Learn With Steem: "How To Process Palm Oil Using Batch Process"

Processing of palm oil is one of the commercial processes, and a country like Nigeria ventures into this business because of the economic importance of the product. This post addresses the equipment for palm oil processing, the raw material for palm oil processing, How to process palm oil using batch process, and the benefits of consuming palm oil.

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EQUIPMENTS FOR PROCESSING PALM OIL

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The Following is the equipment I needed to process oil from palm fruit;

1. Boiler: I needed a boiler so I could use it and cook my palm fruit to soften the mesocarp or the flesh. You can use a commercial boiler or design yours. In my case, I constructed a big drum that looks like a pot with a tripod stand, then placed firewood under the drum and set fire.

2. Grinder: I needed a grinder I could use and grind the soft mesocarp of the palm fruits. I designed this equipment and guided a fabricator to fabricate it the way I wanted. There's an inlet where the raw material can be fed and the outlet where the ground mesocarp can be received as the product. The equipment has a propeller. Maybe I would write a post and explain its mechanism in one of my subsequent posts. The machine should be designed such that it grinds only the mesocarp and leaves the palm kernel ungrounded, the kernel would be used for further process, and there should be a Material balance such that the Feed equals The Product and Accumulation.

3. The Compressor: I needed equipment I could use and compressed the ground mesocarp to extract oil from it. The equipment is such that there is an inlet where the ground mesocarp is fed and the outlet where only the Oil is received as the product. I will write about its mechanism in one of my subsequent posts. The ground mesocarp and the kernel remain as Accumulation which would be removed after the extraction of oil.

4. The separator: This equipment is used for separating the ground mesocarp from the palm kernel. I don't have this equipment yet; I am still working on its design, and with time, I will fabricate it and test-run it.

5. The Dryer: I used this equipment to dry water from the Oil, to have only oil as the end product.

Compressor	grinder

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THE RAW MATERIALS

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• Palm fruits: The African oil palm is the species of palm tree to be used for the process. Take a look at the sample of the palm tree and its fruits that have been separated from the chaff.

• Water: This is essential because it's used for boiling or cooking palm fruits and grinding the fruits.

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HOW TO PROCESS PALM OIL USING BATCH PROCESS

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• The palm fruits come in a bunch. Therefore, I used the mechanical separation method to separate the fruits from their bunches, and this involved separating the chaff from the bunches to have just the fruits. The chaff from the bunches is the byproduct that I used as fuel for the boiler.

• Feed The boiler with the raw materials. I fed my boiler with the separated palm fruits and water. I put the palm fruits in the drum and add a suitable quantity of water, then set up the fire with firewood and chaff from palm fruit bunches and cook it until the mesocarp of the palm fruits is softened. When the mesocarp was softened, I filtered the water from the palm fruits.

• Feed the grinder with the cooked palm fruits. I put the palm fruits in the grinder that is already on or propelling, then added a suitable quantity of water for smooth grinding and allowed the operation for some minutes then I opened the outlet when it was fully grounded to receive the product, which was the ground mesocarp.

• Feed the compressor with the ground palm fruits. I fed my compressor with the ground mesocarp and then applied force. I designed my compressor such that it's manually operated; it's not automated, and I chose this one because of the cost of fabricating an automated compressor. As we applied force or compressed it, palm oil flowed from the various small holes I created on the compressor. When we applied force to its limit, we moved the extracted oil and opened the compressor to remove the ground mesocarp from which the oil had been extracted.

• Feed the separator with mesocarp after oil extraction to separate palm kernel from it. I am working on designing and fabricating this equipment. For now, we applied the mechanical separation method with our hands.

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• Re-feed the compressor with only the ground mesocarp since the kernel has been separated. We compressed the mesocarp to extract the remaining oil.

• Feed the Dryer with the oil to have your end product. I used a pot as my dryer, then placed it on fire, and put the oil in it to dry the water from the oil to have my desired end product. This operation is possible because oil and water have different densities and boil at different temperatures. Water boils first and dries because oil is denser.

With the above steps, you can process your palm oil using a batch process.

Grinding	compression

Separation	Drying

Product before drying	Product after drying(End-product)

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THE BENEFITS OF PALM OIL

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This product is used in soap-making Industries for soap production. But since it's edible, it has many health benefits to its consumers.

Palm oil contains vitamins E and A, and it is a saturated oil with less cholesterol. We all know that vitamin A is very good for the eyes and vitamin E protects the brain.

Using palm oil as your cooking oil will Protect your heart because it's saturated oil with less cholesterol. It will make your skin healthy because of its saturated fat.

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EXPLANATION OF JARGONS

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• Inlet: Part of a machine in which we put the raw material for processing.

• outlet: part of a machine that we receive the product.

• batch process: A process that is not continuous, but we operate it intermittently.

• Feed: The raw material when put in the inlet.

Thank you!

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Best Regards
@iddy