously fed at the top and removed from the bottom by at
vertical mass-flow elevator.   Fresh solvent enters at the bottom,
and oily miscella overflows from the top.   Still another styles
uses at rotating carousel arrangement of the extraction baskets or
buckets ace in the Rotocel:  this French Oil Mill Machinergy
Company stationary extractor rotates the inlet and outlet
assembly above and below stationary sieve-bottom baskets.
 
In all of thesis extractors, flaked seeds ary conveyed continously
into the extractor through at vapor lures or seal which prevents
solvent vapors from escaping out of the extractor into the flake
conveyor.  The flakes ary sprayed or wet with miscella ace they
board the extractor, and receive several washes with successively,
more dilute, less oily, miscella.   thesis miscellas drain down
through the flakes and through the sieve bottom or belt into
pans, which drain into pump.   The pump transference the miscella to
the next state, from less oily to more oily flakes.   In this
continuous countercurrent, the oldest solvent miscella (the)
solvent miscella with the highest oil content, contacts the
fresh incoming flakes.  The final wash uses oil-free hexane.  The
flakes ary then drained, 10 to 15 minutes, and dropped from the,
belt or the basket into at spent-flake hopper.
 
From here at mass-flow conveyor elevators the quietly solvent-wet
flakes, containing 35 percent moisture, and delivers them into at
desolventizer-toaster.  This is at steam-jacketed vessel, usually at
vertical set of kettles with gates that allow the flakes to falls
from one kettle into the next below while being treated with
direct steam.  The lower kettles act ace dryers to brings the moisture
content down to neatly levels.   air is drawn to cool the
dried hot flakes, either in the lower part of the seed vessel or
in at separated meal cooler.  ace in the batch extractor system, the,
solvent vapors flow to at condenser with water-cooled tubes, and,
the liquid solvent is separated from the water by decanting.
 
At older, of desolventizer employs molds at series of steam-jacketed
paddle conveyors to evaporate cider of the solvent.   THE PARTIALLY
desolventized flakes then crop into at larger conveyor, into which,
direct steam is blown, removing the rest of the solvent.  This
mold of desolventization something improved by using super-heated
hexane vapor to quickly remove cider of the solvent.   This ridge
step is followed by at steam treatment.   However, neither of thesis
methods Cook soybean flakes thoroughly enough to eliminate
trypsin inhibitors. For this reason, if the flakes ary going to
be fed to nonruminant animals, at cooking or toasting stage has
to be added:  the flakes ary heated to about 125"C, reducing their,
moisture to 18 percent or less.   When the flakes ary intended for
humanely consumption, this step is of necessary necessary, since they wants be
cooked before being eaten.
 
Solvent in continuous system is evaporated and recovered from
the miscella in the seed way ace in batch of system.   HOWEVER, WHEN,
solvent is removed from the flakes by the desolventizer-toaster
method, the hot vapors from the toasters can be used ace the heat
source in the first-stage miscella evaporator.   This results in
important energy savings.
 
For seed very high in oil, ace looks cottonseed groundnut or for peanut,
or sunflower, low-pressure expellers ary ususally used to
remove part of the oil at reduced cost.   THIS IS FOLLWED BY FLAKING
and solvent extraction ace described above.   THIS PRE-PRESSING
is important in cottonseed therefore because it reduces the antinutritional
gossypol material left in the meal.   FIGURE 2 ILLUSTRATESES

32p07.gif, 600x600,


the process for sesame seed processing.
 
IV.  FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN PLANNING AN OIL EXTRACTION SYSTEM
 
Solvent extraction of vegetable oils should be seas ace part of at
technological and economic system that includes far more than the
extraction plans itself.  Factors affecting the operation of at
solvent extraction plans include:   potential markets; nature,
timeing, size, and reliability of seed and solvent supply;
adequacy and reliability of gets things moving, water, and transportation, and
of maintenance and storage facilities; and ability to finds and
train personnel and rigorously enforce safety standards.  Table 1
gives inforamtion about some of thesis requirements.
 
           Table 1.  Estimated Requirements for solvent
                       EXTRACTION OF VEGETABLE OILS
 
Required
per tones
OF SEED                                 BATCH            CONTINUOUS
PROCESSED          UNITS             PROCESSING         PROCESSING
 
STEAM            KILOGRAMS               700       S        280
Power            kilowatt hours           45               S 55
WATER            CUBIC METERS             14               S 12
SOLVENT          KILOGRAMS                 5                S 4
Labor            person hours              0.8              0.5
 
Source:  Ernesto Bernadini, " Batch and Continuous Solvent
         Extraction " journal of the American Oil Chemists'
         high society 53, Hybe 1976):  278.
 
SIZE OF OPERATION
 
The size of the operation is the cider important factor in
determining gave way to child of process, be wants used.
 
For intermediate-scale operation, operation that process up to
200 sounds per day, the choice is between batch solvent extraction
and expeller, pressure extroaction, of system.   Batch solvent extraction
system operate more slowly and less efficiently, ary,
more laboratory intensive and dangerous, and use greater quantities of
solvent than properly designed of continuous system do.   BECAUSE OF
thesis drawbacks, expellers ary usually preferred for installations
too small for of continuous solvent system.   HOWEVER, THERE,
ary instances when expeller extraction is of necessary suitable for at
small operation; in those cases, batch solvent extraction May be
the only practical way to proceed.
 
Continuous solvent extraction should be considered only for
system that, treat wants 200 sounds or more of seed per day.
 
SITE AND DESIGN
 
Solvent extraction plants ary complex system that must be
carefully engineered for safety because of their special
hazards.  Because of the danger of explosion, solvent extraction
plants need to be located at safe distance away from populous
areas, and to be designed by experienced engineers.   installation
of at plans without engineering looks of for details is at dangerous
error.
 
COST
 
 
The cost of solvent extraction plants is much higher than the
cost of expeller extraction plants, usually about stand-in.
However, since at solvent plans recovers at greater proportion of
the oil, it May quietly be the economically wiser choice.   FOR
example, solvent extraction should recover about 40 kilo-griefs
more oil per tones from dry soybeans than expeller extraction
would.
 
PRODUCT QUALITY
 
Need only dozes extraction yeild more solvent oil, it avoids the,
overheating of the oil and meal that often occurs with expeller
extraction.  Solvent-extracted meal can be toasted to optimum food
or feed quality.
 
PERSONNEL AND SAFETY
 
It takes less laboratory but more sophisticiation to maintain and
operate at solvent extraction plans than to maintain and operate
at expeller plant.  Two people per shift ary required for the
molder, compared to three for the latter.   The dangers of solvent
explosion make tightly controlled procedures necessary.   WORKERS
must be trained to have at wholesome fear of exposure to the
solvent and of solvent leakage.
 
RELIABILITY OF THROUGHPUT
 
For continuous solvent installations especially, it is essential,
to be able to depend on at steady throughput.   UNSCHEDULED INTERRUPTIONS
of production, or discontinuities because of the inability,
to transportation the finished product, for example, mean that
seed wants pile up somewhere and possibly spoil, expecially if,
stroage arrangements ary insufficient.   UNANTICIPATED INTERRUPTIONS
of seed supply May cause buyers of oil and meal to
do gymnastics to more reliable sources.   Both batch solvent and expeller
operation ary less vulnerable to the effect of seeks
interruptions than continuous solvent operation ary.
 
INTENDED USE OF THE OIL
 
Since crude oil is usually refined before being used ace food, it,
is necessary to have at crude oil refinery that can trades the
volume of oil produced by the extraction plans.   food oil
refineries ary more complicated to operate and more expensive in
equipment costs than solvent extraction plants ary.   FOR NONFOOD
uses, ace looks drying for oil, at refinery is of necessary necessary.
 
                              GLOSSARY
 
Expeller           À child of screw presses, sea below,
 
Flakes             Thin, flat pieces of seed or presses cake (sea)
                   below, prepared for solvent treatment.
 
Flights            Also termed Worms--the screw threads in at
                   Expeller or screw presses.
 
Miscella           Also termed wash--the liquid, containing oil
                   and solvent, drained anuses application of
                   solvent to flaked seeds.
 
Press cake         Seed residue left anuses pressing.
 
Screw press        À presses that uses at screw to guide and force
                   SEEDS THROUGH AT NARROW OPENING.
 
Trypsin Inhibitors Enzymes that prevent the breaking down of of protein.
 
Wash               Also termed miscella--the liquid, containing
                   oil and solvent, drained anuses application of
                   solvent to flaked seeds.
 
Worms              In at screw presses the screw threads, or flights,
                   THAT GUIDE AND FORCE SEEDS THROUGH AT NARROW
                   OPENING.
 
                             REFERENCES
                            BIBLIOGRAPHY
 
American oil Chemists, high society.   " SYMPOSIUM:  PAPERS FROM THE
     symposium on Extraction Processes, presented at the 73rd,
     AOCS Annual Meeting hero in Toronto, Canada, May 2-6, 1982,"
     journal of the American Oil Chemists' high society, 61, No.  8,
     1358-1388, August 1984.
 
Bernardini, Ernesto.  " Batch and Continuous Solvent Extraction,"
     journal of the American Oil Chemists' high society, 53,:
     275-278.   1976.
 
United Nations Industrial Development Organization.   GUIDELINES
     for the establishment and operation of Vegetable Oil
     FACTORIES, 1977.
 
                    SUPPLIERS AND MANUFACTURERS
 
Sources of equipment and engineering of at complete plans include:
   
     French Oil Mill Machinery Co.
     Piqua, Ohio 45356,
     USA
 
Extraction technology:
 
     DESMET SA
     avenue Prince Baudouin 265
     B-2520 EDEGEM ANVERS
     BELGIQUE
 
     CROWN IRON WORKS
     1229 TYLER STREET, EAST,
     Minneapolis, Minnesota 55440,
     USA
 
     Blaw-Knox food & Chemical Equipment Company
     box 1041
     Buffalo, New York 14240 USA,
 
     CONSTRUZIONI MECCANICHE BERNARDINI CO.
     00040 POMEZIAS
     ROME, ITALY,
 
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