Water degumming of edible oil

Small scale edible oil refining machine

The crude oil from the solvent extraction process contains water soluble components, primarily comprised of phospholipids, which need to be removed from the oil to enable minimum precipitation and settling during oil transport and long term storage. The water degumming process involves adding water to the crude oil, hydrating the water soluble components, and then removing the majority of them via centrifugal separation. The light phase after centrifugal separation is the crude degummed oil, and the heavy phase after centrifugal separation is a combination of water, water soluble components and entrained oil, collectively referred to as “gums”. The crude degummed oil is dried and cooled before being sent to storage. The gums are pumped back onto the meal.

Refining pot of edible oil

Advantages of edible oil water degumming are as follows:
Simplistic
Surge tank to prevent brief degumming interruptions from stopping extraction
No oil heating or cooling prior to Degumming Separator
Utilizes same Oil Dryer as the solvent extraction distillation process
Utilizes condensate from extraction for hydration water source

Effective
Consistently produces degummed oil with less than 200 ppm phosphorus
Hydration Vessel has multiple internal agitated compartments to optimize hydration
Positive displacement pump minimizes disturbance of hydrated gums

High Uptime
Automated self-cleaning centrifuge minimizes break-overs and operator interface

Water degumming of edible oil

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