Crude Rice Bran Oil Research Articles

Amendment to Quality Parameters for Rice Bran Oil in the Codex Standard for Named Vegetable Oils.

The objective of this study is to review the compliance of fatty acid compositions of Thai and India rice bran oil and level of desmethylsterols of Thai crude rice bran oil with the Codex Standard for Named Vegetable Oil (Codex Stan 210-1999). Fatty acid compositions of 90 samples of Thai and India refined rice bran oil were analyzed by capillary gas liquid chromatography. The results indicated that the contents of the C14:0, C18:2, C22:0 and C24:0 possible fall outside the range of Codex Stan 210-1999. In addition, sterol profile content of 40 samples of crude rice bran oil from Thai refinery plants were studied. The test results of major compositions of desmethylsterols are in good agreement with CODEX STAN 210-1999 except for Brassicasterol and other desmethylsterols. Accordingly, these data were proposed to corporate into the codex standard. Consequently, Codex agreed to amend the fatty acid composition of C14:0, C18:2, C22:0 and C24:0 from ND to 1.0, 21 to 42, ND to 1.0 and ND to 0.9 % and broaden level of Brassicasterol and other desmethylsterols to "ND-0.3" and to "7.5-12.8" accordingly.

Effects of rice bran rancidity on the oxidation and structural characteristics of rice bran protein

Rice bran rancidity may affect rice bran protein through protein oxidation. However, little is known about the relationship between rice bran rancidity and rice bran protein oxidation. The effects of rice bran rancidity on the oxidation extent and structural characteristics of rice bran protein were investigated. As storage time of rice bran increased, the acid value, peroxide value, and value of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in crude rice bran oil increased from 4.31 mg KOH/g, 2.84 Meq/kg, and 6.22 μg MDA/g to 38.72 mg KOH/g, 15.58 Meq/kg, and 28.99 μg MDA/g, respectively, which indicated that hydrolytic rancidity and oxidative rancidity of rice bran occurred simultaneously. The gradual increase in protein carbonyl and dityrosine content from 2.12 nmol/mg and 88.61 A.U. to 13.8 nmol/mg and 159.37 A.U. was accompanied by a steady decrease in free sulfhydryl content of rice bran protein from 22.6 to 9.6 nmol/mg, which implied that the products of rice bran rancidity induced rice bran protein oxidation. The rice bran protein oxidation subsequently resulted in a loss of the ordered state of secondary structure and the formation of aggregates as well as cross-link, when both disulfide bonds and non-disulfide covalent bonds participated in cross-link formation.

Increasing oxidative stability in corn oils through extraction of γ-oryzanol from heat treated rice bran

Corn oil was mixed with heated rice bran with different extraction periods and ratios of rice bran to corn oil to extract γ-oryzanol from rice bran. Selected corn oils based on the content of γ-oryzanol were heated at 180 °C for 100 min or 60 °C for 16 days, and oxidative stability was evaluated. Corn oils recovered from the mixture of rice bran showed higher oxidative stability at both 60 and 180 °C treatment compared to control corn oils. At 180 °C, corn oils of a 1:5 ratio of rice bran to corn oil (w/w) showed higher oxidative stability than did those of 1:3 and 1:7 (w/w), whereas at 60 °C, corn oils of 1:7 (w/w) showed higher oxidative stability than did others. γ-Oryzanol can be extracted through a corn-oil mixture at 80–90 mg/100 g oil, which is about 4.0% recovery of 2244 mg/100 g crude rice-bran oil. Oxidative stability of corn oils increased significantly, partly because of the extraction of γ-oryzanol under current experimental conditions.

PENGARUH KECEPATAN PENGADUKAN DAN SUHU REAKSI PADA ESTERIFIKASI MINYAK MENTAH DEDAK PADI BERKANDUNGAN ASAM LEMAK TINGGI

Rice bran oil (RBO) derived from rice bran (RB) which could use as an alternative raw material for biodiesel production. Rice bran (dedak) are used as feed for poultry, pigs, and some dairy cattle because they are relatively cheap and do not require processing. The utilization of these oil further cheapen the cost of biodiesel and increased the economonic value of RB. The choice of RBO as a raw material for biodiesel due to the rice bran oil’s potentials. RBO is considered to be one of the most nutritious oils due to its favorable fatty acids composition and a unique combination of naturally occurring biologically active and antioxidant compounds (oryzanol, tocopherol, tocotrienol, phytosterol, polyphenol, dan squalene). The research emphazised on esterification reaction because of the rapid increase of FFA content in RBO after the milling of rice. Storage time of RB increased the FFA content. Mixing velocity dan time reaction was the other two variables which are affecting the esterification reaction. Those two variables are studied in this experiment.
 Experiment were designed to examine the mixing velocity and temperature reaction to the conversion of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). Reaction condition 20:1 molar ratio methanol to FFA content and 5%-v/v catalyst (to the oil) was used in all experiments. Mixing velocity and time reaction was arranged as follows: 500, 750, 1000 rpm and 40, 50, 60oC, respectively. Research conducted in four parts: soxhlet extraction with n-hexane as a solvent; oil-solvent separation process; and the last step was esterification reaction. Reaction conducted on three neck round bottom flask equipped with magnetic stirrer, refluk condenser and thermometer. Crude product was separated first from unreacted methanol, glycerol, and catalyst prior to physical analyzed of biodiesel’s properties. Conversion of FAME was calculated from acid value difference, after and before reaction conducted.
 It was found that mixing velocity influenced the FAME conversion not significantly (specially in crude rice bran oil high fatty acid content esterification); increasing in temperature will increase the FAME conversion; kinetic reaction controlled by chemical reaction; and biodiesel product from this research already fullfill the requirements of Indonesian Standard of Biodiesel (FBI-SO1-03).

Determination of γ-Oryzanol in Refined Rice Bran Oil by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Method.

γ-Oryzanol contained as a minor component in rice bran oil (RBO) is a group of phytosterol ferulates. The existence of γ-oryzanol in rice bran oil is very interesting because of the special biological functions. The methods to determine γ-oryzanol in crude RBO include the absorptiometry, thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). However, those methods need much solvent and long operating time. Moreover, some of those methods are not able to apply to refined RBO because of the low sensitivity. We have developed the method to determine γ-oryzanol in refined RBO using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). Refined RBO had a specific chemical shift due to the methoxy group of ferulate in γ-oryzanol at 3.9 ppm on the 1H-NMR spectrum. The intensity of the chemical shift due to the methoxy group of ferulate was consistent with the amounts of γ-oryzanol in refined RBO. This NMR method was able to quickly and easily determine γ-oryzanol in refined RBO.

Deacidification of Crude Rice Bran Oil (CRBO) to Remove FFA and Preserve γ-Oryzanol Using Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES)

High content of free fatty acids (FFA) in crude rice bran oil (CRBO) needs to be separated through deacidification. Generally, deacidification process that is widely used are chemical and physical processes which causes the loss of bioactive compounds (γ-oryzanol) and un-environmentally friendly. The liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) using deep eutectic solvents (DES) to remove FFA and preserve g-oryzanol would be implemented in this study. DES with different hydrogen bond donor (HBD) and hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) with certain molar ratio such as Choline Chloride (ChCl)-Ethylene glycol 1:2 (DES I), ChCl-Glycerol 1:1 (DES II), ChCl-Urea 1:2 (DES III), ChCl-Oxalic acid 1:2 (DES IV), and Betaine Monohydrate-Glycerol 1:8 (NADES) were used as solvent to extract FFA from dewaxed/degummed RBO (DDRBO) for certain extraction time (30, 60, 120, 180, and 240 min) and extraction temperature (30°C, 40°C, 50°C, 60°C, and 70°C) under stirring (200 rpm). Deacidification using DES I for 240 min. and temperature of 50 °C was the optimum solvent to remove FFA (19.03 ± 2.33 %) and preserve g-oryzanol (recovery of g-oryzanol was 51.30 ± 1.77 %). The results also revealed that the longer time of extraction would be increased removal of FFA and decreased recovery of g-oryzanol. The higher temperature of extraction would be increased removal of FFA. In this work, temperature of 50 °C was the best extraction temperature of FFA since DES has highest solubility at this temperature.

Wet Extraction of γ-Oryzanol From Rice Bran

γ-oryzanol is unique to rice bran oil (RBO) and it is known to be a potent hypocholesterolemic agent. Separation and isolation of γ-oryzanol from crude RBO is difficult due to complexity of components in crude RBO. Converting acylglycerides and FFA in RBO into FAME will concentrate bioactive compounds in the residue after FAME was removed from the RBO-based biodiesel. In this study, wet-extraction of bioactive compound from rice bran, γ-oryzanol, has been carried out using subcritical water-methanol mixture. The effects of extraction temperature, extraction time, water-methanol volume ratio and pressurizing gas type on the content and recovery of γ-oryzanol in crude RBO-based biodiesel have been investigated. It was found that the content and recovery of γ-oryzanol in RBO-based biodiesel increased with higher extraction temperature, longer extraction time and lower water concentration. The content of γ-oryzanol in RBO-based biodiesel was higher under N2 atmosphere since CO2 can acidify the solvent leading to hydrolysis of γ-oryzanol. The maximum γ-oryzanol content in RBO-based biodiesel was 2.16 % (corresponding to 2750 mg γ-oryzanol/kg rice bran) obtained after extraction for 7 h at 200 °C and 40 bar with water concentration of 50 % (v/v) under N2 atmosphere.

Acid-Catalyzed Esterification Pretreatment of High Free Fatty Acid Crude Rice Bran Oil for Biodiesel Production

Acid-Catalyzed Esterification Pretreatment of High Free Fatty Acid Crude Rice Bran Oil for Biodiesel Production

Effect of Heating on Compositional Characteristics and Oxidative Stability of Crude and Refined Rice Bran Oil

The compositional characteristics and oxidative stability of rice bran oil were determined by observing the formation of oxidative products and alteration in chemical composition of oils during microwave or oven heating. The values of oxidative indicators such as free acidity, peroxide, p-anisidine, total oxidation, thiobarbituric acid and color values, increased faster in refined oils compared to crude ones during heating. In gas chromatography analysis, the percentages of total saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the studied oils such as lab extracted crude rice bran oil, lab extracted and refined rice bran oil, crude rice bran oil from commercial mill and refined rice bran oil from commercial mill were: 23.07 to 23.56, 41.15 to 42.38 and 34.38 to 35.88, respectively. The heating caused the reduction of polyunsaturated fatty acids content with increasing saturated fatty acids content, and these changes were greater in refined rice bran oil indicating extensive lipid oxidation occurred in refined oil. The change in triacylglycerol species content as determined by High-performance liquid chromatography, was lower in crude oil; the higher stability of these species in crude oil could have contribution to reduce oxidation. During thermal treatment, the generation of hydroperoxides, their degradation and formation of secondary oxidative products evaluated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, were lower in crude oils. However, the rate of formation of oxidative products in lab prepared samples was lower compared to that in the samples collected from commercial mill. Under extreme thermal condition, the order of oxidative stability: lab extracted crude rice bran oil > crude rice bran oil from commercial mill>lab extracted and refined rice bran oil > refined rice bran oil from commercial mill. The present results will be useful to oil seed processing mills in refining of rice bran oil for economic feasibility and better marketability.

Engine performance, emission and bio characteristics of rice bran oil derived biodiesel blends

The present work involves the investigation of biodiesel characteristics derived from rice bran oil via heterogeneous basic catalytic transesterification path as the rice husk contains about 16–20% of crude rice bran oil by its weight. Engine performance and emission characteristics of rice bran oil derived biodiesel blends during fueling a four-stroke, single-cylinder, direct-injection engine at 1500 rpm were investigated. The results indicate that 20% biodiesel blend leads to a lower ignition delay at higher loads which in turn increases the rate of vaporization of the fuel as it has higher cetane umber. This fuel blend has a high in-cylinder peak pressure and heat release rate (HRR) of about 72.1 bar and 70.826 J/°CA respectively, during the pre-mixed combustion phase in rapid combustion due to the higher oxygen content. Even though, it has high viscous nature, it possesses highest brake thermal efficiency (BTE) which adds absolute combustion. The exhaust gas temperature (EGT: 7.8221%) increases with load and the observed values were matched with other biofuels. Moreover, the HCs, COx and NOx emissions decrease as the load increases since the increase in fuel atomization promotes the combustion process and thereby decreases the amount of unburnt biodiesel components. At 100% load, the smoke cloudiness level was decreased by about 21.62%. The rice bran oil and the blended (20, 30 and 40%: B20, B30 and B40) samples were tested for their notable in vitro microbial, antioxidant and nuclease bio activities due to the presence of certain bioactive components in the rice bran derived biodiesel. If the rice bran oil (RBO) is converted effectively into biodiesel, thereby it will not only satisfy 60–70% of our diesel requirement but also facilitate a green environment.

The effect of ethoxylate nonionic surfactants on phase inversion temperature and salinity: an alternative approach for vegetable oil recovery from spent bleaching earth

An accurate determination of the hydrophilic-lipophilic nature of surfactants plays an important role in guiding microemulsion formation. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of ethoxylate numbers (EONs) (3, 5, and 7 moles) of nonionic surfactants on a phase inversion temperature (PIT) and optimum salinity based on the equivalent alkane carbon numbers (ACNs) of vegetable oils. Three vegetable oils, soybean oil, crude rice bran oil and crude palm oil, were selected for use as a surrogate oil to represent the residual oils found in spent bleaching earth. In this study, the hydrophilic-lipophilic deviation (HLD) was used to predict the optimum salinity (0-20 %wt.) at various temperatures (25-55°C). The results showed that the ACNs of crude rice bran oil, crude palm oil, and soybean oil were 15.41±0.35, 13.71±0.41, and 17.60±0.28, respectively. In comparison, these predictions with the experimental results, the data showed slight deviations in the optimum salinity with the specific temperature. Finally, the ACN and the surfactant characteristics obtained in this study were combined with the HLD equation and used to validate its practically and utility for guiding the optimum microemulsion formulation.

Antioxidant Activity of a Oryzanols Concentrate by Differential Scanning Calorimetry

Oryzanols are natural antioxidants that are found in appreciable amounts in rice bran oil. However, by chemically refining the crude rice bran oil they are lost during the chemical neutralization step leaving the oil refined with very little oryzanols. The chemical neutralization leaves a residue called "soapstocks" where most of these antioxidants are found. From the soapstocks and by relatively simple procedures it is possible to obtain a oryzanols concentrate which may contain 33% of them. However, its antioxidant power has been little studied in oils compared to other natural antioxidants. Therefore, the present work gives information about the antioxidant power of a concentrate of oryzanols compared to natural antioxidants such as tocopherol and synthetic antioxidants such as butylhydroxytoluene (BHT) added in oils with different degrees of unsaturation and without antioxidants. The results determined by the differential scanning calorimetry method show that the antioxidant power was variable according to the method used. The tocopherol protected the oils from the oxidation at 130°C (soybean and high oleic sunflower) better than the oryzanols concentrate by the isothermal method. When the non-isothermal method was used it was found that the-tocopherol protected soybean oil better than oleic high sunflower oil compared to the oryzanols concentrate. However, when comparing BHT with oryzanols concentrate, BHT generally had a lower protection in both oils and both methods. These results show that the oryzanols concentrate has a protective effect of the oxidation of the studied oils, however, this could depend on the degree of the oil unsaturation.

Physicochemical Characterization of Rice (Oryza sativa) Bran Oil from Some Egyptian Rice Varieties

In view of growing demand on vegetable oils in Egypt. Find a new edible oil sources from non-traditional oil crops has a great interest. The present investigation was aimed to characterize rice bran oil from three Egyptian rice varieties, namely Sakha 106, Giza 178 and Egyptian Yasmine. The crude oil content ranged from15.75 to 21.42%. Physicochemical parameters of the hexane-extracted crude rice bran oils were found to be as follow: specific gravity (30oC) (0.8163 - 0.8590), photometric colour index (2.6- 3.96), moisture and volatile matters contents (1.90 - 6.92), saponification value (172.01- 181.21 mg KOH/g), acid value (3.80 - 5.59 mg of KOH/g), free fatty acids% (1.9 - 2.81 %), ester value (168.20- 175.41 mg of KOH/g), peroxide value (0.99 - 5.55 meq/Kg), p-anisidine value (5.90 - 13.63) and totox value (15.10 - 22.90). Furthermore rice bran oil of selected varieties possesses simple fatty acid profile with three fatty acids namely oleic, palmitic and linoleic acids present more than 90% of the fatty acids. Also, rice bran oil of selected varieties was found to contain unsaponifiable matter 3.35 - 4.57%, wax 3.00 - 3.41% and gamma- oryzanol 1.59 - 3.65 gm/100 gm oil. In general, rice bran oil has several physiochemical, compositional and nutritional properties similar to those of traditional vegetable oils; which allow using rice bran oil as an important ingredient of human diet. In addition, the high level of natural antioxidants especially gamma- oryzanol improves the oxidative stability of rice bran oil.

Microwave-Assisted stabilisation and storage stability study of rice bran oil from different varieties

Rice bran is a by-product from milling process of paddy rice to produce refined rice, however until today, there was limited utilisation of rice bran even though rice bran has the ability and potential to become of the major supplementary sources that function as food agent substance. This is due to the instability of rice bran as it will become unstable due to the hydrolysis and oxidation process. The oxidation process, mainly due to the oil presence in the rice bran, releases substances that is unsuitable for consumption. Immediate extraction of the oil from the rice bran is needed as it will be hydrolysed into free fatty acids (FFA) and glycerol by the activity of lipase enzymes. The stabilisation of rice bran can be done by controlling the lipase activity. This process could indirectly prevent the rice bran from being oxidised. Studies have shown that the lipase enzymes in the rice bran can be inactivated depends on the temperature and duration of heat exposure (stabilisation) as well as the moisture content. In this study, the effect of microwave-assisted stabilisation of rice bran was investigated on the quality of rice bran oil (RBO) extracted. Different varieties of rice bran were used in this study which was from lowland, upland and Bario. Extraction of the rice bran was performed using soxtherm extractor and quality of RBO was determined by analysing its properties in terms of crude RBO yield, moisture content and free fatty acid content. Storage stability of the rice bran was evaluated until 40 d. The results demonstrated that the Bario rice bran showed decrease of oil yield from 0 - 40 d with a difference of 48.9 %, followed by the lowland rice bran by 48.7 %. The upland rice bran oil gives the higher different percentage of 64.2 % during the storage. An increase of moisture content was observed during the storage for all stabilised and unstabilised rice brans. Free fatty acid contents show increase amount in almost all types of rice bran range from 2.5 to 11.9 %.

Fatty Amides from Crude Rice Bran Oil as Green Corrosion Inhibitors

Due to its high oil content, this research proposes the use of an agroindustrial byproduct (rice bran) as a sustainable option for the synthesis of corrosion inhibitors. From the crude rice bran oil, the synthesis of fatty amide-type corrosion inhibitors was carried out. The corrosion inhibitory capacity of the fatty amides was evaluated on an API X-70 steel using electrochemical techniques such as real-time corrosion monitoring and potentiodynamic polarization curves. As a corrosive medium, a CO2-saturated solution (3.5% NaCl) was used at three temperatures (30, 50, and 70°C) and different concentrations of inhibitor (0, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 ppm). The results demonstrate that the sustainable use of agroindustrial byproducts is a good alternative to the synthesis of environmentally friendly inhibitors with high corrosion inhibition efficiencies.

Performance and exhaust emission characteristics of variable compression ratio diesel engine fuelled with esters of crude rice bran oil.

As a substitute to petroleum-derived diesel, biodiesel has high potential as a renewable and environment friendly energy source. For petroleum importing countries the choice of feedstock for biodiesel production within the geographical region is a major influential factor. Crude rice bran oil is found to be good and viable feedstock for biodiesel production. A two step esterification is carried out for higher free fatty acid crude rice bran oil. Blends of 10, 20 and 40 % by vol. crude rice bran biodiesel are tested in a variable compression ratio diesel engine at compression ratio 15, 16, 17 and 18. Engine performance and exhaust emission parameters are examined. Cylinder pressure-crank angle variation is also plotted. The increase in compression ratio from 15 to 18 resulted in 18.6 % decrease in brake specific fuel consumption and 14.66 % increase in brake thermal efficiency on an average. Cylinder pressure increases by 15 % when compression ratio is increased. Carbon monoxide emission decreased by 22.27 %, hydrocarbon decreased by 38.4 %, carbon dioxide increased by 17.43 % and oxides of nitrogen as NOx emission increased by 22.76 % on an average when compression ratio is increased from 15 to 18. The blends of crude rice bran biodiesel show better results than diesel with increase in compression ratio.

Ultrafiltration-based degumming of crude rice bran oil using a polymer membrane

Membrane technology has been gaining momentum in industrial processes, especially in food technology. It is believed to simplify processes, reduce energy consumption, and eliminate pollutants. The objective was to study the performance of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyethersulfone (PES) polymeric membranes in the degumming of the miscella of crude rice bran oil by using a bench-scale tangential filtration module. In addition, oil miscella filtration techniques using hexane and anhydrous ethyl alcohol solvents were compared. All membranes showed the retention of phospholipids and high flow rates. However, the best performance was observed using the 50-kDa PVDF membrane in miscella hexane solvent, with a 95.5% retention of the phosphorus concentration (by a factor of 1.4), resulting in a permeate with 29 mg·kg−1 of phosphorus and an average flow rate of 48.1 L·m−2·h−1. This technology can be used as a low-pollution, economical alternative for the de-gumming of crude rice bran oil, being effective in the removal of hydratable and non-hydratable phospholipids, resulting in oils with a low phosphorus content.

Factors influencing NOx emission of a stationary diesel engine fuelled with crude rice bran oil methyl ester blend – Taguchi approach

The main objective of this work is to control the NOx emission of a stationary diesel engine fuelled with crude rice bran oil methyl ester blend with less sacrifice on smoke density and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and also to investigate the factors influencing the objective. Fuel injection timing, percentage of exhaust gas recirculation and fuel injection pressure are chosen as the promising factors for the objective and NOx emission, smoke density and BTE are considered as response variables. Tests were conducted as per Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array and the most influencing factor for each response variable and also the significance of each factor on the same was found out through analysis of variance (ANOVA). Response graph was drawn for each response variable and from the results of response graph and ANOVA the optimum combination of the factor levels in achieving the objective was obtained and the same was confirmed experimentally.

Esters of ricebran oil with short chain alcohols as alternative fuel for diesel engines

The potential of ricebran oil as a feedstock for the production of a fuel for diesel engines alternative to regular diesel fuel has been assessed. Esterification rate of crude ricebran oil with methyl alcohol was studied using different volumetric ratios of alcohol to oil, different catalyst loads and catalyst types. Catalysts used were sulfuric acid at a concentration of 2% of the oil/alcohol mixture in addition to hydrochloric acid and Amberlite IR-120 cation exchange resin at the same molar concentration of H+ as in case of sulfuric acid. The reaction was fastest using sulfuric acid which has been then used to prepare esters of ricebran oil with methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl alcohols. The four products have been evaluated as a fuel for diesel engines according to their fuel properties compared to regular diesel fuel. These properties include the calorific value, flash point, viscosity, pour point, cetane number, sulfur content and ASTM distillation characteristics. The results have shown that the methyl as well as the ethyl esters have the closest properties to those of regular diesel fuel. Diesel engine performance using blends of regular diesel fuel with methyl and ethyl esters of ricebran oil have been tested and compared to that using regular diesel fuel. The results have shown that the engine performance using a blend of 50% regular diesel fuel and 50% methyl esters of ricebran oil is better than that using regular diesel fuel. The brake thermal efficiency at full load was 30.2% using the fuel blend compared to 27.5% in case of regular fuel.

Improving the solvent-extraction process of rice bran oil

Extracting crude oil from oilseeds is the first step in the production of vegetable oil. Organic solvent-extraction is widely applied. The production of high value rice bran oil is gaining increased interest, and is the subject of the present paper. Field data from a 32T/day pilot plant in Heilongjiang will be compared with engineering simulations. Since these processes are energy-intensive, two strategies for saving energy in the process will be assessed. Field data and simulation results will be shown to be in excellent agreement. Two energy optimization strategies were designed by both energy pinch technology to integrate heat recovery, and by using nitrogen instead of steam in the desolventizer/toaster, subsequently using a solvent recovery unit with gas membrane. As a result, 45.2% of the total energy consumption of the rice bran oil process can be saved whilst maintaining the original production capacity and high purity of the crude rice bran oil. The results confirm the possible energy savings and improvements in the solvent extraction process. It is also noteworthy that simulation techniques, commonly used in gas/liquid chemical engineering design, can be adapted and completed to cover the more complex design of solid/gas/liquid biochemical processes.