PROCESS DESIGN FEATURES OF A 5 TONNES/DAY MULTI – STAGE, INTERMITTENT DRAINAGE, CONTINUOUS FULL IMMERSION, VEGETABLE OIL SOLVENT EXTRACTION PLANT

Abstract

In this work, the process design features of a seven stage pilot extraction plant for use in vegetable oil extraction are presented. Three local oils were used in the study. They were Palm oil, Palm Kernel oil and Soy-bean oil. However PKO was used as a case study in the design because it is a simple oil with properties falling between those of palm oil and Soyabean oil. Material and Energy balance calculations were established for the oil as a base of mechanical design of part II. Nhexane was used as a leaching solvent. The efficiency of the plant was found to be 0.70. Process design calculations gave 23.17Kj as the energy requirement of the extractor based on a capacity of approximately 1 Kg of oil extract. The diffusivity of the oils in the solvent averaged 4.0 x 10 m/s, while the rate of mass transfer into the solvent was 6.47 x 10 Kmole/m. s, resulting in a mass transfer coefficient of 3.2 x 10Kmole/m. s. ----------------------------------------------------------------------***-------------------------------------------------------------------