Steam deacidification of palm oil

This work presents the application of response surface methodology (RSM) to the study of the effects of three factors (temperature, percent stripping steam and the stearin/olein ratio) on the losses/transfer of fatty compounds during the steam deacidification of blends of palm oil fractions (stearin and olein) as model systems. The responses of interest were the final oil acidity and the loss of neutral oil (NOL). These experiments were unprecedented in terms of the monitoring and controlling of the process variables during the heating and stripping periods in a laboratory scale batch deodorizer. The results revealed that the oil composition was an important and statistically significant factor in the selection of more suitable processing variables, besides temperature and steam.

Research highlights▶ Stearin/olein ratio has a significant effect in model systems of palm oil. ▶ The increase of stearin/olein ratio raises the concentration of TAG in distillates. ▶ The stripping gas temperature must be maintained close to that of the oil. ▶ The work presents unprecedented experiments in terms of monitoring process variables.