Commission of the European Communities

energy

ENERGY SAVING IN EDIBLE OIL

PROCESSING PLANTS BY APPLICATION
OF A TOTAL-ENERGY (TE) SYSTEM

Commission of the European Communities

energy

ENERGY SAVING IN EDIBLE OIL

PROCESSING PLANTS BY APPLICATION
OF A TOTAL-ENERGY (TE) SYSTEM

T.L. ONG
CIVO INSTITUTES T N O
Juliana van Stolberglaan, 148
NL-THE HAGUE

Contract No. EE-DI-303-N (B)

FINAL REPORT

Research financed by the Commission

of the European Communities within the frame
of the R & D Programme

Directorate-General for Science, Research and Development

1984

EUR 9169 EN

Published by the
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Directorate-General
Information Market and Innovation
Btiment Jean Monnet
LUXEMBOURG

LEGAL NOTICE
Neither the Commission of the European Communities nor any person acting on behalf
of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the following
information

>ECSC EEC EAEC, Brussels Luxembourg, 1984

III

84.021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

TABLE OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

VI

OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

VI

SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

APPROPRIATE TE-SYSTEMS

3.

SOYBEAN EXTRATION PLANT -

1 0 0 0 TPD

3.1 Description of the soybean extraction process

3.2 Determination of the concurrent optimal

heat/power consumption r a t i o

3.3 Choice of the appropriate TE-System

3 . 4 Economic a s p e c t s

4.

SOYBEAN OIL REFINERY - 480 TPD

4.1 Description of the soybean o i l refining process

4.2 Determination of the concurrent optimal

heat/power consumption ratio

'

4.3 Choice of the appropriate TE-yetem

4.4 Economic aspects

"

IV
84.021

TABLE OF CONTENTS, CONTINUED

5.

MARGARINE PLANT - 200 TPD

5.1 Description of the margarine manufacturing process

page

9
9

5.2 Determination of the concurrent optimal heat/power

consumption r a t i o

5.3 Choice of the appropriate TE-system

10

5.4 Economic aspects

10

6.

11

CONCLUSIONS

TABLE 1 and 2

12

FIGURES:

13

1-3

 84.021

TABLE OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

hour

day

ECU European currency unit

t

metric ton

TPD tons per day

VT

84.021

OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

The objective of thie research is to achieve savings in primary energy

carriers like natural gas and oil, by the application of a TotalEnergy
(TE) system, in three types of edible oil processing plants soybean
extraction, refinery and margarine manufacture , taking into consider
ation the economic aspects (necessary investments, payback period etc./.
for its implementation.

SUMMARY

An i n v e s t i g a t i o n has been made i n t o the f e a s i b i l i t y to save primary

energy c a r r i e r s by a p p l i c a t i o n of a Total-Energy system, in the following
types of e d i b l e o i l processing p l a n t s : a. soybean e x t r a c t i o n ; b

soybean

o i l r e f i n e r y ; c . margarine manufacture.
The outcome of the i n v e s t i g a t i o n i s as follows:
Plant under

Working

Payback period

Rate of r e t u r n

consideration

hours/year

PBP (years)

ROR (T)

Soybean e x t r a c t i o n
(1000 tons per day)
Soybean o i l

6600

3,3

29

6000

5,5

15

ju

refinery

(480 tons per day)

Margarine plant
u u u LUUB per uav

 84.021

ENERGY SAVING IN EDIBLE OIL PROCESSING PLANTS BY APPLICATION OF A

TOTAL-ENERGY (TE) SYSTEM

1. INTRODUCTION
It is well known that in public electricity generation stations only
about 35 t of the total primary energy input is converted into elec
tricity; about 65 t of this energy input is lost. A small part of the
losses is due to the transport system, such as resistance in the cables
and transformers; however, the major part is in fact waste heat dis
charged with the low pressure exhaust steam from the turbines.
Efforts to utilise this waste heat for town heating are not always
successful, because of the high investemente for transporting the hot
water over long distances.
On the other hand edible oil processing plants - like extraction plants,
refineries etc. - utilize huge amounts of low pressure steam (6-10 bar),
beside electricity.
In the past the application of total-energy (TE) systems was feasible
only in big plants, having a capacity of at least 10 MW. However recently
reliable small TE-units, driven by gas or diesel engines become avail
able. Although the mechanical efficiency of these small units
(0,3-1,0 MW) is lower (< 30 X) than that of a big power station
(1000 MW), the application of a small unit in edible oil processing
plants could be advantageous because of the possibility to utilize the
waste heat, raising the total efficiency - based on the primary energy
input - to about 70 t, which is nearby two times that of a big power sta
tion. Therefore substantial savings on primary energy carriers can be
achieved when an edible oil processing plant generates its own elec
tricity and at the same time can utilize the waste heat on the spot.
However several questions particulary the economic aspects have to be
answered first, before the installation of a TE-system can be considered;
the most important are:
a. choice of the proper type and capacity
b. the necessary investments
c. achievable savings
d. payback period

 84.021

The aim o f t h i s r e s e a r c h i s t o i n v e s t i g a t e whether s a v i n g s i n primary

e n e r g y c a r r i e r s by

a p p l i c a t i o n of a t o t a l e n e r g y

t e d i n the f o l l o w i n g t y p e s of e d i b l e o i l

sy stem can be implemen

processing

plants:

a. soybean extraction
b. refinery
c. margarine manufacture

To achieve these goals the following data should be determined and

measured in each type of plant mentioned above:
a. the ratio of the concurrent op timal steam/p ower consump tion
b. a breakdown of the operating times of the steam and electricity con
suming units
c. based on the determinations and measurements of a. and b., the p rop er
type and cap acity of TEsystem (steam turbines, gas or diesel engines)
can be chosen
d. the investments for the TEunit, building, safety and noise reducing
measures
e. the energy and cost savings, including the payback p eriod of the in
vestments
f. safety and environmental, technical and nontechnical barriers
In order to obtain the necessary actual data a close cooperation with a
soybean extraction p lant, a refinery and a margarine p lant resp ectively
is crucial.
In approaching several comp anies to cooperate in this p roject, a soybean
extraction p lant (cap acity about 1000 tons per day), a soybean oil re
finery (cap acity about 480 tons p er day) and a margarine p lant (cap acity
about 200 tons p er day) were found p rep ared to laake this investigation
pO l u Lir

2 . APPROPRIATE TE-SY STEMS

T h e r e a r e t h r e e p o s s i b l e prime movers for a T E - s y s t e m ,
a. s t e a m t u r b i n e with high p r e s e u r e
b . gas or d i e s e l
c.

gasturbine

pistonmotor

boiler

vis

 84.021

A steamturbine with high pressure boiler needs rather high investments in

foundation and building; besides the system needs constant supervision.
A gas or diesel pistonmotor produces beside mechanical power - to drive
the generator -, hot water/steam of about 110
system) and exhaust gases of about 450

C (from the engine cooling

C.

Since in the edible oil industry the steam pressure should be at least 6
bar (temperature about 160

C ) , the produced hot water is useless.

A gasturbine produces beside mechanical power - to drive the generator -,

only exhaust gases of about 450

C which can be utilized to produce 6 bar

steam.
The conclusion is that a gasturbine-generator is the most appropiate sys
tem for the edible oil industry under consideration.
Since the gas pressure available (about 5 bar) is too low for feeding the
turbines, a compressor is needed to raise it to about 13 bar.
To keep investments at a minimum, the TE-system is to run in parallel
with the public electricity company involving the payment of a stand-by
fee.
In case of a breakdown, power can be obtained from this company.

3. SOYBEAN EXTRACTION PLANT - 1000 TPD

3.1 Description of the soybean extraction process

Soybeans are normally processed to produce oil and meal by the processes
shown in figure 1.
After cleaning the beans, they are adjusted to about 10 X moisture and
cracked into 4-8 pieces. For the preparation of high protein meal, the
hulls are removed by air classification. The cracked beans are softened
by tempering/conditioning with steam and subsequently rolled into flakes
having a thickness of 0.2-0.4 mm. The flakes are extracted in an extrac
tor in counter-current with miscella of diminishing strenghte and finally
with a wash of clear hexane to reduce the residual oil content to
< 1.0 X. The defatted flakes, which contain 30-40 t hexane are desolventized and subsequently toasted in a so-called

 84.021

desolventizertoaster (DT). The meal discharging out of the DT at over

100 'c and at a moisture of 1822 X is usally dried to 1214 X moisture.
The dried meal is consecutively ground, cooled and sent to storage.
The socalled "fullmiscella" from the extractor, containing 2035 X oil
in hexane is filtered; the solvent is removed in consecutively the first
and the second stage evaporators, and finally in the stripper.

3.2 Determination of the concurrent optimal heat/power consumption ratio

The extraction of soybeans is a continuous process; this means that in

normal operation (except during breakdowns, shutdowns and startups) the
steam and power demands are constant.
The plant under consideration has just finished a steam conservation pro
gramme, consisting of improving insulation, installing economizers, re
covery of the heat of the air leaving the meal dryer etc. These resulted
into a reduction of the natural gas consumption per ton of beans from
3
3
38 m to 22 m . The minimum steam pressure is 6 bar.
On the average, the plant operates 2 75 days 24 hours 6600 hours a
year.
As described in 3.1 the most important energy consuming operations are:
cracking, tempering/conditioning, flaking, extraction, deeolventizing/
toasting, drying, grinding, distillation/evaporation and obviously pumps
and conveyors for transporting beans, flakes and meal.
Besides, ventilators to keep the dust and hexane concentration in the
buildings below the maximum allowable concentration (MAC value) consume a
lot of electricity.
The concur rent eueigy cuueumption of the apparatuses concerned has been
determined by means of standard steamflow and kWhmeters during 2 con
secutive weeks at a production of 40 tons of beans per hour.
The results of the determinations of the energy consumption of the ap
paratuses concerned, expressed in MJ/ton of beans, are summarized in
table 1.
The concurrent optimal heat/power consumption ratio in the plant under
consideration is 693/100,8

6,9.

 84.021

3.3 Choice of the appropriate TE-system

The plant under consideration processes on the average 40 tons of soy
beans per hour. In this connection the TE-unit should have a capacity of
at least 100,8 40/3,6 - 1120 kW.
The power consumption of a compressor of sufficient capacity to serve a
gasturbine of about 1200 kW is estimated at 50 kWh/h.
To keep the costs for stand-by power at a minimum, the system will con
sist of 2 gasturbine-generators of 600 kW each. In this case a stand-by
of 600 kW will suffice.
The 2 generators will produce 1200 kWh electricity/h and the energy bal
ance (kWh/h) is as follows:
- Natural gas consumption

6250

- Electricity production

1200

- Compressor consumption

50

- Electricity available for the plant

1150

- Heat available in the exhaust gases of the

gasturbine (34620 kg/h at 495 *C) cooled
to 110 *C

3750

- Total available energy

4900

- Energy loss

1350

The overall yield is 4900/6250 - 0,78.

The heat available in the exhaust gases is not sufficient to meet the
steam demand amounting to 40 693/3.6 - 7700 kWh/h.
So, an additional boiler utilizing the exhaust gases as combustion air
will be necessary.

3.4 Economic aspects

The amount of heat available for the boiler is 3750 kWh/h (cf 3.3). For
adding this to water in a boiler having an efficiency of 0,90, the
necessary energy will be 3750/0,90 - 4167 kWh.
So, the amount of natural gas necessary for generating 1150 kWh elec
tricity is 6250-4167 - 2083 kWh.

 84.021

For the same amount of electricity, the public power plant (overall ef
ficiency 0,35) needs 3286 kWh primary energy. Therefore the primary
energy saving per ton of beane processed is (32862083)/40 * 30,1 kWh.
In the EEC about 11 million tons of soybeans are being processed an
nually; the annual primary energy saving in the EEC will be 11 million
30,1 kWh * 331,1 million kWh, equivalent with approximately
3
37 million m natural gas.

For the soybean extraction plant under consideration, the necessary in

vestments to implement the method consisting of the 2 gasturbinegener
ators of 600 kW each complete with the exhaust gases boiler, electric
wiring and steam piping are estimated at Ufi. 1.800.000, equivalent
with 642.857 ECU.
The amount of natural gas necessary for producing 1150 kWh electricity is
2083 kWh (see above).
According to the EECGuidelines for the presentation of periodic and
final reports no. XII/9622/81EN, the reference prices of natural gas
and electricity are 0,013 ECU/kWh and 0,049 ECU/kWh respectively.
The cost saving per year 6600 working hours is 6600 (1150 0,049
2083 0,013) 193.189 ECU.
The Payback period PBP is 642.857/193.189 3,3 years.
The economic lifetime ie 100.000 working hours = 15 years. So the rate of
return ROR 29 X.

4. SOYBEAN OIL REFINERY 480 TPD

4.1 Description of the soybean oil refining process

The purpose of refining edible oils is to remove undesirable components

out of the oils such as gums, free fatty acids, colouring and flavour
ing compounds, pesticides, oxidation products etc. and so to improve
their quality. Today, edible oils are refined along / ways (see fig. 2)
viz.: a. alkali refining and b. physical refining.
In the alkali refining process, the crude oil is consecutively degummed
(mostly with a water solution of phosphoric or citric acid), deacidified
with a sodium hydroxide solution, bleached with activated earth, and fi
nally deodorized.

 84.021

In the physical refining process, the deacidification with sodium hydrox

ide is omitted; the free fatty acids are removed in the deodorization
step. The advantages of this process - compared with the first method are less waste water, higher yields and lower energy consumption.
However the physical refining process is not always applicable to highly
unsatured oils, such as soybean oil, particularly when they have incurred
oxidation either in the beans or during extraction, storage and transpor
tation.
Since soybean oil is the most important oil in The Netherlands and also
in several EEC countries, the investigation regarding a TE-system con
cerns an alkali refinery processing this oil.

4.2 Determination of the concurrent optimal heat/power

consumption ratio
The alkali refining of soybean oil is a fairly continuous process; all
operations, except for the bleaching step, are continuous, and the steam
and power demands are reasonably constant.
The minimum steam pressure is 6 bar.
On the average, the plant operates 250 days 24 hours * 6000 hours a
year.
The concurrent energy demand of the process has been determined and the
results are shown in table 2.

4.3 Choice of the appropriate TE-system

The plant under consideration processes on the average 20 tons of soybean
oil per hour.
In this connection the TE-unit should have a capacity of at least 20 14
- 280 kW.

 84.021

Additionally, 13 kW is needed for a gascompreesor to raise the natural

gas pressure (cf 3.3). Consequently a gasturbinegenerator of 293 kW
should be chosen, with the following energy balance (kWh/h):
Natural gas consumption

1716

Electricity production

293

Compressor consumption

13

Electricity available for the plant

280

Heat available in the exhaust gases

of the gasturbine (8738 kg/h at 485 *C)
cooled to 110 C
Total available energy
Energy loss

922
1202
514

The overall yield is 1202/1716 0,70.

The heat available in the exhaust gases is not sufficient to meet the
steam demand amounting to 20 400 2,4/3,6

5333 kWh/h.

So an additional boiler utilizing the exhaust gases as combustion air

will be necessary.

4.4 Economic aspects

The amount of heat available for the boiler is 922 kWh/h (cf 4.3). For
adding this to water in a boiler with an efficiency of 0.90, the necess
ary energy will be 922/0,90 " 1024 kWh.
So the amount of natural gas necessary for generating 280 kWh electricity
is 1716 1024 692 kWh.
For the same amount of electricity, the public power plant (overall ef
ficiency * 0,35) needs 800 kWh primary energy. Therefore the primary en
ergy saving per ton of oil processed is (800692)/20 5,4 kWh.
In the EEC about 11 million tons of soybeans are being processed annually
resulting into approximately 2 million tons of soybean oil to be alkali
refined. The annual primary energy saving in the EEC '>xii be 2 million
3
5,4 kWh 10,8 million kWh, equivalent with about 1,2 million m natu
ral gas.

 84.021

For the soybean oil refinery under consideration, the necessary invest
ments to implement the method - consisisting of the 293 kW gasturbine
-generator complete with the exhaust gases boiler, electric wiring and
steam piping-are estimated at Hfl. 439.500,, equivalent with 156.964
ECU.
The amount of natural gas necessary for producing 280 kWh electricity is
692 kWh (see above).
The reference prices of natural gas and electricity are 0,013 ECU/kWh and
0,049 ECU/h respectively (cf. 3.4).
The cost saving per year - 6000 working hours - is 6000 (280 0,049 692 0,013) - 28.344 ECU.
The Payback period PBP is 156.964/28.344 * 5,5 years.
The economic lifetime is 100.000 working hours " 15 years. So the rate of
return ROR 15 X.

5. MARGARINE PLANT - 200 TPD

5.1 Description of the margarine manufacturing process
Margarine is a solidified emulsion of a watermilk phase in a continuous
fat-blend phase.
A simplified flowsheet of the margarine process is shown in figure 3.
Today margarine is manufactured by means of the continous so-called
Votator method. The watermilk phase is mixed with the liquid fat-blend at
about 50

C. The mixture is turned into margarine by churning, cooling to

about 15

C and kneading in scraped tube coolers.

5.2 Determination of the concurrent optimal heat/power consumption ratio

With the exception of the mixing operation, the margarine process is a
continuous process.
The steam and power demands are fairly constant. The minimum steam press
ure is 6 bar.
The concurrent energy demand per ton product of the whole process is:
45 kWh (162 MJ) electricity and 80 kg 6 bar steam (184 MJ).

10

84.021

5.3 Choice of the appropriate TEsystem

The plant under consideration operates 5 days/week (Monday until Friday);

working hours are from 06.30 until 16.30 with 1 hour break. At a capacity
of 25 tons/h, the average hourly energy consumption is 2 tons of 6 bar
steam and 1125 kWh electricity.
Since the heat/power ratio (184/162 1,14) is low, the capacity of the
TEunit should be based on the heat consumption of 2 tons of steam/h. The
boiler feed water temperature is 80

C; so the amount of heat for pro

ducing 2 tons of steam is about 1300 kWh.

Based on this steam consumption a 480 kW gasturbinegenerator yielding
1368 kWh available heat in the exhaust gases (cooled to 110

C) was

chosen. The energy balance (kWh/h) of the TEunit is as follows:

Natural gas consumption

2508

Electricity production

480

Compressor consumption

20

Electricity available for the plant

460

H eat available in the exhaust gases of the

gasturbine (12528 kg/h at 498 *C)
cooled to 110 *C
Total available energy
Energy loss

1368
1828
680

The overall yield is 1828/2508 0,73.

The heat available is the exhaust gases is somewhat more than what is
necessary to meet the steam demand. However excess heat could be utilized
for the hot water production for cleaning purposes.

5.4 Economic aspects

The amount of heat available for the boiler is 1368 kWh/h (cf 5.3). For
adding this to water in a boiler with an efficiency of 0,90, the necess
ary energy will be 1368/0,90 = 1520 kWh. So the amount of natural gas
necessary for generating 460 kWh electricity is 2508 1520 988 kWh.
For the same amount of electricity, the public power plant (overall ef
ficiency

0,35) needs 1314 kWh primary energy. Therefore the primary

energy saving per ton of margarine manufactured is (1314988)/25

13,0 kWh.

 84.021

11

The total annual margarine production in the EEC is not available; the
production of margarine, halvarine and shortenings in The Netherlands in
1982 was 493.000 tons. The annual primary energy saving in The
Netherlands will be 493.000 13 kWh 6,4 million kWh equivalent with
3
about 727.000 m natural gas.

For the margarine plant under consideration, the necessary investments to

implement the method consisting of the 480 kW gasturbinegenerator com
plete with the exhaust gases boiler, electric wiring and steam piping
are estimated at Hfl. 720.000,, equivalent with 257.143 ECU.
The amount of natural gas necessary for producing 460 kWh electricity is
988 kWh (see above).
The reference prices of natural gas and electricity are 0,013 ECU/kWh and
0,049 ECU/kWh respectively (cf 3.4).
The cost saving per year 2250 working hours is 2250 (460 0,049)
988 0,013) 21.816 ECU.
The Payback period PBP is 257.143/21.816 11,8 years.
The economic lifetime is 100.000 working hours * more than 20 years. So
the rate of return ROR 6 T.

It should be noted that there are also margarine plants operating with 2
shifts, making 16 h/d.
In this case the payback period will be about 6 years.

6. CONCLUSIONS

The application of a TEsystem is quite faesible in soybean extraction

plants.

The continuous electricity demand in soybean oil refineries is rather

low. The relatively small TEunit for such a plant has a rather low elec
tricity yield resulting into an adverse effect on the Payback period.

The total annual working hours in the margarine plant under consideration
is too low to achieve a reasonable Payback period. In plants working with
2 shifts, the application of a TEsystem is feasible.

INSTITUTE CIV0TECHN0LOGY TNO 20x

19840124/ER

12

84.021

TABLE 1 - BREAKDOWN OF THE ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN A 1000 TPD SOYBEAN

EXTRACTION PLANT - MJ/ OF BEANS

heat (MJ)

electricity (MJ)*

7.2

cracking
tempering/conditioning

119

3,6

flaking

36,0

40

3,6

deso1ventizing/toasting

297

7,2

drying

158

7,2

extraction

7,2

grinding
distillation (including usage
of the heat of the vapours from
the DT)

79

pumps, conveyors etc.

14,4

ventilators

14,4

693

100,8

1 kWh - 3,6 MJ

TABLE 2 - AVERAGE CONCURRENT ENERGY DEMAND IN ALKALI-REFINING OF SOYBEAN

rTT

steam (kg/t crude oil)

electricity (kWh/t crude oil)

400
14

 84.021

13

FIGURE 1 - FLOW DIAGRAM OF A SOYBEAN EXTRACTION PLANT

soybeans
cleaning

cracking

(dehulling)

cracked beans

tempering/conditioning

t
flaking

I
extraction

1
|defatted flakes

desolventizing-toast ing

drying

I
grinding

cooling

soybean meal 44
or
soybean meal 49

full
miscella
filtration
distillation
crude soybean oil

34.021

14

rit'; RE 2 - BLOCK DIAGRAM OF TWO TYPES OF EDIBLE OIL REFINING PROCESSES

crude

oil

aikcli reficisg
process

physical r e f i n i n g
process

t gumming

\
degumming

\
de a c i d i f i c a t i o n

I
i

\
bleaching

n,f a c h i n g

distillative deacidification
and deodorization

?.eo<Orization
refined

\
refined oil

oil

FIGURE 3 -- FLOW DIAGRAM OF A MARGARINE MANUFACTURING PROCESS

mixing of the oils

soured milk\
water >
otier additions;

i
churning
cooling
kneading

packaging
s t o r a g e and d i s t r i b u t i o n

CDNA09169ENC