The document discusses the 8 processes involved in palm oil production at a mill: 1) bunch reception, 2) loading ramp, 3) sterilization, 4) threshing, 5) digestion, 6) oil extraction via screw pressing, 7) clarification and purification to remove impurities from crude palm oil, and 8) separating nuts from fiber at the nut and kernel station. The purpose of palm oil refining is to further reduce water, impurities, and oxidation products while retaining beneficial components like tocopherols.

1. PALM OIL MANUFACTURING AND APPLICATIONL1.1
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2. CHAP 1
Introduction to palm oil milling and refining
 The chemistry of palm oil
 Palm oil milling process
 The purpose of palm oil refining
 Development in the Malaysia palm oil refining
industry.
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3. Learning Outcomes
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Student should be able to:
 Explain the palm oil milling
process.

4. 4

5. THEOILPALMFRUIT
The fruit is made up of:
- Exocarp - skin
- Mesocarp – palm oil and fibers
- Endocarp - shell
- Kernel – seed – oil & meal

6. 6
Palm Oil Milling
Process

7. EXTRACTION

8. 1. Bunch reception
2. Loading ramp
3. Sterilization
4. Threshing
8 Processes of palm oil production in mill:
5. Digestion
6. Oil Extraction
7. Clarification & purification
8. Nut and kernel station

9. 9
• Upon reception at the mill, the fruit is graded to ensure a high
standard of harvesting. Grade as follows:
(a) Fruit bunch < 10 loose fruitlets → unripe
(b) Fruit bunch ≥ 10 loose fruitlets → ripe
(c) Fruit bunch with excessive loose fruits detached → overripe
(d) Bunch with loose fruits completely detached → rotten
1. Bunch Reception

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Appropriate action will be
taken by mill and estate
management based on the
grading.
- Fruit will carried by
trucks to the loading
ramp.
1. Bunch Reception (con’t)

11. 11
Empty fruit bunch
2. LOADING RAMP

12. 12
Purpose of ramp operation:
- to ensure that old fruits are first taken out for processing, to avoid
accumulation of old fruit which otherwise will rot over a short period
- creating high FFA problem (should not exceed 5%).
2. LOADING RAMP (con’t)

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- Fruit from the hopper are loaded into the fruit cages waiting
underneath.
- Each cage hold about 2½ tons of fruit and these are pushed in a
train/locomotive to the sterilizer yard.
2. LOADING RAMP (con’t)

14. - The fruit arriving inside the
cages are then charged into the
sterilizer to be ‘cooked’ under
saturated steam at 40 psig.
- Quality of the cooked fruit is
very important for subsequent
process.
3. Sterilization
2. LOADING RAMP (con’t)

15. (a) Prevention of any further rise in FFA due to
enzyme action by inactivation of the lipolytic
enzymes
(b) To loosen fruit still attached to the bunch stalk
(c) Preparation of the fruit for subsequent
processing.
(d) Preconditioning of the nuts to minimize kernel
breakage during both processing and nut cracking
(e) Coagulations of the protein material and
hydrolysis of the other materials present in the
palm fruit.
3. Sterilization
Objective of sterilization:
3. Sterilization

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4. THRESHING

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Purpose:
Threshing or stripping is done to separate the
sterilized fruits from the sterilized bunch stalks.
- The sterilized fruit together with the fruit cage is
lifted by a hoisting crane and then poured on to the
threshing machine.
4. THRESHING (con’t)

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4. THRESHING (con’t)

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5. DIGESTION

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» PURPOSE: Process of reheat, where pericarp loosened from the nuts and prepared
for pressing.
» Digestion take place in steam heated vessels provided with stirring arms known as
digester or kettles.
» Temperature ≈ 100ºC, the arms stir and rub the fruit, loosening the pericarp from
the nuts and breaking open as many of the oil cells possible.
» The digester converts the stripped fruits into a homogeneous mash.
5. DIGESTION

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22. 22
 Palm oil is extracted by pressing in the
screws press- consist of perforated
cage in which runs a single or double
screw
 Press screw: tough and wear resistant
steel; press cage: stainless steel.
 The outlet end of perforated cage is
restricted by a cone and it is this
restriction of the discharge that creates
a pressure in the cage.
 Discharge from screw press:
crude palm oil liquor and matte of oily
fibre and nuts

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 Fibre and nuts: carried by the steam
jacketed conveyor
 Crude oil: passed on to the
vibrating screens to be separated
from the accompanying solids.

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7. Clarification & Purification
Purpose:
- to give a clear stable product of
acceptable appearance. Water and
impurities must be removed.

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7. Clarification & Purification (con’t)
1
• The crude oil is diluted first with hot water to reduce its viscosity.
2
• The diluted crude oil is screened to remove any coarse fibrous
material which is returned to digester.
3
• The screened crude oil is heated (90-95°C) and pumped to the
continuous settling tank.
4
• Retention of the crude liquor in settling tank enables the oil to rise to
the surface and overflow continuously into a reception tank.
5
• Settled oil purified by centrifuging – reduce the dirt content to
0.01% or less

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8. Nut & Kernel Station

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Nuts are normally not
processed for the oil content
in the same mill.
Separation of nuts from the
accompanying fibre is done
in depericarper station.
8. Nut & Kernel Station (con’t)

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Function of depericarper:
• nut polishing
• partial drying of fibre
transport of fibre to the boiler
house
• grading out of oversize
foreign material e.g wood,
stones, metal bits and stalks
8. Nut & Kernel Station (con’t)

29. Application
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• Pressed fibres uses as fuel to
the boiler.
• The separated shells are sent
to the yard as fuel to the
boiler whereas the kernels are
then sorted in kernel silo dryer
before final storage in the
bulk kernel silo.
8. Nut & Kernel Station

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The purpose of
palm oil refining

31. REFINING
EXTRACTION

32. Why refining?
• Water, insoluble impurities, free fatty acids, oxidation
product should be kept a minimum level.
• However, the refining treatment should retain as much
as possible the tocopherols and tocotrienols because
of their antioxidant effect to the product.
• Two methods of refining: physical or chemical refining.

33. Summary/Take Home Message
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1. Bunch reception
2. Loading ramp
3. Sterilization
4. Threshing
8 Processes of palm oil production in mill:
5. Digestion
6. Oil Extraction
7. Clarification & purification
8. Nut and kernel station