Soybean oil production technology

Soybean oil is one of the key and most liquid products on the global agro-industrial market. It is a strategic raw material that forms the basis of many industries: from feed and food industries to pharmaceuticals, perfumery and biofuel production.

 

Distribution by oil type (2020/2021 season):

Oil type	Share in world production	Main manufacturers
Palm	35,30%	Indonesia, Malaysia
Soybean	28,80%	Brazil, Argentina, USA, China
Rapeseed	14,10%	EU, Canada
Sunflower	9,20%	Ukraine, Russia, EU
Palm-core	4,20%	Indonesia, Malaysia
Peanut	3,10%	China, India, USA
Cotton	2,30%	China, India, USA
Coconut	1,70%	Philippines, Indonesia
Olive	1,40%	ІSpain, Italy, Greece

 

Mechanical pressing: Guarantee of purity and quality

The Bronto technology is based on a fundamental principle: exclusively mechanical processing of raw materials. We deliberately abandon the common chemical extraction method, which uses hexane (a petroleum solvent) to extract the oil.

Advantages of our approach:

1. Environmentally friendly: The resulting oil is a 100% natural product that does not contain any residual chemical solvents.
2. Preservation of benefits: Mechanical pressing allows you to preserve the native properties of the oil, including valuable phospholipids and tocopherols.
3. High value: Virgin (unrefined) oil has a higher market value and is an ideal raw material for further processing in the food industry.

Technological process and key indicators

The efficiency of oil production directly depends on strict adherence to technological stages.

1. Stage: Conditioning of raw materials

The quality of the final product is determined even before pressing. The key parameter is the moisture content of the soybeans.

Technological requirement: To ensure maximum oil yield and minimize equipment wear, soybeans must be dried to 8% moisture content before feeding into the line. Violation of this parameter leads to a decrease in the efficiency of pressing and “soiling” of the raw material.

2. Stage: Pre-extrusion

While the press is the heart of the pressing process, preparing the soybeans in the extruder is an integral part of the technology. Extrusion breaks down the soybean cell walls, inactivates anti-nutritional enzymes (such as urease), and transforms the fat globules, making the oil more bioavailable for pressing.

3. Stage: Mechanical pressing (Pressing)

The prepared raw material enters the Soybean Oil Press. When working with conditioned soybeans (initial oil content up to 27%), our equipment consistently provides the following indicators:

• Soybean oil yield: 19 – 20%
• Residual oil content of cake: 7 – 9%

These indicators are an optimal balance, allowing you to obtain two high-value products:

1. High yield soybean oil.
2. High-protein soybean meal with an ideal residual fat content (7-9%), which is a high-energy component for compound feeds.

Important technical aspects and post-processing

Getting the oil from the press is not the final stage. Unrefined oil requires mandatory further processing.

1. Cleaning from solid impurities

The oil obtained by mechanical pressing is a suspension. It contains up to 3% solid impurities (small particles of cake), known as “fuz” or solid dispersed phase. The exploitation or sale of such oil is impossible, it requires mandatory purification.

Technological solutions for cleaning:

• Sedimentation: The basic method in which the fuzz settles under the influence of gravity in special tanks (sedimentation tanks). This is the longest but least expensive method of primary treatment.
• Separation (Centrifugation): A more technological and faster method using industrial oil separators (centrifuges) that forcibly separate the solid phase.
• Filtration: The final stage to obtain a marketable, clear oil. The oil is passed through frame or plate press filters to remove the smallest suspended particles.

2. Physical properties: Viscosity

It is important for technologists and engineers to consider that soybean oil has a significantly higher kinematic viscosity compared to, for example, sunflower oil.

Practical significance: This places direct demands on the plant infrastructure. Oil transportation systems must be carefully designed:

• Use pumps of appropriate capacity (often positive displacement type).
• Ensure sufficient pipeline diameter.
• In regions with low temperatures, provide heating systems for pipelines and storage tanks to avoid thickening and crystallization of the product.