Table of Content

 Deodorization
 Principle
 Sources of different odoriferous compounds
 volatile component
 Laws comprises with Deodorization
 Operating Variables
 Deodorization Technology
 Steam stripping
 Scrubber system
 Vacuum system
 Commercial deodorization system
 Losses during deodorization
 Future Advances
Deodorization

 Deodorization is a vacuum stripping process.

In which neutral oil is treated to remove
odoriferous compound ( volatile compound
in general) to obtain fully refined oil.

 This process is similar to steam refining

where along with the malodorous compound
even fatty acids are also removed . The above
process is known as steam deodorization .
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 Vacuum steam distillation process.
 Improves the taste, odour, colour and
stability of oils.
 Here free (non esterified) fatty acids and
volatile contaminants stripped and
unwanted colour pigmets are degraded.
• First application-Cassgrand(1854).
• Increasing practice of physical refining
which relies on distillation and removal of
FFA during deodorization.
Principles

 Steam deodorization become feasible

because of the great difference in the
volatility of the odoriferous compounds
and oil .
 Deodorization under reduced pressure
(vacuum) make possible steam
distillation of odoriferous material and
fatty acids at lower temperature.
 It prevents the oil from autoxidation and
undue heating of oil.
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• Subject oil to reduced pressure

(vacuum) and elevated temperatures
in presence of agitating and
stripping gas (normally steam).
Sources of different odiferous
compounds

 Most vegetable oil retains characteristics undesirable

flavors & odors that obtain during processing .
 Bleaching imparts “Earthy” flavors whereas
hydrogenation adds on odor and flavors that can be
described as undesirable.
 Peroxides (primary oxidation products) ,Hydrocarbons,
Aldehydes, Ketones (secondary oxidation products),
Tocopherols, Sterols, FFA are the main odoriferous and
volatile compounds need to remove.
Volatile components

 Free fatty acids

 Odorous compounds (aldehyde, ketones)
 Tocopherols , sterols
 Contaminants such as pesticides and light polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons, etc.
Law Comprising with
Deodorization
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 DISTILLATION
Simplified ‘Bailey’ Equation (initial FFA low)

S=[Pt*ln(Va/Vo)]/(E.Pv)

S = Total Moles of steam

Pt = Total deodorization pressure
Pv = Vapour pressure of a given volatile component
Va = Initial molar concentration of the component
Vo = Final molar concentration of the component
E = Vaporization efficiency
Operating Variables

Vacuum
Temperatures
Stripping steam rate
Holding time or Retention time
Vacuum
 Low absolute pressure is necessary for low
temperature distillation of the odoriferous
material .
 With low absolute press Boiling point of the
fatty acids decreases as pressure decreases
which leads to the distillation at relatively low
temperature.
 pressure is 2 to 4 m bar.
 This low pressure is generated by vacuum
system consisting of steam jet ejectors ,
vapor condensers , mechanical vacuum pumps
.
 Temperature
 Deodorization is carried out at temperatures as high as 275 °C.
The temp varies with different oil types, equipment and
requirements for the finished product.
 Temperature is high enough to make the vapor pressure of
volatile impurities in the oil conveniently high .
 Vapor pressure is proportional to temperature ,can be verified by
following data :
Temperature Vapor
pressure of
Palmitic fatty
acid
176.7°C 1.8mm
204.4°C 7.4mm
232.2°C 25mm
260.0°C 72mm
 General relation developed for the other oil as palmitic acid
to increase 27.8°C temperature it triples the removal rate
of odiferous material, it reduces deodorization time.
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 Increase in temp also means that stripping steam can be
reduced. This is important in reducing entrainment losses
 Very high temperature also promote thermal degradation of
some constituents naturally present in oil .
example : Carotenoid pigments can be degraded and removed
by deodorization beginning at 260 °C.
 Chemically refined oil can be deodorized at relatively low
temperature to physically refined oil .
 Short chain fatty acid deodorized at low temp and
hydrogenated oil deodorized at higher temp because of higher
FFA content and distinctive odor it imparts.
 Very high temperature results in the development of
polymerization , isomerization to produce trans fatty
acid (TFA) , thermal cracking with formation of odiferous
material and low boiling products .
 It also leads to colour reversion and distillation of tocopherol s.
Vapor pressure –temperature relationship for
different components present in edible oil

Compon Molecula Relative

ent r weight volatility

Fatty 280 2.5

acids
Squalene 411 5
Tocopher 415 1
ol
Sterols 410 .6
Sterol 675 .04
ester
Oil 885 small
 Stripping Steam
 Either steam or nitrogen can be used . Amount of stripping steam
is the function of pressure and mixing efficiency of the
equipment .
 An increase of stripping steam beyond certain safety margins, will
result in vacuum system failure
 For good stripping the conditions are :
1. Agitation of the oil is necessary to expose new oil surfaces to low
absolute pressure.
2. Oil depth is also important factor for good stripping .
3. Excessive live steam may cause hydrolysis and increase the
energy consumption in vacuum hence optimum quantity of
steam is required.
4. In chemically refined oil :
Batch process 5 to 15% weight of
stripping steam the oil
Continuous process 0.5% to 2% weight of
stripping steam the oil
Retention Time
 Retention time is the period during which fat
or oil is at deodorization temp and subjected to
stripping steam .
 Retention time should be long enough to
reduce all odoriferous components.
 Retention time vary with equipment design like
batch deodorization will require more retention
time then continuous and semi continuous.
 Holding time at elevated temperature
Batch deodorization = 3 to 8 hours
Continuous and semi continuous = 15 to
120 minute
 Deodorization Technology
 Deodorization is a multistep process
comprising :
1.De-aeration
2.Heating
3. Deodorization – De acidification
4. Cooling of the oil .
5.Polishing of oils
 General overview of deodorization
plant can be shown as :
DE aeration

 Carried out in order to avoid oxidation and

hence avoid risk of polymerization.
 Because vegetable oil readily dissolve
between 4% and 10% of their volume of air
and other gases at ambient temperature.
 Oil is heated to 80°c and sprayed in a tank,
which is kept at a pressure below 50 mbar .
 Lower the pressure is residual air left in the
oil
Heating and Cooling:
 The subsequent heating of the oil is
usually accomplished in two stages.
 In the first stage, the incoming oil is
heated counter currently in an oil-oil
heat exchanger (economizer), with the
finished oil leaving the deodorizer.
 Finally, the oil is heated under reduced
pressure to the final deodorization
temperature with a high temperature
source.
Heating and Cooling

 Source of heating in the final stages are

1. High pressure steam boilers
2. Thermal Oil Heaters
3. Dowtherm A (di phenyl/ di phenyl oxide)
 The net heating energy required for a
deodorization system can be calculated as
H=[O.c.(T2-T1).fL.fR ]
Heating and Cooling

 In industrial practice , heat recovery has become

an important factor because it minimizes the cost
of additional heating of the oil to the deodorization
temperature .
 For above purpose heat exchangers have been
evolved and they are classified as follows
1. External Heat Exchanger
2. Internal Heat Exchanger
Spiral Oil steam heat
exchanger

Plat Shell and Tube

Heating and Cooling
 Heat recovery can be done directly by
exchange of heat between the two oil steam at
the different steam ( eg: bleached oil vs.
Deodorized oil ) flowing in counter current
direction through the exchangers or indirectly
by product
 Final cooling of the oil is usually conducted
under reduced pressure .
 As a result of the technological complexity and
for cost reasons , cooling under vacuum is
usually applied only in a large capacity
deodorizer . Small capacity plants often make
use of external oil-oil heat –exchanging devices
 Steam Stripping

 Deodorization only occurs at vapor liquid contact

zone where the lowest operating pressure exists.
 Hence different deodorizer are designed to provide
best contact between gas and oil phase by
creating large contact surface between the gas
phase and oil phase , together with an optimal
spurge steam distribution .
 Steam refining

Deep Bed Deodorizer Shallow Bed Deodorizer

Vapor Scrubbing System

 Composition of vapor phase

1. Volatile components (FFA, odor components)
2. Stripping steam
3 Non condensable gases (air….)
 The volatile substances are condensed by creating an
intimate contact between the vapor and fatty acid
distillate circulating in the scrubber.
 The distillate which is circulated is at its lower possible
temperature (just above its melting point).
Vacuum system

 Combination of steam jet ejectors (boosters) vapor

condensers and mechanical (liquid – ring ) vacuum
pump
 High motive steam consumption ( 60-85 % of the
total steam).
Equipment for
Production of
vacuum
• All modern deodorizers use
multistage steam ejectors
with barometric condensors
to maintain vacuum.
• Surface condensers are
unsatisfactory because of
surface fouling by fatty
material carried by the
steam.
• A good three stage system
consists:
• A primary condensing
ejectors or boosters.
• A small condensing
ejectors
• Third non condensing
ejectors for the discharge
of non condensable gases
at 5-6 mm Hg.
Oil Polishing

 Oil polishing is done to remove any fine particles of

soaps , metallic salts rusts , filler aids, polymerized oil or
other solid impurities.
 Horizontal plate filters have long been used as polishing
filters of choice for deodorization.
COMMERCIAL DEODORIZER SYSTEM

 Batch Deodorization
 Semicontinuos Deodorization
 Continuous Deodorization
Batch Deodorization
 Batch deodorization is especially suitable for
small capacities (<50 ton /day) .
 Batch deodorizers mainly consist of welded
vertical cylindrical vessel with dished or conical
head and made up of 304 stainless steel to avoid
deleterious catalytic activity of Cu & fe
 Vessel diameter are chosen to the depth of 8 to
10 feet of oil and a similar amount of word space
above to avoid entrainment loss.
 Steam is injected into the bottom of the vessel
 Include a device to measure temperature and a
pressure gauge to indicate low pressure within
deodorizer.
Batch Deodorization

 Advantages:
1. very simple
2. Construction and low capital cost
 Disadvantages:
1. Low capacities
2. High operating costs (high steam
consumption, very low heat recovery)
3. Relatively long processing times (sometimes
up to 8 to 10 hrs)
Semi Continuous Deodorization
 Suitable for large capacity
 Used when frequent feedstock changes of oil
sensitive to cross contamination.
 Allows efficient heat recovery.
 Steam produced in the bottom deodorized oil-
cooling section is sent in a closed thermo
siphon loop to the top bleached oil heating
section to heat the incoming oil.
 Main advantage is shorter hold up time , and
disadvantage is less heat recovery than the
continuous process.
Continuous Deodorization

Several configuration of continuous

deodorization are:
1. Horizontal vessels
2. Vertical tray-type deodorizers
3. Packed columns
Horizontal Vessels
Soft column deodorizer Vacuum steam
system
Demister
Coolin
Steam
VHE Final Scrubber to hot well
Heater
soft
column

Cooling
water
High Steam
pressure
steam
boiler Dearater Acid oi
Cooling water
Steam VHE Economizer Polishin
Economizer filters
Oil stea
Citric
m
in acid

Heater Inlet oil

filters out
steam
Continuous Deodorization
 Advantages:
 Low utilities cost ( high heat recovery)
 Short residence time
 Excellent control of all parameters

 Disadvantages: Contamination during

feedstock change.
 Typical Deodorization Conditions:
DEODORIZATION CONDITIONS RANGE

Vacuum ,absolute pressure mbar 2 to 4

Deo. Temperature °C 204 to 274

Holding Time:
Batch process, hours 3 to 8
Semi continuous, minutes 15 to 120
Continuous, minutes 15 to 120
Stripping steam , wt % of oil:
Batch Deodorizers 3.0 to 8.0
Semi Continuous Deodorizers 1.0 to 2.0
Continuous Deodorizer 0.5 to 2.0
Drop Temperature
Liquid oils , in °C 37.8 to 54.4
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Product free fatty acid %

Caustic refined 0.05 to 0.1

Physically refined 0.05 to 0.1

Deodorized product 0.02 to 0.03

Product peroxide value

Feedstock 2.0 max

Deodorized product Zero

Losses during Deodorization:
Losses by evaporation :
FFA are among the most easily
evaporated materials in fats and oils.
Normally reduced to below 0.03% by
deodorization.
Sterols, tocopherols and other
unsaponifiable matter may make up a
large portion of the fatty matter are
distilled from the oil.
Mono- and diglycerides which have
been produced during refining, as they
have a lower molecular weight.
Loss by Entrainment
Mechanical
entrainment
(carryover) of oil by
stripping steam is the
main unwanted loss in
deodorization.
Modern deodorizers
use less stripping
steam and have baffles
to prevent oil from
splashing into vapor
passages. Many also
have wire-mesh
demisters placed
before the vapor outlet
Future advances in Deodorization

Dual Condensation principal :

It consist of improved scrubber system operating at two
different temperature.
In case of physical refining this design can result into
higher value added distillate because :
It allows collection of first distillate enriched in FFA.
A second distillate which contains appreciable amounts of
unsaponifiable matter. (sterols , tocopherols).
Questions ?????