Oilseed Equipment - Your Application

Know what you want to do but not sure what equipment you need?

This page will help you quickly find information specific to your application. From soybeans to babassu nuts, French's proven technology can help improve your bottom line.

French has processed innumerable oilseeds over our 100+ year history. The tutorial below shows just some of the seeds our experienced engineers have designed systems for, as well as a a list of equipment used in a typical process to extract oil from most oil-bearing materials. French Oilseed engineers are ready to help discuss your application and to help optimize your process.

Oil Extraction Processes

The two most common processes to extract oil for most seeds, beans, and nuts is the Full Press Extraction Process where mechanical screw presses are used to extract the oil by squeezing the oil under high pressure, and the Preparation/Solvent Extraction Process where a solvent is mixed with the material to separate the oil. The Full Press Extraction Process is generally used for smaller capacity process, typically under 200 tons per day; and the Preparation/Solvent Extraction Process is generally used for larger capacity systems.

French offers full press extraction equipment and systems, and the preparation equipment and systems required to prepare high oil content seeds and nuts prior to the solvent extraction process. In the Full Press Extraction Process, the maximum amount of oil is removed. In this process, the amount of oil remaining in the press cake (solids) will be in the range of 4-9%, depending on the material processed.

The Preparation Process, prior to the Solvent Extraction Process, uses similar type equipment as the Full Press Extraction Process. However, when preparing the oil-bearing material for solvent extraction, the oil content in the material is typically reduced to a range of 18-20% residual oil. This material is then conveyed to the solvent extraction process where the remaining oil is removed to produce a meal with a residual oil content of 0.5% to 1.5%.

French has experience in processing most oil-bearing materials including soybeans, cottonseed, canola seed, rapeseed, sesame seed, flaxseed, palm kernels, peanuts (groundnuts), corn germ, copra, rice bran, safflower seed, sunflower seed, castor beans, linseed, babassu nuts, tung nuts, walnut meats, etc.

The typical process to extract oil from most oil-bearing materials in the Full Press Extraction Process and the Preparation Process of high oil content seeds and nuts, includes the following equipment:

Major Process Equipment For Oilseed Extraction

Magnet – Drum or plate-type magnet to remove any steel material in the feed stream.

Cleaner – If the material has not been pre-cleaned, a cleaner is recommended.

Rate Bin – Bin to provide a steady and even flow of material to the process equipment and is an overflow bin from the cooker/conditioner feed conveyor

Cracking Mill – To crack larger seeds, beans and nuts into smaller pieces, this mill is required only on certain materials.

Flaking Mill – To flake smaller material, or cracked material, to a thickness of .012" to .015”.

Cooker/Conditioner – Vessel to condition the material to the ideal temperature and moisture content to obtain the maximum extraction of oil in the screw press

Screw Press – The screw press (expeller) extracts the oil by squeezing the oil under high pressure.

Cake Cooler – Required to cool the solids (press cake) from the screw press so that the material can be safely sent to storage

Cake Grinder – To grind the press cake to the desired particle size.

Oil Settling Tank – To remove larger solids in the crude oil extracted by the screw press.

Oil Filter – To remove the smaller particles of solids in the crude oil from the oil settling tank to produce filtered crude oil.

Auxiliary Equipment

The oil extraction process also requires auxiliary equipment including process tanks, pumps, instrumentation, conveyors, motor control center, electrical wiring and conduit, aspiration equipment, piping, air compressor, and storage bins and tanks for the raw material, filtered crude oil and ground cake.

French can assist you in your equipment needs by supplying individual pieces of equipment and/or all of the major and auxiliary processing equipment.

Contact French today to determine how we can assist you in your application.