UNIVERSITY OF KUALA LUMPUR MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND BIO-TECHNOLOGY (MICET)

ASSIGNMENT 2020

OIL AND FAT PROCESS TECHNOLOGY CPD 30203

SEMESTER JULY 2020

LECTURER NAME: MADAM NOR AINI BINTI BUROK

STUDENT NAME STUDENT ID

Processing of edible oil (primarily palm oil) introduces a lot of process. The process varies
from the extraction of the oil itself to the refining process. There is also advance process in
obtaining the oil before it can be used optimally. Conversion of crude palm oil to refined palm oil
clearly needs to undergo several processes but it is to higher its usability in nowadays era of
progression.

Extraction of lipid from its natural source considers two kinds of extracting process that is
chemical extraction and physical extraction. The refining process has three stages overall. Firstly,
the crude palm oil is degummed to hydrate phosphatides present in an oil by adding water followed
by centrifugation (Erickson, Deep Frying (Second Edition), 2007). Next, crude palm oil is
bleached in the bleaching process. This process removes unwanted color pigments (Imran Ismail,
2016). The last stage is the deodorizing process. Free Fatty Acid (FFA) and other odoriferous
compounds are stripped from crude palm oil in the deodorizing process (Erickson, Practical
Handbook of Soybean Processing and Utilization, 1995). There is also advanced processing for
refined palm oil that is hydrogenation, fractionation and interesterification. Hydrogenation process
on refined palm oil intend on stabilizing the oil and prevent the oil from getting spoil from
oxidation. It helps in reducing the saturate organic components in the palm oil at the same time
reducing double and triple bonds of hydrocarbons compounds. Furthermore, palm oil formed with
half saturated fatty acids and the other half is unsaturated fatty acids. Therefore, it can be
fractionated into two components that is olein and stearin. This process helps in differentiate
between qualities and yield of palm oil obtained. Lastly, the process of interesterification of palm
oil. As the process name, this process changes and rearrange the physical properties of the palm
oil by setting the fatty acid groups after the oil is done fractionated.

The traditional edible oil processing system consists of caustic neutralization, bleaching,
and deodorization. Caustic neutralization of vegetable oils with high phosphatide contents delivers
a soapstock that is a mixture of sodium salts of fatty acids, neutral oil, water, unused caustic, and
other compounds resulting from the reactions of the caustic with various impurities in the oil.
Disposal of this soapstock or the waste streams from soapstock processing systems has become
increasingly more expensive. A second problem associated with chemical neutralization is the loss
of neutral oil, which reduces the overall yield from the crude oil. Elimination of the caustic refining
step is economically attractive, but it means that degumming or some other pretreatment process
or system must assume all the functions of the alkali refining process, except for FFA removal.

As palm oil uses has spread across the world, the source of palm oil has been one of the
biggest necessities to multiple companies all around the globe. Therefore, a few problems surfaced
as on the palm kernel harvesting worldwide. One of the problems is the rapid deforestation to allow
the plantation of palm trees. This phenomenon concluded to the rupture of animal habitats which
can leads to extinction of many endangered species. One of the tragedy that involves the palm trees
plantation is at Sumatra where huge deforestation affects the habitat of orangutans, an endangered
species. Therefore, should the production of palm kernel should be opposed or not? The problem
in this question is not the plantation of palm trees but the rapid deforestation to plant palm trees.
The aspect that needed to be gazed at is the behavior of human where ceaselessly cut down forest
for their own profits. Thus, the stipulation on deforestation that cause extinction of species needs
to be forcibly stopped. The future of multi endangered species needs to be maintained and cared
for future generations. Other than that, we would not want the future generations to scorn
nowadays generation on their own fault. We should be good example and role model for them and
create a solution on tackling this problem.
2.0 DESCRIPTION

Firstly, in obtaining usable palm oil, the extraction is the first thing to do. There is two ways
in achieving it that is by chemical or physical extraction. Each process uses different approach on
obtaining palm oil from its kernel, but the outcome has similar uses and components. There is a
slight difference in the further process of refining, but it is created to yield the oil optimally.

2.1 CHEMICAL EXTRACTION

Chemical extraction of palm oil is a process to extract palm oil from its kernel by using
chemically apprehend. The process includes several procedures and uses multiple chemical
substances such as ethanol or propane.

DIAGRAM 1
 The above diagram shows the process flow of the chemical extraction of palm oil. The process
is run in a semi-batch unit that is developed to comply with extraction with compressed solvents.
The unit is as below:

1- Isocratic pump
2- Syringe pump
3- Check valves
4- Check valves
5- Pressure monitor
6- Pressure checker
7- Extraction vessel
8- Needle valves
9- Sample collector
10- Liquid reservoir
11- Thermostatic bath

The raw material that is palm kernel fiber is discharged in the extraction vessel (7), temperature
and pressure is introduced in the system. Compressed propane is then discharged to the extraction
vessel through the syringe pump. The syringe pump vessel and temperature are controlled by the
thermostatic bath. Thermostatic bath ensures liquid volume and temperature is fit for the extraction
process. Propane will be the solvent in extracting the palm oil from the kernel. The process is then
left to run for several hours. At the end of the extraction, to collect the product, needle valves are
used to control the solvent flow. After the product is collected, need to be keep in mind that the
palm oil is still mixed with propane as the solvent to extract the oil. The further process is to
separate the oil from the solvent, propane. To separate these two liquids, evaporation process needs
to be run. In this case, the liquid product will be kept in an oven with the temperature of 323 K
until the weight is constant. Therefore, the propane will be evaporated from the oil product.

Chemical extraction has its own upside and downside. The advantages of chemical extraction
are that the product and solvent is easy to be separated. Other than that, the extraction is proceed
by using low temperature meaning that lower energy is used in this process. However, the
disadvantages of the process are that it is difficult or nearly impossible of continuous processing
of solid material. It also having higher capital costs in purchasing chemicals for the process.
2.2 PHYSICAL EXTRACTION

Palm oil is extracted from fresh fruit bunches (FFB) mechanically, in which the mill
typically processes 60 to 100 tons of FFB per hour. Nowadays palm oil plant still uses the same
method used to extract palm oil on the early discovery. A medium sized FFB weighs about 20-30
kg and contains 1500-2000 fruits. FFBs are harvested according to harvesting cycles and delivered
to factories on the same day. The quality of raw palm oil depends on post-harvest care, especially
when working with FFBs.

The palm oil plant produces crude palm oil and grains as primary products and biomass as
a by-product. Milling capacity ranges between 60-100 FFB / hour. A typical mill has several
actuation units. This includes sterilization, extraction, digestion, pressure, filtering, purification,
drying, and storage. Not to forget, there is also the process in processing kernel that obtained after
the pressing process which separates raw crude oil and cakes.
2.2.1 Sterilization

Firstly, is the sterilization process. Sterilization is a process to avoid free fatty acids (FFA)
constructing. This process inactivates lipases in the fruit which is the cause for FFA to build up.
Other than that, sterilization process allows the removal of fruits from the big FFB easier. It also
makes the fruit to release oil efficiently making the process more optimum.

Sterilization process runs by directing steam of 40 psig to the FFB. This process is done in
a horizontal cylindrical autoclave for 1 to 2 hours. A unit of an industrial sterilizer can fit at
maximum about 10 tons of FFB at once. This process can run up to triple-peak cycle for a much
more quality product of sterilized FFB. Each peak cycle process, the pressure will be elevated by
5 psig to ensure the temperature of the FFB not to lowered down. After the process, the pressure
will be lowered to 5 psig. This pressure is critical for the process and reminded ot to turn down the
pressure to 0 psig as the temperature will go down too fast and thus the process needs to be
extended for a cycle more. Increasing the sterilization process will result to the oil loss in the FFB.
The diagram underneath is a unit of sterilizer used in sterilizing the FFB.
2.2.2 Stripping

After the sterilization process, stripping process is continued. Stripping process is a process
where the fruits will be separated from the stalks. This process is run in a drum stripper. Generally,
sterilized FFB will be discharged in a drum stripper. The drum stripper will rotate around resulting
to the fruits detached from the stalk. This process is efficient because the FFB has been sterilized
which makes it is easy to be detached. The bunch stalk will be removed while the fruits will be
used in further process. In some condition the stalk can be used to extract oil from it but normally
it will be disposed or recycled as fertilizer in the palm trees plantation.
2.2.3 Pressing and Separation

Pressing process is the process where the fruits is pressed to extract the crude palm oil
contained in the fruits. Before the pressing process, digestion process needs to be run first.
Digestion process breaks down the cell that bears oil releasing the palm oil in the fruit. This process
inputs impact to the palm fruits while rotating to increase its efficiency. After that, the pressing
process will take part. Palm fruits is sent to a screw press. In the screw press, palm fruits are pressed
making the oil extracted out from the fruits. The outcome is cake made of fibers and crude palm
oil. The outcome will undergo different steps in processing each item.

2.2.4 Clarification

A blend of oil, water, and solids from the pack filaments is conveyed from the press to an
explanation tank. In the customary procedure, partition of the oil from the remainder of the alcohol
is accomplished by settling tanks dependent on gravity. The blend containing the unrefined
petroleum is weakened with high temperature water to lessen its consistency. A vibrating screen
helps expel a portion of the solids. The oil blend is warmed to 85-90°C and permitted to isolate in
the clarification tank for about 60 to 180 minutes. Oil from the top is skimmed off and filtered in
the axis preceding drying in vacuum dryer. The last rough palm oil is then cooled and put away.

2.2.5 Purification and Drying

To recover clean crude palm oil, the oil extract needs to undergo purification and drying
process. Purification process helps to separate the oil liquid from any other impurities such as dirt
or fibers leftovers. The lower layer from the explanation tank is sent to the centrifugal separator
where the rest of the oil is recuperated. The oil is dried in vacuum dryers, cooled, and sent to
capacity tanks. The oil needs to be dried so that the moisture content of the oil will be lowered.
Drying palm oil in a vacuum dryer will help to evaporate moisture other than the oil itself.
2.3 BLEACHING

Bleaching process removes impurities and unwanted components in a crude palm oil. It
removes contaminants hat adversely impact the appearance and performance of these triglyceride
(triacylglycerol)-based materials. In this process, bleaching earth is used in order to bleach the
palm oil. Bleaching earth has a unique mechanism in which when it is activated. Bleaching earth
occurs adsorption and absorption. The adsorption mechanism will adsorb and bind the
contaminants inside the palm oil. The adsorption processes in different ways that is physically,
chemically. Next, the absorption process works by the intra-granular pores are filled with oil. The
bleaching earth has a porous personality which helps in the adsorption and absorption process.
Porous surface has higher surface area and makes the process more efficient. To activate the
bleaching earth, acid needs to be added. In this case, usually phosphoric acid is used. The acid is
responsible in activating the bleaching earth in other words, making the chemicals reaction
process. The result will bring to the splitting of soap and bleached oil.

2.3.1 Bleaching Process

Degummed palm oil will be sent to the bleaching unit. The mixture will be heated up to
90oC, the optimum temperature. After that, the mixture will be let sit until vacuum state is
achieved. Bleaching earth is discharged to the tank and the stirrer will make the process and
mixture beaten. The process runs for 2 to 3 hours as the load is big and needs more time. The time
is based on how much the quantity of oil needs to be bleached.
2.3.2 Filtration

After the oil has done bleached, it needs to be filtrated. Filtration is a critical process that
needs to be done. This process allows removal of contaminants physically. The bleaching earth
that removes contaminants in the palm oil will be removed and bleached oil will be obtained.
Filtration process usually conducted by using an industrial processing filters that is connected to
the bleaching vessel. The product of this process is then sent to the deodorization unit for further
refining.
2.4 DEODORIZATION

Deodorization process is the last process of refining crude palm oil before obtaining
Refined, Bleached and Deodorized Palm Oil (RBDPO). Deodorization is a process of stripping
Free Fatty Acid (FFA) and other odoriferous compounds through steam distillation means. This
process complies of several steps to achieve a high quality of deodorized crude palm oil. The
process includes deaeration, multistage heating, and deodorization-deacidification of the oil. In
this process, the parameters play a big role in succession of the process. The parameters are
temperature, time, pressure, and stripping steam quantity. The effects on the crude palm oil
corresponding to these four parameters.

2.4.1 Deaeration

Deodorization process takes place after bleaching process. after bleaching the crude oil, it
needs to be deaerated to avoid oxidation process other than polymerization process happen to the
oil. It is conducted in a vessel that is connected to a vacuum system from the bleaching process.
The oil will be deaerated at a low pressure in an integrated compartment.
2.4.2 Multistage Heating

The oil that has been deaerated is flowed to a vessel for pre-heat process. Heat exchanger
will higher the temperature of oil by using steam. Using heat exchanger, ensures the deodorized
oil to have less product to be mixed with the oil. After that, a heat recovery process will be run.
This process takes place in a thermosiphon system. Thermosiphon system is a process that is
specialize in semicontinuous deodorizing. Steam that produced in other section is recycled to the
process resulting to about 45-75% of heat recovery. Lasty, cooling of the oil is done in a vacuum
pressure.

2.4.3 Deodorization-Deacidification

Since the centralization of most unpredictable segments in crude palm oils is very low, a
stripping operator must be infused during freshening up. For monetary reasons, steam is the most
usually utilized stripping operator, yet the utilization of nitrogen has likewise been concentrated
widely. Nitrogen is an inactive gas and hypothetically, its utilization will bring about lower
misfortunes (no hydrolysis) and furthermore a higher caliber of the deodorizer distillate. Be that
as it may, in mechanical practice, nitrogen is not utilized essentially on the grounds that it is a no
condensable gas. This makes the necessary vacuum framework substantially more costly than the
utilization of steam, which is condensable. This process held in a deodorizer tray with a crossflow
principle. Stripping steam is introduced to the oil in the deodorizer tray through a sparge system.
 Deodorizer tray distributes the oil and increase the surface area which is needed to be
deodorized. This act makes the efficiency of deodorizer higher and resulting to an optimum process
of deodorization. In this process, FFA and odiferous substance will be stripped from the crude
palm oil. After that, multistage cooling process will be done. Cooling the oil is a must before
sending it to the next process.
3.0 DISCUSSION

As stated in the description, there is many processes that needs to be run before Refined,
Bleached and Deodorized Palm Oil (RBDPO) can be obtained. There is many uses of RBDPO in
nowadays industry. The question is there existing a company which solely or has the necessities
in processing palm oil into RBDPO? The answer is yes. There are thousands or maybe hundred
thousand of company that processes palm oil.

One of the biggest palm oil processing company in Malaysia is Sime Darby. Sime Darby not
only famous in Malaysia but it is also one of the largest mass processing palm oil company globally
around the world. Sime Darby has about 491,000 workers for palm trees plantation only. This is a
very high achievement for Malaysia, and we should be proud about it. Other than that, Sime Darby
also produces many products from palm oil. one of the most famous among Malaysian is the Alif
brand cooking oil. It is made from palm olein obtained from RBDPO. There are many other
products on which is deployed and produced by Sime Darby Company. Other than that, Sime
Darby also produces bakery products such as shortenings, emulsifier, and dairy replacer. These
products are based by palm oil products.

Sime Darby not only has over 850,000 hectares if palm trees plantation site in this country,
but it also has more than 500,000 hectare of other plantation site that is left to other companies to
be cultivated. This is a very smart move for Sime Darby because it maintains the relationship with
many other companies and help them to rise and be successful.
 One of the most experienced workers in Sime Darby Plantations, Nor Azian Anuar said
that Sime Darby not only cultivate palm oil, but it also inspects and research on producing the
highest quality of palm oil. With a total of 6,000 researchers in the research and development
(R&D) unit, Sime Darby has been expanding its research in breeding palm trees and expected to
make palm trees bear more fruits in the future. Other than that, the research of extracting more
nutrition and yield in the palm oil has many potentials in making it true. If the research is
successful, Malaysia’s name will be soaring to new height and will be respected by every country.
Imagine Malaysia as one of the most powerful and most influenced country throughout the world.
This will not only profit Sime Darby but also Malaysia and its citizens.
4.0APPLICATIONS

There is various application of palm oil in nowadays industry. As stated at the discussion
section, it shows that palm oil is very valuable and can be applied on as base to produce multiple
products. The products that will be described here is the production of lubricating oil and emulsifier
in food.

4.1 Lubricating Oil

Lubricating oil is extracted from cooling oil, which undergoes a preliminary purification
process (sedimentation) before it can be pumped into the fractionation tower. Its high efficiency is
usually about 25 to 35 feet (7.6 to 10.6 meters) in diameter and up to 400 feet, which is 122 meters
long. The fractionation tower was built using high-grade steel to resist corrosive compounds
present in crude oil; inside it is equipped with an increasing range of condensate rafts. In a tower,
thousands of hydrocarbons in the crude oil will be separated from each other by a process called
fractional distillation. As the vapors rise through the tower, the different fractions cool down,
condensation takes place and returns to liquid form at different rates determined by their respective
boiling points (the lower the boiling point of the fraction, the higher it rises before it condenses).
Natural gas first reaches its boiling point, followed by kerosene, gasoline, fuel oil, lubricants, and
leaves.
 First, crude oil is transported by pipeline or tanker truck from the oil well to the refinery.
At the refinery, oil will undergo sedimentation to remove water and solid contaminants, such as
sandstones. During the process, the crude oil is pumped into a large container tank, where the water
and oil can separate, and the pollutants are abandoned from the oil.

Second, it breaks; the crude oil will heat up to 700 degrees Fahrenheit, which is equivalent
to 371 degrees Celsius. At this temperature it decomposes into a mixture of hot vapor and liquid
which is then pumped to the bottom of the first of the two fractionating towers. Here the hot
hydrocarbon fumes soar to the top. As it cools, they will condense and collect in different bowls
installed at different levels inside the tower. In this tower, the normal air pressure will be
maintained continuously and about 80 percent of the crude oil will evaporate.

The remaining 20 percent of the oil is then reheated and pumped into a second tower, where
the vacuum pressure lowers the boiling oil of the remaining oil so that it can evaporate at a lower
temperature. The heavier the compounds with higher boiling points, such as tar and the inorganic
compounds, are left for further processing.
 Fourth, after a further process of removing the unwanted compounds, the lubricating oil
collected in the two-fractionation tower will be fed through a number of ultrafine filters, which
will remove the unpleasant impurities. Aromatics is one of the examples for contamination, it
contains six-carbon rings that can affect the viscosity of the lubricating oil if it is not removed in
a process called solvent extraction. Extraction of solvents is possible because aromatics in the
solvent are more soluble than the lubricating oil fraction. If the lubricating oil is treated with the
solvent, the aromatics will dissolve. Later, after the solvent is removed, the aromatics can be
recovered from it. Finally, the oil is mixed with additives to give it the desired physical properties
(such as the ability to withstand low temperatures). At this point, the lubricating oil is subjected to
a variety of quality control tests that have access to the viscosity, the specific gravity, color, flash
and firing points. Oil that meets the quality standards is packaged and sold and distributed.

4.2 EMULSIFIER

Emulsifier is a catalyst that enables two liquids to mix. For example, water and oil.
Generally, water and oil cannot mix with each other even if it is stirred hard and send in the mixer.
Therefore, the solution to this problem is by using emulsifier. Adding emulsifier enables water and
oil to mix. Emulsifier is common in the food production section. It is used to make margarine,
chocolate, and bread.

Emulsifiers are widely used in the food and beverage industry, especially in mixtures of
mono- and diacylglycerol. They are prepared in a glycerinating reaction using chemical catalysts
due to the fast reaction time, high conversion of reagents and low cost. Palm stearin is abundant
and less utilized. Therefore, palm stearin is used as a raw material for the synthesis of emulsifiers.
The aim of the project is to produce an emulsifier containing high concentrations of mono- and
diacylglycerol. The emulsifier was synthesized by reaction time (1 hour to 12 hours), catalyst
concentration (1%, 2%, 3% and 4%) (w / w) and addition of molecular sieve (12% (w / w)). and
without control). In addition, the products were fractionated at various temperatures (40°C, 30°C,
20°C and 10°C). These results suggest that for the synthesis of mono- and diacylglycerol from
palm stearin using NaOH catalyst, the NaOH concentration in the Batch stirred tank reactor was
3% (w / w), the reaction time was 6 hours, and the molecular sieves were 12% (w / w). )), reaction
temperature 90°C, addition of tert-butanol solvent 2 ml⋅g-1 oil, palm stearin: glycerol molar ratio
(1: 5), stirring speed 400 rpm. The fractionation temperature was 30°C and the product yield is
61.43%, containing 91.00% ± 2.50% and 9.00% ± 2.50% mono- and diacylglycerol.
Characteristics of emulsifiers: emulsion capacity 95.55% ± 0.71%, emulsion stability 90.44% ±
1.24%, melting point: 62.67 ± C ± 2.52 ∘C - 70.33 to ± 0 , 58 ∘C, and the type of emulsion is oil /
water (w / w).
5.0 REFERENCES

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Erickson, D. R. (1995). Practical Handbook of Soybean Processing and Utilization. St. Louis, Missouri:
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Erickson, D. R. (2007). Deep Frying (Second Edition). United States: Elsevier Inc.

Franke, K. S. (2009). Influence of chemical refining process and oil type on bound 3-chloro-1, 2-
propanediol contents in palm oil and rapeseed oil. LWT-Food Science and Technology.

Gibon, V. A. (2009). Future prospects for palm oil refining and modifications. Oléagineux, Corps gras,
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Gibon, V. D. (2007). Palm oil refining. European journal of lipid science and technology, 315-335.

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