Simulation of continuous deodorizers: effects on product streams

Author(s)

Meirelles, Antônio J. A. ; Ceriani, Roberta ^[2]

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN OIL CHEMISTS SOCIETY; v. 81, n. 11, p. 1059-1069, Nov. 2004.
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology

Abstract

This work deals with the simulation of deodorization, one important process in the edible oil industry related to the removal of odoriferous compounds. The deodorizer was modeled as a multicomponent stripping-column in cross-flow and counter-current flow. The impact of processing parameters on the quality of the product stremas was analyzed. The deodorization of soybean and canola oils (plant scale) and wheat germ oil (lab-scale) was studied under typical ranges of temperature, stripping steam rate, and pressure. Their entire compositions were considered within the simulations, including acylclycerols, FFA, and other key components such as tocopherols and sterols. The deodorization results were analyzed in terms of retention of tocopherol and sitosterol and of neutral oil loss to the distillate. The deodorizer modeling considered Murphree efficiencies and entrainment for each plate. A case study, i.e., the deodorization of soybean oil, illustrated the the applicability of our modeling. (AU)