Soybean Oil Seed Technology
Soybean Seed Processing, Oil Extraction & Refining Plant
Soybean Seed Cleaning and Dehulling
The first step in processing soybeans is to properly clean soybean for dehulling. This step typically involves using magnetic feeder/Magnetic Drum to remove metal and screening to remove impurities that can interfere with the dehulling process. Next, hulls are moved to both increase the protein content of the final meal product and to improve the efficiency of the solvent extraction process. Finally, using FX Flaker Machine make the thin flakes and rupture the cells containing the soybean oil.
Extraction
The extraction process uses hexane or other solvents to wash the soybean oil from the prepared soybean flakes. The design of the equipment varies so that Crown can optimize the amount of solvent and bed depth needed to efficiently wash the flakes, the contact time of the solvent and flakes, and the power and utilities needed to run the equipment. Soybeans are processed with the LM - Extractor
Desolventising
Once the oil has been removed by the solvent, the solvent must be removed from both the flakes and the soybean oil. For the flakes, heat and steam are used to strip and recover the residual solvent. For the soybean oil, a distillation system is used to recover the solvent. The desolventized flakes are now a product and ready for sale as a good source of protein. The soybean oil can be further refined from a crude product to an edible product.
Oil Refining and Processing
Extracted soya crude oil must be refined to make an edible oil. Edible oils are refined to improve the flavor, odor, color and stability using processes,
- Degumming,
- neutralization,
- Washing,
- Bleaching,
- deodorisation etc.
The Above Refining processes remove contaminants such as phosphatides, free fatty acids and pro-oxidants. Further processing of oils and fats is sometimes desired. Some oils are winterized or dewaxed and some are modified to change melting characteristics. By products may be further processed to create value-added products or reduce costs.
