Sunflower oil extraction plant
Extracting sunflower oil using an organic solvent, usually hexane, has a big environmental impact. In fact, hexane emissions are a major cause of photochemical smog.
Extracting oil while keeping hexane content to a minimum level
Andreotti Impianti extraction plant is designed for oil solvent extraction starting from oil seeds flakes or pre-pressed cake. This environmental-friendly extraction system reduce the hexane content in the air emission, where the air is washed with mineral oil and the hexane is absorbed. Absorbed hexane is evaporated and recycled.
The extraction process involves four steps: solvent extraction, separation of the oil-solvent miscella, recovery of the solvent from the meal and adsorption of carbureted airs. In the pre-treatment step, the seed is prepared for oil removal (brushing, cleaning, de-hulling, cracking, cooking, flaking, and pressing). Then, the seed is fed into the extractor and placed on a filtering belt where the solvent, hexane, washes the seed cake. The solvent extraction process gives two products – oil-solvent miscella and meal wetted solvent.
The oil-solvent miscella goes straight to the distillation section where the hexane is distilled under vacuum and removed with live steam. The meal with solvent leaves the extractor for the upper layer of the toaster where all the hexane is distilled through a combination of indirect stream and live stream while stirring the product inside the toaster. At the bottom of the machine, the meal can be dried or cooled according to market requirements.
Benefits
- Water recycling
- Reduced steam consumption
- Reduction of hexane loss
- Low emissions on air disposal