Edible oil degumming: mixing and transfer time reduced by 50%

Effective mixing brings the acid treatment medium into contact with components that require treatment before separation. Poor distribution can leave parts of the oil less effectively treated. Mixing supports the degumming process, but it does not replace the necessary reaction conditions, residence time or downstream separation.

A processor may consider replacement when tank mixing creates avoidable delays, occupies valuable space or requires a complex maintenance and cleaning arrangement. In this project, the tank mixer performed its mixing duty, but an inline FS Shear Blender shortened combined mixing and transfer time and simplified the equipment layout.

The Fristam FS Shear Blender uses a rotor-and-stator system to generate intensive shear within the passing product. This supports dispersion of the treatment medium through the oil. The blender combines this mixing action with transfer, making hydraulic performance an essential part of equipment selection.

Time savings depend on the existing arrangement and required process duty. In this installation, combined mixing and transfer time decreased from approximately two hours to approximately one hour after optimisation. This result applies to that stage; it does not establish an equivalent reduction in total refining time.

No. Shear must suit the treatment duty and downstream separation process. Equipment selection should consider dispersion, flow, pressure and treatment conditions together. In this project, commissioning showed that satisfactory mixing action alone was insufficient because the initial configuration did not deliver the required discharge pressure.

Adequacy should be checked against agreed treatment and downstream separation requirements. Longer mixing time alone does not prove better dispersion. A process review should assess mixing performance alongside operating conditions and product-quality measurements; this project supplied no numerical phospholipid-removal or final-oil-quality results.

The inline FSP Shear Blender could be cleaned using hot water. The previous tank system required a separate CIP arrangement with a spray ball. Cleaning requirements remain specific to the installation and residues involved; the project did not quantify changes in cleaning time, water consumption or chemical use.

Shorter runtime can reduce energy consumption per operation where power demand and operating conditions are comparable. A reliable comparison requires actual operating power and runtime for both systems. This project documented a shorter mixing and transfer operation, but supplied no measured energy consumption or energy-cost savings.

The review should cover oil and treatment-medium properties, temperature, viscosity, flow, discharge pressure and integration with subsequent processing. Cleaning and maintenance access also matter. Commissioning should confirm performance under operating conditions, as this project required an impeller configuration change after the initial trial identified a pressure shortfall.