What is alkali refining of palm oil?

The alkali refining of palm oil is one kind of palm oil deacidification method. It is called chemical refining method, usually used in batch type and semi-continous palm oil refinery plant.

The principle of alkali refining of palm oil

According to acid-base neutralization principle, add alkali into degummed palm oil, react with Free Fatty Acid(FFA), and last produce nigre which can be used to make soap.

The detailed process of alkali refining of palm oil

The palm oil alkali refining process

1. Heating: After degumming, the crude palm oil should be under 60-70℃ temperature.

2. Neutralizing: Add alkali, stir the oil slowly, then the alkali will react with FFA, and finally get the by-product--nigre.

3. Settling: After reaction, the oil should be settled for a long time to make the nigre settle down.

4. Separating: Separate the nigre from the oil.

5. Washing: About 500 ppm soaps still remain in the separated neutralized oil, adding 5% of hot water to reduce the residual content of soaps, because hot water will absorb oil soap and other impurities.

After alkali refining of palm oil, the acid value of the palm oil will be low, and it is more easily to store. But if you want to get higher quality palm oil, the decolorization and deodorization of palm oil are also necessary processes.

The complete palm oil chemical refining process flow chart

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