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TECHNOLOGIES (LECITHIN))
Content
• Lecithin
• Water degumming
• Lecithin drying
• Lecithin de-oiling
• Summary
• Lecithin belongs to the phospholipids, one part of the molecule is hydrophilic the other part
hydrophobic
• Degumming =Removal of phospholipids (gums) from fats and oils
• Phospholipids are phosphorous containing organic substances
• The content of phospholipids are determined by analysing the phosphorous content in the oils and
fats
• Factor to convert phosphorous to phospholipids: 30
• Hydratable gums are removed by adding water
• The quantity of gums are depending on the extraction method of the oil from the seed;
only pressing leads to a low total gum content with high hydratable gum content
Fatty Acid
Glycerol
Fatty Acid O
O P O Fatty Acid
O-
Phospatidyl choline (lecithine)
Seed Beans
Press-Cake Meal
Pressing Extraction Animal feed
Press oil
Miscella-Clarification
clarification Wet-Gums Crude-
Water degumming
Water-Degumming Lecithin-Drying
Lecithin
Oil
Crude-Lecithin
Lecithin
Refining Lecithin-Deoiling
Powder
Seed Beans
Press-Cake Meal
Pressing Extraction Animal feed
Press oil
Miscella-Clarification
clarification Wet-Gums
Lecithin drying Crude-
Water-Degumming Lecithin-Drying
Lecithin
Oil
Crude-Lecithin
Lecithin
Refining Lecithin-De-oiling
Powder
• Vertical dryer :
Can be used for soy bean lecithin as this lecithin does not
intent to built hard particles
Cheaper apparatus
Seed Beans
Press-Cake Meal
Pressing Extraction Animal feed
• Amount of Particles
• Particle Size
• Particle size is the main limit for the clarification / filtration technology
• Particle Size distribution analyse should be done
15 - 50 µm – Limit of Hydrocyclon
5 µm – Limit of Crude Oil Clarification/Filtration
2 µm – Limit of Miscella Clarification
High Quality Lecithin Production 18
Crude Oil Filtration
Filter aid
Crude oil
Filtrated
Filter oil
cake
Soya
flakes
Clarified oil
Hexane
Meal
• Continuous process
• No significant oil losses
Clarified oil
• Without additional effluent stream Crude oil
• Solids can be added to the
meal or returned to extractor
• Equivalent result as filtration
(Hexane insoluble in dried
lecithin typically 0.05 to 0.1 %) Impurities
Soya
flakes
Hexane
Meal
Clarified oil
DESTILLATION +
EXTRACTION DESSOLVENTIZING
CLARIFICATION
Impurities
Model used by:
• Additional advantage:
• Keeps the hexane distillation clean
(no cleaning during the year)
• Keeps steam economy constant
(no increase of vapor pressure to compensate fouling)
• Lighter Color of lecithin (Most important for lecithin quality)
Seed Beans
Press-Cake Meal
Pressing Extraction Animal feed
Press oil
Miscella-Clarification
clarification Wet-Gums Crude-
Water-Degumming Lecithin-Drying
Lecithin
Oil
Crude-Lecithin
Lecithin
Refining Lecithin-De-Oiling
Lecithin De-Oiling
Powder
Drying
Grinding
Packing
Acetone
Decanter Decanter
De-oiled
Lecithin
Lecithin
Acetone / Oil
Miscella
3 The lecithin discharge of the first decanter is mixed with “fresh “acetone
4 ( from the acetone rectification) and conveyed to the second decanter,
• In the second dryer the acetone content is below the explosion point therefor
regular air can be used .
• Lecithin is used for a lot of application in the food and feed industry. As a side effect the
quality of the lecithin especially in case of food use comes more into focus.
• Water degumming is well known since many decades for yield improvement of the
edible oil refinery and for better storage stability of the oil
• The by-product of the water degumming = wet gums are a valuable product. For selling
the water needs to be removed by a lecithin dryer, which need to be designed for best
quality lecithin
• To get a lecithin after the dryer with light color the impurities upfront to the water
degumming needs to be removed by
filtration
clarification
GEA propose the miscella clarification as the clarification effect is the best and the
availability in the oil extraction distillation is higher
• The de-oiling of the dried lecithin is the next step in the lecithin treatment but is also
quite cost intensive. Therefore it is only feasible for higher capacities and or special
markets.