Deodorizing of Edible Oils and Fats

Lurgi Life Science Technologies GmbH

- Deodorizing of Edible Oils and Fats
Multi-stage Deodorizing Column
Semi-countinuous deodorazing and deacidification

Deodorizing, the last stage of the

refining process, is in principle a
distillation process using steam as
a carrier to eliminate undesirable
odor and flavor substances from the
degummed or neutralized and
bleached oil in order to produce a
high-quality oil or fat.

Lurgi has been building deodorizing

plants for some 75 years and ist the
leader in developing plants to meet
the industrial demant for higher
capacities, improved economy and
best quality.

Whether a deodorizer after a Process principle exchange, final heating by high-pressure

conventional chemical refining
system or a deacidifier as the heart
of a modern physical refining plant,
the Lurgi Multi-stage Column as a
semi-continuos or continuos deo-
dorizer will meet your requirements.
For product changes that occur only
once or twice a week, the continuous
deodorizing concept will be suffi-
cient. If product changes occur more
often, the semi-continuous
Before the degummed and bleached oil
is fed into the deodorizing unit, the batch
size must be defined. The determination
of the extract batch size can be executed
by weighing in a feed tank on load cells
or by volume in the degassing vessel on
top of the deodorizer.
Pumping-in of crude oil is the starting
signal of the automatically controlled
process of the plant. Each individual
steam, deodorizing, cooling by
thermosiphon heat exchange, cooling by
indirect cooling liquid.
The advantage of the PLC-controlled
process is the possibility of changing
different kinds of feed oils without
interrupting the normal operation of the
deodorizer and with lowest possible
product mixing rate.
The common edible oils and fats are

deodorizing concept should be the batch of oil is run through the deodorizer deodorized at temperatures ranging from

right choice. stepwise, passing the following steps: 230–260 °C and at a pressure of approx.
Degassing, heating by thermosiphon heat 3 mbar.
Continous deodorizing and deacidification with stripping column

Process principle

Degummed and bleached oil is first

preheated by means of heat transfer
through heating systems from hot
deodorized oil and is then brought to
final process temperature by indirect
high-pressure steam heating.

For deacidification of higher free fatty

acid contents, the stripping column serves
for short residence time at the higher
stripping temperature, while deodorizing
is accomplished at a reduced temperature
Semi-continuous deodorizing plant
(intermediate heat exchange optional).

The oil is processed in the stripping

column in countercurrent to the vapors,
passing through the different deodorizing
stages before being cooled by internal
heat transfer in the last tray, where citric
acid is also added to the oil.

The common edible oils and fats are

deodorized at temperature ranging from
230–260 °C and at pressures ranging
from 3–5 mbar.
Highlights
Moderate treatment
of the edible oil due to:
I high vacuum in each tray of the
deodorizer
I heating of the oil to deodorizing
temperature under vaccum
I internal heat exchange in the deodorize
under vaccum by single or double
thermosiphon system during semi-
continuous processing
I heat exchange between cold bleached
oil and hot deodorized oil under vacuum
during continuous processing
I short residence time under high
temperatures in the stripping column for
oil with high free fatty acid contents
during continuous processing
High quality of the
deodorized oil due to:
I extreme limitation of air access into
the deodorizer
I dosing of citric acid to form complexes
with the heavy metals in the oil in order
to lower the oxidation rate of the
deodorized oil
I extremley low contamination of each
batch during product change during semi-
continuous processing
I low increasing rate of trans-isomers
when deodorizing at lower temperatures
I low increasing rate of trans-isomers
when including an additional stripping
column for oils with high fatty acid
contents to be stripped at higher
termperatures during continuous
processing
High plant efficiency due to:
I high efficiency heat exchange and
deodorizing through mammoth pump
circulation systems
I means no loss of time and product for
frequent product changes during semi-
continuous processing
I heat recovery between incoming and
outgoing oil during continuous processing
I low oil levels in the deodorizing stages
of the deodorizer during continuous
processing
I reduction of live steam consumption
when processing oils with high free fatty
acid contents by including an additional
stripping column during continuous
processing
Minimizing of effluents:
I minimizing of waste water as the free
fatty acids are condensed from the vapors
in a packed vapor scrubber
I deacidification as a continuous process,
integrated in a physical refining plant,
produces no further waste like soapstock
as in chemical refining. This results in
less investment and operation costs.
LLST’s activities in the fields of
renewable resources
I ALCON® process
I Solvent extraction
I Lecithin recovery
I Enzymatic degumming (EnzyMax®)
I Bleaching
I Deodorization
I Physical refining
I Hydrogenation
I Pressure splitting
I Glycerine recovery
I Fatty acid distillation
I Fatty acid fractionation
I Fatty acid hydrogenation
I Spray cooling of fatty acid
I Metal soap production
I Esterification of fatty acid
I Fatty alcohol synthesis
I Citric acid
I Sorbitol technology
I Starch technology
I Potable alcohol technology
I Natural vitamin E, tocopherol
I Sugar alcohol like sorbitol
I Sweeteners like glucose, dexttrose,
fructose
I Bioethanol technology
I Countinuous beer brewing

Technical data Conti-deso Semiconti-deso

Plant capacity 100–1,500 t/d feet 100–500 t/d feed

Utility consumption
(per ton of oil)
Live steam 5– 10 kg 12– 18 kg
Steam for vacuum 60–110 kg 80–160 kg
Cooling water for vacuum 10– 17 m3 12– 18 m3
Cooling water for product 3– 10 m3 5– 10 m3
Fuel oil 3– 5 kg 5– 10 kg

Space required 6 x 12 m 6 x 12 m
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Head quarters:
Lurgi Life Science Technologies GmbH · Augustusburger Strasse 34 · D-09111 Chemnitz
P. O. Box: 0231 · D-09026 Chemnitz · Phone: ++49-(0)371-68 99-0 · Fax: ++49-(0)371-6 899-342
e-mail: lifescience@lurgi.de · www.lurgi-lifescience.com · Video conference: ++49-(0)371-6 899-790

Business Establishment:
Lurgi Life Science Technologies GmbH · Lurgiallee 5 · D-60295 Frankfurt am Main
P. O. Box, 60295 Frankfurt am Main · Phone: ++49-(0)69-58 080 · Fax: ++49-(0)69-58 08-3 888
e-mail: kommunikation@lurgi.de · Video conference: ++49-(0)69-5 808-4 900/4 910