(Read more: Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) Extraction Plant Process) Extracted from dried coconut meat – Copra. The coconut is dried in the sun or in a drier before pressing the oil. The copra is then sent to a coconut extracting machine to obtain crude oil. (Read more: Copra Oil Mill Plant Process)
What equipment is used for oil extraction?
Historically, oil has been pressed out of seeds by indigenous communities for centuries, and the mechanical pressing of soybeans dates back to the 1940s [ 14 ]. There are two broad categories of equipment for oil extraction: expeller press and extruder ( Figure 2 ).
What is the best method for oil extraction?
Expeller pressing is considered an easy method for oil extraction because it only requires mechanical power and does not need organic solvents [ 17 ]. The extraction temperature can be kept under 50 °C to perform cold pressing, which can help preserve nutritional compounds of the oil [ 18 ].
Which seeds are used for oil extraction?
For oil extraction in particular, it has been applied to a wide variety of seeds such as apricot, canola, soybean, sunflower, grape, acorn and walnut seeds [ 44 ].
How to improve oil extraction yield & quality?
Several parameters need to be considered to improve oil extraction yield and quality, and one such example is screw rotation. When using a pilot expeller press designed for cold pressing, increasing rotation from 1.2 to 18 rpm increased press capacity from 2.2 kg seed/h to 29.4 seed/h, while decreasing canola oil yields from 91 to 84% [ 20 ].
Can alternative green extraction methods be used for other seeds?
As with soybean oil extraction, the economic feasibility of alternative green extraction methods for other seeds were demonstrated to be dependent on their co-products.