Our Approach
At Pure Oil Industries, we rely on agricultural ingredients for our products.One of our key objectives is the goal to more sustainably source our priority ingredients, which include Soya Bean, Sunflower and Canola seeds.
Soya Bean
The production of commercial soybean oil is complicated. The mechanical production of soybean oil with hydraulic presses is not much used because it’s expensive and gives lower yields. Soybean oil is normally produced by extraction with solvents. The production consists of following steps:
The soybeans are first cleaned, dried and dehulled prior to oil extraction. The soybean hulls needs to be removed because they absorb oil and give a lower yield. This de-hulling is done by cracking the soybeans and a mechanical separation of the hulls and cracked soybeans. Magnets are used to separate any iron from the soybeans.
The soybeans are also heated to about 75°C to coagulate the soy proteins to make the oil extraction easier.
First the soybeans are cut in flakes which are put in a percolation extractors and immerged with a solvent, normally hexane. Counterflow is used as extraction system because it gives the highest yield. After removing the hexane, the extracted flakes only contain about 1% of soybean oil and is used as livestock meal or to produce food products such as soy protein. The hexane is separated from the soybean oil in evaporators. The evaporated hexane is recovered and returned to the extraction process. The hexane free crude soybean oil is then further purified.
The crude soybean oil still contains many oil-insoluble and oil-soluble impurities that needs to be removed. The oil-insoluble material are removed with filtration and the soluble materials is removed with different processes including degumming (removing of phosphatides), alkali refining (washing with alkaline solution to remove free fatty acids, colorants, insoluble matter and gums) and bleaching (with activated earth or activated carbon to remove colour and other impurities.
This process will increase the stability of the soybean oil and will make it less liquid. However, this process will create more saturated fats and will reduce the favourable unsaturated fats. In addition, transfats are produced which can cause hearth problems. Hydrogenated soybean oil is used in foods that require more solid fat such as margarines.
Sunflower
The first step in processing sunflower is to properly prepare the seed for oil removal. The seed is cleaned using magnets to remove metal and screening to remove impurities that can interfere with the process. The seed can be dehulled by cracking and removing the shell or can be sent to pressing with the shell still intact. Prior to mechanical pressing, the seed is heated and dried. Mechanical pressing removes approximately half to three quarters of the oil prior to solvent extraction.
The seed is mechanically pressed (pre-pressed) to extract approximately half to three quarters of the available oil so that the solvent extraction can be run more efficiently. This is typical for seeds containing more than 20% oil. The solvent extraction process uses hexane or other solvents to wash the sunflower oil from the prepared flakes. The design of the equipment varies so that Crown can optimize the amount of solvent and bed depth needed to efficiently wash the flakes, the contact time of the solvent and flakes and the power and utilities needed to run the equipment. Sunflower is processed with the Model III Extractor.
Once the oil has been removed by the solvent, the solvent must be removed from both the flakes and the sunflower oil. Heat and steam are used to strip and recover the residual solvent from the flakes. A distillation system is used to recover the solvent from the sunflower oil. The desolventized flakes are then a product and ready for sale as a good source of protein. The sunflower oil can be further refined from a crude product to an edible product.
Extracted and desolventized sunflower oil must be further processed to make an edible product. Edible oils are refined to improve the flavor, odor, color and stability using processes that degum, neutralize, bleach and deodorize the oil. These refining processes remove contaminants such as phosphatides, free fatty acids and pro-oxidants.
Further processing of oils and fats is sometimes desired. Some oils are winterized or dewaxed and some are modified to change melting characteristics. Byproducts may be further processed to create value-added products or reduce costs.
Extracted and desolventized sunflower oil must be further processed to make an edible product. Edible oils are refined to improve the flavor, odor, color and stability using processes that degum, neutralize, bleach and deodorize the oil. These refining processes remove contaminants such as phosphatides, free fatty acids and pro-oxidants.
Further processing of oils and fats is sometimes desired. Some oils are winterized or dewaxed and some are modified to change melting characteristics. Byproducts may be further processed to create value-added products or reduce costs.
Canola
The first step in processing canola and rapeseed is to properly prepare the seed for oil removal. This step typically involves using magnets to remove metal and screening to remove impurities that can interfere with the process. Next, the seed is heated to condition the seed prior to mechanical rollers. The mechanical rollers are used to make thin flakes and rupture the cells containing the oil. Finally, the seed is heated again and dried prior to mechanical pressing. Mechanical pressing removes approximately half to three quarters of the oil prior to solvent extraction.
The seed is mechanically pressed (pre-pressed) to extract approximately half to three quarters of the available oil so that the solvent extraction can be run more efficiently. This is typical for seeds containing more than 20% oil. The solvent extraction process uses hexane or other solvents to wash the canola or rapeseed oil from the prepared flakes. The design of the equipment varies so that Crown can optimize the amount of solvent and bed depth needed to efficiently wash the flakes, the contact time of the solvent and flakes, and the power and utilities needed to run the equipment. Canola and rapeseed are processed with the Model III Extractor.
Once the oil has been removed by the solvent, the solvent must be removed from both the flakes and the canola or rapeseed oil. For the flakes, heat and steam are used to strip and recover the residual solvent. For the canola or rapeseed oil, a distillation system is used to recover the solvent. The desolventized flakes are now a product and ready for sale as a good source of protein. The canola or rapeseed oil can be further refined from a crude product to an edible product.
Extracted and desolventized canola oil must be further processed to make an edible product. Edible oils are refined to improve the flavor, odor, color and stability using processes that degum, neutralize, bleach and deodorize the oil. These refining processes remove contaminants such as phosphatides, free fatty acids and pro-oxidants.
Further processing of oils and fats is sometimes desired. Some oils are winterized or dewaxed and some are modified to change melting characteristics. Byproducts may be further processed to create value-added products or reduce costs.