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A large part of the phosphatides (gums) can be hydrated quickly and easily. If the pressed or extracted oil contains a considerable quantity of gums the oil is subjected to the water degumming process immediately following extraction. In this process, water is added to the oil. After a certain reaction period the hydrated phosphatides can be separated either by decantation (settling) or continuously by means of centrifuges.
In this process step a large part of hydratable and even a small proportion of the non-hydratable phophatides are removed. The extracted gums can be processed into lecithin for food, feed or for technical purposes. The gum content in the oil is subsequently reduced according to the refining quality requirements. In principle, the combination and concept of further processing stages is distinguished by
In chemical refining the free fatty acids are neutralized by caustic soda resulting so-called “soap stock”
which is also separated either by decantation or continuously by means of centrifuges. Simultaneously the non-hydratable phosphatides are also separated in this process.
In physical refining the gum content can be further reduced by different processes:
Dry acid degumming is particularly suit-able for processing oils with low gum contents such as palm oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil or animal fats. Intensive mixing is implemented following addition of acid to the pre-heated crude oil. The conditioned gums are absorbed into the bleaching earth and are separated by filtration.
The benefits of the dry acid degumming process are:
Initially oils with higher gum contents (e.g. corn oil) are similarly processed as in dry acid degumming. However, to achieve gum hydration water is added following acid apportioning. The gums are removed by a separator prior to bleaching. This process is beneficial as
The Flex process enables effective degumming of oils such as sunflower seed oil, maize oil and rape oil. It is also suitable for other oils in which the gum reduction required cannot be achieved with conventional dry and wet acid degumming prior to final steam refining.
Flex degumming is suitable for both crude pressed oil and for water-degummed oils resulting from pressing or extraction.
Oil conditioning with acids is generally based on the
The effective, economical and technical benefits of physical refining process are achieved by the Flexdegumming process. Compared to classic chemical refining these processes ensure
The Flex degumming features further specific benefits. The Flex degummed oil is characterized by increased storage stability as gums as well as prooxidative metals such as iron and copper are also widely removed. This ensures considerable improvement of the product quality.
Existing centrifugal systems can be retrofitted cost-effectively to Flex degumming plants. An appropriate Flex degumming plant design enables chemical neutralization of minor quality oils which cannot be processed in physical refining.
Pre-treatment of seed oils with a small amount of acid effectively removes gums to a sFlexficiently low level to enable further processing. The addition of diluted lye enables adjustment of the pH value prior to dosing an appropriate enzyme. The phospholipase A enzyme (PLA) converts both hydratable and nonhydratable gums into lyso-gums and free fatty acids. The lyso-gums are more hydrophilic, which makes them easier to remove from the oil during centrifugation. Moreover, enzymatic deep degumming significantly reduces the presence of chlorinated compounds, which contribute to the formation of 3-MCPD if not removed.
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