Raw materials to produce crude vegetable oil are sometimes contaminated due to the use of pesticides and herbicides. Some raw materials are sometimes directly dried with engine off gas, resulting in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) contamination, benzo(a)pyrene, for example. Crude vegetable oils can also become contaminated during overseas transport by sea.
The use of activated carbon for the purification of vegetable oils has become increasingly important over the years following tightened quality standards for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).
Powder activated carbon (PAC) is often used for poly aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) removal from vegetable oil.
PAH removal is also achieved with granular activated carbon (GAC) using multistage adsorption systems that guarantee safe and efficient removal of contaminants. Some granular activated carbon users have installed fixed bed adsorbers while others are using mobile adsorbers.
The use of granular activated carbon compared to powder activated carbon results in several advantages, including:
- A reduction in the activated carbon consumption (GAC consumption is usually less than 30% of PAC consumption)
- Granular activated carbon (GAC) loading is higher compared to the use of powdered activated carbon (PAC)
- No activated carbon overdosing by operators to avoid off spec products
- Granular activated carbon (GAC) deals better with process fluctuations
- Lower product (vegetable oil) losses:
- Lower carbon consumption means lower volume of pores with residual product being ‘lost’ from the system
- Sustainability:
- Lower Granular activated carbon (GAC) consumption leads to lower CO₂ emissions during the production of the adsorbent compared to powdered activated carbon (PAC)
- Lower handling costs
- Lower maintenance costs
- Lower risk of spent carbon ignition
The bleaching step can sometimes be the limiting bottleneck of the plant and granular activated carbon can be used to de-bottleneck the plant.
VEGETABLE OIL : MOBILE FILTERS
AquaFlow™
The AquaFlow™ V2 mobile adsorbers are designed and built for use in the purification of vegetable oil. The filtration unit is a combined transport vessel and adsorption system delivered, prefilled with selected adsorbent media, to ensure cost effective purification results. The granular activated carbon arrives in a closed container ready for use and so the plant operators do not come into contact with either the fresh or saturated product.
VEGETABLE OIL: SOLUTIONS
Auxiliary equipment and additional services
In addition to mobile filters and different media, Jacobi Services also offers various items of auxiliary equipment and additional services, including:
A series of removable insulation jackets with electrical heat tracing to maintain the temperature and to protect operators when the AquaFlow™ mobile filters are operated at higher temperature.
Isotherm testing with the user in order to compare powdered activated carbon dosing with granular activated carbon filtration.
Recycling, Energy Recovery or Disposal Services
Used or spent activated carbon and other media with a high calorific content that cannot be recycled by thermal reactivation can be used in cement kilns or incinerator plants for energy recovery. Jacobi Services can assist in the development of an ecologically sensitive, yet cost effective, method of managing the end-of-life processing of the media.
VEGETABLE OIL: PRODUCTS
ColorSorb™ 620
ColorSorb™ 620 is a granular activated carbon, that is effective for decolourising a wide range of liquids, including foodstuffs and industrial process streams. The high mesoporosity of the product allows the effective removal of colour bodies and complex organic molecules. The product meets the requirements of the Food Chemical Codex. This product is suitable for recycling by thermal reactivation, an environmentally responsible method that helps to reduce atmospheric CO₂ emissions and contributes to the sustainable use of the world’s resources.
ColorSorb™ XFP
Jacobi Carbons also offers the ColorSorb™ XFP range of powder activated carbon products for PAH removal from vegetable oils. They have a balanced pore distribution for optimum adsorption kinetics and strictly controlled particle size distribution for fast filtration.
VEGETABLE OIL: ION EXCHANGE RESINS
Two-phase Olive Oil Extraction System
Resinex™ TPS-2300 can be used to recover hydroxytyrosol found in the olive mill waste waters after solid waste hydrolyzation. Elution is done with water. The eluted solution contains up to 70% of hydroxytyrosol. To increase the purity level, it is possible to pass the eluted solution through Resinex ™ AD-3008 synthetic adsorber which retains hydroxytyrosol. After elution and solvent evaporation, the hydroxytyrosol is recovered with a purity of 95%.
Three-phase Olive Oil Extraction System
Phenolic compounds, mainly hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives, can be recovered from olive mill waste waters using synthetic adsorbents Resinex™ AD-3008 and Resinex™ AD-3300. The first adsorber, with a styrenic matrix, retains 90% of the phenolic compounds whereas the second adsorber, with an acrylic matrix, retains colour, odour and the residual phenolic compounds. After elution, evaporation and centrifugation, a purity level of 90% is obtained.
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