Food & Feed

Oils & Fats Processes

A new fractionation technology

Mobulizer Technologies

# 206 2010-10-11
 Dry Fractionation today...

In the edible fats and oils industry of

the 21st century, dry fractionation is Table 1
well established as a proven, cost-
effective and powerful modification Frequently fractionated fats and oils
technology. Vegetable origin Animal origin
Palm Oil Anhydrous Milk Fat
Essentially, dry fractionation con-
Palm Kernel Oil Lard Oil
sists in a fractional crystallisation
of oil, followed by a separation of Partially Hydrogenated Tallow
the resulting fat crystals from the Soybean Oil
remaining liquid oil. The adjective Coconut Oil Fish Oil
“dry” refers to the absence of any Shea Butter
solvents, catalysts or chemical ad-
ditives during the process. For that
reason, dry fractionation stands out
as the true zero-effluent modfication
Table 2
technology, unlike solvent fractiona-
tion, chemical interesterification,
(partial) hydrogenation, etc... Applications
Margarines, shortenings
It follows that, being a purely physi- Salad oils, dressings
cal and therefore reversible process,
Frying & Cooking oils
dry fractionation can be applied to
many different types of fats and oils Confectionery fats
(Table 1). In turn, this has resulted • Cocoa Butter Equivalents
in a continuously expanding spec- • Cocoa Butter Alternatives
trum of edible oils and fat products • Cocoa Butter Substitutes
meeting specific physical quality
• Filling Fats
• Coating Fats
demands (Table 2). This trend has
called for improved performance of Oleochemical industry
the existing fractionation technology Cosmetics
and more specifically the crystal-
liser, which is in fact the heart of any
industrial fractionation plant.

To answer this demand, Desmet

Ballestra is proud to present the
latest addition to their line of the
well-known Flexifrac® fractionation
crystalliser designs : the MoBulizer,
a state-of-the-art desing returning
real value for money to our cus-
tomers, whether they emphasize
commodity products or tailor-made
speciality fats.
This brochure will guide you through
the basic principles of fractionation
technology, meanwhile emphasiz-
ing in which fields the MoBulizer has
brought real added value to Desmet
Ballestra’s Flexifrac Fractionation.
 ... with performant technology

The concept of dry fractionation Technology

Crystallisation A successful fractional crystallisa- Effective heat exchange

tion therefore relies on the correct Compared to most other oil refining
Dry fractionation is typically carried control of various process para- and modification technologies, dry
out in a batch mode. Teh root of the meters and the knowledge of the fractionation is a slow process : oil
process is a fractional (= partial) crystallisation behaviour of the oil : is a poor heat conductor and so
crystallisation process taking place crystallisation of the constituting
in the crystalliser : Controlled temperature triglycerides needs time to as-
The supercooling imposed on the semble in a correct composition
The feedstock oil is filled into the oil will be the driving force for the (intersolubility) and molecular
crystallisers at high temperature to crystallisation reaction until the arrangement (polymorphism).
ensure melting of all residual crys- end of the process. The tempe-
talline structures. Upon cooling the rature of the oil can be perfectly The optimal time for one crystal-
crystalliser, the oil will be brought regulated by an energy-saving lisation cycle is thus quite depen-
into a supercooled state. The nu- cooling water circuit. A well-chosen dant on the the composition of the
cleation of crystals will then take temperature program thus allow to oil (eg. some minor components
place, followed by a slow crystal selectively crystallise thos com- could delay crystal growth), and it
growth and agglomeration. During ponents in the oil you need, and shows that the key is to know how
this sequence, it is crucial to main- nothing else, leading to pure and fast you can go in which oil.
tain proper heat and mass transfer, homogeneous crystals. The crystalliser design should thus
for the exothermic crystallisation offer accurate and homogeneous
reaction will release about 200 kJ Proper agitation temperature control, efficient agi-
for every kg of oil crystallised (for Agitation is generally benificial as tation and fast heat exchange.
comparison, the heat release upon if favours mass and heat transfer
cooling of the liquid is only about in the oil and keeps the formed The line of Desmet Ballestra’s
2 kJ/kg°C). As the content of solid crystals in suspension in the melt. Flexifrac has been designed
fat in the oil will increase during the However, too forceful agitation will adhering to these guidelines, in
reaction, also the viscosity will alter invoke high shear on the crystals, order to produce a low-viscous
and in turn affect the heat exchange which could lead to fragmentation suspension of high quality crystals
rates too. and a heterogeneous crystal size in the shortest of possible times,
distribution. Therefore, agitation on a wide range of products.
systems need to be designed in
a geometry that ensures optimal
flow and mixing but minimal shear.
 Dry Fractionation today...

Separation

The outcome of a dry fractionation

process is not only determined
by the crystallisation process the
subsequent phase, separation, is
very relevant too.

In this stage, the crystals are

effectively separated from the
filling, cake discharge devices, tionation plants that the filtration
liquid. Nowadays this is most com-
multiple plate transfer systems, process can be operated with
monly done by using membrane
safety light curtain, electrostatic minimal manual intervention.
filter presses, while the number
energy prevention ... have now
of plates running with a vacuum
become so accustomed in frac-
filter is in decline. A membrane
press filter operation occurs in two
steps : during filtration the crystal
suspension is sent over the filter
cloth retaining the crystals while
the liquid olein can flow through
the storage («filling»). When the
filter chambers are sufficiently
filled, the membranes are inflated
with a pressure medium such as
water or the olein itself.

This invokes a further compaction

of the crystal cakes («squeezing»)
and additional olein can be recupe-
rated. The effect of the squeezing
pressure is illustrated below. The
standard max. pressure is 15 barg
as a good compromise between
olein yield and stearin quality, but
in some cases applying up to 30
barg can make all the difference
to obtain a premium quality stearin
(eg. for cocoa butter alternatives).
Features such as a two-way filter
 ... with Mobulizer Technology

MoBulizer stands for «Moving Additionally, the MoBuliser has

Bundle» crystalliser and hence been designed in such a way that
reflects the integration of a cooling it requires minimal construction
and agitation in one system. and material costs, which offers
a considerable saving on both in-
Most conventional crystallisers vestment and energy consumption.
are equipped with rotational agi-
tators, which will cause shear to
vary proportional to the axis of
rotation. When the mass transfer
decreases because of rising vis-
cosity, the transfer from and to the
heat exchange surface will easily
become limited.

MoBulisers however have an in-

tegrated agitation/cooling system,
which makes it possible to move
slowly through the oil, maintaining
a low and uniform speed through
the total oil volume.

Especially in oils fractionated in

viscous conditions, this is transla-
ted into excellent heat and mass
transfer, and thus a better control-
led process.

The Advantages of traditional fractionation technology

• Lower investment costs

• Less steel and less water to heat/cool
• Improved uniform mixing
• Lower power consumption
• Less crystal fragmentation, adding to separation efficiency
• Consistant capacity, constant quality
• Very selective crystallisation possible, in short cycle times
• Suitable for a wider range of fats
• Flexible to adapt to continuous fractionation
• Flexible design : different sizes available with identical geometric agitation system.
• Optimisation of layout : groud floor vs; intermediate floor installation, both are possible
• Smooth transition for crystalliser section to filter section
• Optimised water circuit
• Custom material choice : Full SS, CS, CS + epoxy coating
 Features & Options

Safety during filtration

Pilot Plants
A sliding chain, equipped with
hooks, moves the membrane Laboratory scale pilot fractionation
blocks one after the other. A safety
strip is installed alongside the
This pilot is concieved for our
press to stop mechanical operation
customers, allowing them to
at any moment if required.
make laboratory trials on a 10 kg
batch. Once the trials have led to
a new marketable fractionated
product, the production param-
eters can be extrapolated on an
industrial scale

Larger scale pilot fractionation

This pilot is concieved to make

Filter Elements trials on a scale of 200 kg/ batch.
Shaking Device This pilot is quite usefull for the
market referencing of a new
For special applications, a filter product
elements shaking device can be
provided.

Prevention of
electrostatic energy

Also special antistatic filtercloths

and filter plates have been deve-
loped to prevent built up of elec-
trostatic energy during filtration.
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PREPARATION Cleaning Cashew nut

Cracking Castor seed
Dehulling Cocoa
Cooking Copra
Flaking Corn
Expanding Cotton seed
Fish oil
Grape seed
PRESSING Full Pressing Groundnut
Prepressing Jojoba
Lard
Linseed
EXTRACTION Extracting Mustardseed
Desolventising Toasting Olive
Distillation Palm
Solvent Recovery Palm kernel
Rapeseed(Canola)
Ricebran
REFINING Degumming Safflower
Neutralising Salseed
Bleaching Sesame seed
Winterising Sheanut
Deodorising Soyabean
Sunflower
Tallow
FAT MODIFICATION Fractionation Tung
Hydrogenation
Interesterification

OLEOCHEMICALS Fat splitting

Glycerine refining
Sweetwater evaporation
Fatty alcohols
Fatty acids fractionation
Oleic acid separation
Fatty acids hydrogenation
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