Use of Bleaching, Clays, in Processing Edible Oils

LOUIS L. RICHARDSON, Filtrol Corporation, 5959 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045

ABSTRACT high. Therefore, the overall economics will favor the use of
Bleaching of fats and oils is a process whereby the acid treated clays over the natural clays for most com-
clay adsorbent is mixed intimately with the oil under mercial applications.
specified conditions to remove unwanted color bodies
and other contaminants. This paper describes the HOW BLEACHING CLAYS ARE USED
process and discusses the parameters and economics
Use of bleaching clays in processing of edible oils is
involved. simply that of mixing the clay and oil, applying suitable
agitation, elevating the temperature for the proper period of
INTRODUCTION time, and filtering to remove the spent clay.
The two types of commercial bleaching clays used in Mixing and Agitation
processing edible oils may be characterized as "Natural
Bleaching Earth" and "Activated BleachingEarth." Natural In order for a bleaching clay to perform satisfactorily, it
Bleaching Earth is usually a bentonite clay which exhibits must be mixed intimately with the oil and must remain in
adsorptive properties in its "natural state." The processing intimate contact during the bleaching or contacting cycle.
of this bentonite clay from mine to consumer is limited to In atmospheric type bleaching, the agitation must be
"physical" as opposed to "chemical" methods. Figure 1A is sufficient to keep the clay in suspension but not so strong
a simphfied flow diagram of such processing.
Activated bleaching earth is also produced from bento-
nite clay, but from a type which contains a high p r o p o r t i o n
A, NATURAB
LLEACHN
IGEARTH:BETONT
IECLAY
of montmorJllonite. The processing includes chemical treat- PROCESSNIG:
ment which se~'x~es to alter the clay and impart the high MNIN
I G HCRUSHING~ I GH~R~I~]
DRYN
bleaching activity. Figure 1B is a simplified flow diagram of
processing in production of activated bleaching earths.
B, ACID ACTIVATEDBLEACHING EARTH~ BENTONITE (MONTM(IRILLONITE)CLAY
It may be of interest to note that most bentonites ex-
hibiting high natural bleaching p o w e r are not suitable for PROCESS
N
IG:
activation, and most clays used for activated clay products
are poor in natural bleaching activity. Since it is essentially [MINING HCRUSHINGF-~TR;~;~ENTH WASHN
IG1
impossible to predict the bleaching potential of a new
source clay by analytical procedures, it becomes necessary
to apply the full processing in Figures 1A and 1B followed
by laboratory and commercial performance testing to
evaluate new clays~ In today's processing of edible fats and
oils, the use of acid treated clays far exceeds that of the
natural clays. This is due to the much higher bleaching FILTERING~ DRY
N
IG~ GR
N
IDN
IGH SZ
IN
IG
efficiency of activated clays, particularly when with very
dark oils and when the cholorphyll content of the oil is FIG. 1.Types of bleaching clays.

Oil Clay

Bleaching
Heat Vessel
Bleached
o Oil

Storage

Filtration 1
1
Spent
Clay

FIGo 2. Simplified bleaching process.

777
 778 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN OIL CHEMISTS' SOCIETY VOL. 55

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,<,,

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icottonseed
Soybean

Zl Soybean

r~

_J

u.

Optzmum Optimum
Bleach~,ng Bleaching
Temperature Temperature

t i l t
BLEACH I NG TEMPERATURE- I NCREAS i NG ---'--.=--
t I l I

FIG. 3. Effects of temperature on bleaching. BLEACH I NG TEMPERATURE- I NCREASI NG-----'-='-

F I G . 4~ E f f e c t o f b l e a c h i n g t e m p e r a t u r e o n F F A .
TABLE 1

Recommended Bleaching Temperatures a

Top decolorizing T i m e at t o p
t e m p e r a t u r e (o F) decolorizing
atmospheric vacuum temperature (min.)

Grease (inedible) 230 180 30

Lanolin 230 180 30
Lard 160 160 20
L a r d oil ( i n e d i b l e ) 220 180 20
Oleo stock 160 t60 20
Tallow (edible) 220 180 20
Tallow (inedible) 230 180 30
T a l l o w oil 230 180 30
Coconut 230 180 20
Corn 220. 18_0 2.0
i
Cottonseed 220 180 20
Linseed 190 170 20
Palm kernel 230 180 20 o~
Palm 3~ 325 20
Peanut 220 180 20
Rapeseed 220 180 20
Soybean ,, 2 2 0 ~1:80 20 .<,
Sunflower 220 180 20 --3
Tall 150-200 --- 30
Tung -- 180 20

aSpeed of agitation : : .............. 50-100 R.P.M,

Degree of agitation ................ S t r o n g b u ( i i 6 t violet
T e m p e r a t u r e o f oil w h e n
adding adsorbent ............... Atmospheric - 160 F
vacuum-temperature
o f oil w h e n t a n k is filled I I I
Vacuum ........................ 2~', (minimum)
BLEACHING TIME - INCREASING~

that air is mixed with the oil, thereby causing oxidation of F I G . 5. E f f e c t o f t i m e o n b l e a c h i n g .

the oil. In vacuum bleaching operations, the effects of oxi-
dation are negligible and agitation is usually more vigorous.
Note that temperatures for vacuum bleaching are lower
Temperatures than for atmospheric to reach optimum color removal. The
The optimum c o n t a c t i n g temperature is dependent upon effects of temperature on bleaching are shown in Figure 3.
the oil type and whether or not bleaching is done at This confirms a rule-of-thumb in bleaching, or adsorption,
atmospheric pressure or under vacuum. Table I shows that clay activity increases as temperature increases. As we
maximum temperatures recommended for various oils. can see, however, decolorization starts to decline after an