How to start A MANUFACTURING industry series: processing of oil palm fruits into palm oil and palm kernel on a small scale.

Processing of Oil Palm Fruits into Palm Oil and Palm Kernel on a Small Scale

Introduction:

Palm oil is an edible oil obtained from fruits and kernels of a species of palm known as Elaeis Guineansis tree. The reddish–to–orange pulp of the ovoid-shaped fruits grows on stalks in bunches on the oil palm tree. Red palm oil and kernel are the main final products of primary processing besides minor quantities of sludge which is used for animal feed and farm manure. Kernel shell and dry fiber (by-products of processing) are used within the factory for fuelling the steam boiler.

Red palm oil is a major cooking oil in Nigeria. Refined palm oil is a preferred cooking and baking oil worldwide because of its recognized health benefits. It is, therefore, used in the production of a wide range of food products such as biscuits, cookies, bread, Pizza, instant noodles, chocolate, and chips. It is also an industrial raw material for the production of margarine, baking fat, soap, candle wax, and for coloring and scenting ointments.

The market for palm oil is worldwide. Infact, it is reported that palm oil is a major ingredient in almost 50% of all food and non-food items in most grocery store or supermarket owing to its technical superiority and economic benefits. Hence the market demand for palm oil is continuously expanding the world over. According to vintage market report. Com; the global palm oil market is valued at between USD63 & USD86 billion in 2023; and is projected to reach a value of USD80-90 billion by 2030 @ a CAGR of 3% over the forecast period.

Currently, Nigeria occupies the fifth position in the league of palm oil producing countries in spite of the its recognized favorable climate and soil type for growth of the crop. According to United States department of Agriculture (USDA), Nigeria accounts for 1.5% of total world output of palm oil which specifically amounts to 4.03 metric tons/annum production. The same source reported that Nigeria is currently the largest consumer of palm oil in Africa; amounting to about 2.5 metric tons/annum. Hence, the country currently imports about 1.2 metric tons of the product annually to meet the short fall. In monetary terms, this amounts to between USD 500-USD 600 million yearly. Hence there exists a good investments opportunity for industrial production of palm oil and backward integration into developing oil palm estates to supply raw material for processing.

RAW MATERIALS AND PRODUCTS:-

The sole raw materials for production of palm oil and kernel is palm fruits branches usually referred to as fresh fruit bunches(FFB). For the purposes of planning, the reported output of the end products/intermediate products of processing a typical batch of FFB is as follows:

Manufacturing Technology and Equipment:-

Extraction of palm oil from fruits begins with harvesting of the fruit bunches from the tree. The harvested bunches (FFB for short) are delivered to the palm oil milling plant by means of a trailer attached to tractors or by trucks. On arrival, the fruits are first weighed for quality control purposes before dumping the bunch in a designated storage area, which is usually a concrete floor or a raised unloading ramp depending on the type of installation.

The FFB is subsequently subjected to a series of activities technically called unit operations, aimed at efficiently extracting the palm oil and kernel and preparing the by-product for use. These series of activities include:

1. Sterilizing the fruit bunches by
2. Extracting the fruit from the
3. Drying the fruit to facilitate the process of pressing out the crude palm oil by pounding
4. Pressing out the crude palm oil
5. Extracting the palm nuts from the pressed
6. Cracking the palm nuts to extract the
7. Separating the kernel from
8. Drying the kernels to save moisture

These series of activities are configured differently to suit the size of the plant and the resources available to the Investor.

At N.C Gilbert dev. Co. Ltd, Our plants are currently configured to suit the needs of small-scale applications. Our small-scale plant generally refers to the plant with a daily Input capacity of not more than 10 tons/day of FFB. Specifically, we have designed two different processing pathways for (1) mini plant (1-5 tons/day) and (2) small-scale plants (5- 10 tons/day) taking into account the need to limit the initial capital investment cost of the plant at take-off.

Manufacturing Process and Equipment Description

• 1. Sterilize:- The first step in the production process of palm oil is cooking (sterilization) of the fresh fruit bunches (FFB). This is done by open Injection of steam from boilers into the bunches packed in performed baskets. The baskets are usually locked in a Pressure Vessel. The object of sterilization is :
• To halt any further deterioration in the quality of fruit raw material (FFB) received for processing into oil. Sterilization inactivates the lipolytic enzymes in the fruit, which causes rancidity in oil as a result of an increase in free fatty acid
• To facilitate mechanical stripping of fruits from bunches. To loosen the fruit’s attachments to bunches, sufficient moist heat must penetrate to the point of attachment of the fruit to the
• To Increase the efficiency of the oil extraction process in the press. Sterilization helps modify the colloids in the fruit pericarp and stalk in a way that oil easily separates from the fibrous solid during pressing.
• To pre-condition the palm nuts to minimize breakage during both pressing and cracking. Adequate sterilization permits sufficient heat penetration to cause a high percentage of the kernels to become detached from the shell. This process of loosening the kernel is continued in the nut drying silos and must be completed before the nuts are cracked to avoid splitting of kernels.

We supply vertical-type batch sterilizer which works well with small-scale oil milling plant installation. Our design consists of a pressure cylinder vessel with a charging door at the top and a discharge door at the side. The vessel is complete with a steam connection and the whole assembly is mounted on a platform to facilitate easy operation.

1. 1. 1. Digester:- The loosened fruits from the stripper are next pounded into a homogeneous marsh in a digester. Our design digesters are basically steam jacketed cylinders equipped with a rotated shaft with attached beater arms. The unit performs the function of reheating the fruit and pounding to produce a hot marsh suitable for pressing out oil. We supply two types of digester- horizontal digesters and vertical Both of them work well with sterilized/cooked fruit. The beater arms on the digesting shaft of the horizontal digester are pitched forward and arranged spirally along the shaft to perform the crushing while mixing and conveying the matter charge to the discharged end of the machine. The vertical digester, however, has fewer beater arms, through the arms are similarly pitched forward. The choice of the type of digester to supply with a particular plant installation is dictated by the type of power available to run the equipment. i.e. electric motor or diesel engine drive. We make both types of digester in different capacities to suit the size of plant.

Oil Press:- Pressing is the most usual method of extracting crude palm oil from digested palm fruit. Other methods are; centrifuging and the wetStripper:- After sterilization, the fruit is next separated from the bunches in the stripping machine. Our stripping machine consists of a rotating cage made of bars welded around a circular profile. The cage is supported by two heavy-duty bearings mounted on a stand. In operation, the cage is rotated by an electric motor drive through a speed reducer (Gearbox). A fruit collecting pan is mounted below the cage to receive loosened fruits while the empty bunches are discharged at the opposite end to the feed hopper. We supply two standard strippers. The 1ton FFB/hr capacity stripper and the 2ton FFB/hr stripper to match the plant capacity