Neutralization systems

Increase the quality, stability and shelf life of edible oils with Alfa Laval neutralization systems. These high-performance acid systems remove free fatty acids and other impurities from crude oil, ensuring cleaner, more stable oil. Tailored to your needs, these systems boost yield, enhance taste, and streamline downstream operations. By supporting the complete refining process of edible oil, they reduce oil loss and operating costs while ensuring quality edible oil.

Improve edible oil refining with reliable neutralization systems

Ensure more uptime and longer service life through robust system design
Maximize edible oil quality, taste, shelf life and yield
Boost operational reliability and efficiency
Minimize oil loss and reduce operating costs
Simplify installation, operation and maintenance

Achieve consistent performance in your edible oil refining with Alfa Laval neutralization systems, designed to optimize every stage of the process of neutralization. These acid neutralization systems effectively remove free fatty acids and associated impurities, reducing acidity and enhancing oxidative stability.

Engineered for high-efficiency refining, these neutralization systems reduce operating costs, maintain consistent product quality, and maximize yield. And with Alfa Laval’s global network of service centers and partners, you have easy access to reliable local support throughout the lifecycle of your system.

With Alfa Laval's neutralization systems, you can enjoy true peace of mind knowing that optimized processes are in place to boost the productivity and yield of your edible oil refining processes.

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How the process of neutralization works

The process of neutralization is a critical step in edible oil refining. As free fatty acid levels increase, more intensive processing and higher caustic soda dosing are required to ensure effective removal of free fatty acids and other impurities. The crude oil is heated, mixed with acid, then dosed with caustic soda (lye), mixed again, then held in retention tanks, where the bonds between the oil and residual impurities are broken. Disc stack centrifuges then continuously neutralize the oils and fats.

Generally speaking, there are two methods to neutralize fats and oils:

Long-mix refining process for crude soybean or rapeseed oil

Used for crude soybean or rapeseed oil, this method neutralizes the free fatty acids by heating and dosing crude oil with acid and lye. The oil remains in contact with caustic soda for an extended period in special retention mixers. It is then heated and transferred to disc stack centrifuges, where soapstock and wash water are separated from the refined oil in a single stage.

Multi-mix refining process for virtually any oil

Suitable for refining virtually any oil, this method exposes the crude to the caustic soda for a short period. It then goes through one to two stages of washing. When processing cottonseed oil or low-quality crude fats and oils, a second lye treatment, known as re-refining, is required.

After neutralization, the oil is washed. Disc stack centrifuges then separate the wash water from the oil, which is transferred to a vacuum dryer for drying. The free fatty acids and other impurities (sugars, pigments, and trace metals) separated from the oil are sent downstream as soapstock, which can be processed in a soapstock splitting process to produce fatty acids.

Alfa Laval neutralization systems also support the refining of cottonseed oil and cold refining of sunflower or maize/corn oil.

導入事例

The Imcopa soybean oil refinery

ブラジルにある Imcopa の大豆油精製所は、非常に高い蒸気コストと、既存プラントにおける不十分な熱回収の問題に対応するため、設備のアップグレードを決断した。

アルファ・ラバルのレトロフィットコンセプトを活用し、Imcopa は既存の脱臭装置を改修するとともに、新たに中和工程および脱色ライン、プレート式熱交換器、ミキサー、およびPX 95 分離機を導入した。これにより、精製能力は日量400トンから600トンへと増強された。このレトロフィット戦略とアルファ・ラバルの熱交換技術を組み合わせることで、Imcopa は油脂1トンあたり3米ドル以上の総生産コスト削減を実現し、投資回収期間は2年未満となった。

The Bunge Group

バンジ・グループは、グローバルに事業を展開するアグリビジネスおよび食品関連企業である。同グループのフードプロダクツ部門は、ラテンアメリカ最大の油糧種子加工業者であり、小売市場向けのボトル入り食用油においても最大の販売事業者である。さらに、こうした地位を強化するため、バンジはラテンアメリカ最大の植物油精製所に投資している。ブラジルに所在するこの主要プラントは、日量1,200トンの処理能力を有する。

アルファ・ラバルは、精製プラント全体を担当しており、中和工程（PX 110 分離機2基を含む）、脱色プロセス設備、および完全なSoftColumn 脱臭ソリューションを提供している。