Process-Edible Oil Refining(G)

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.
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 non-hydratable 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.