Production of palm oil

Processing palm oil fruits for edible oil has been practiced in Africa for thousands of years, and the oil produced, highly colored and flavored, is an essential ingredient in much of the traditional West African cuisine.

The oil palm produces two types of oils, palm oil from the fibrous mesocarp and lauric oil from the palm kernel. In the conventional milling process, the fresh fruit bunches are sterilized and stripped of the fruitlets which are then digested and pressed to extract the crude palm oil (CPO).

Crude palm oil is refined to remove impurities. Conversion of CPO to refined oil involves removal of the products of hydrolysis and oxidation, colour and flavour. After refining, the oil may be separated (fractionated) into liquid and solid phases by thermo-mechanical means (controlled cooling, crystallisation, and filtering), and the liquid fraction (olein) is used extensively as a liquid cooking oil in tropical climates, competing successfully with the more expensive groundnut, corn, and sunflower oils.

Palm-kernel oil is extracted as a separate process, involving grinding, heating and the use of an ‘oilseed expeller’ or solvent. The nuts are separated from fibre in the press cake and cracked to obtain palm kernels which are crushed in another plant to obtain crude palm kernel oil (CPKO). The oil then requires clarification in a filter press or by sedimentation. Palm kernel cake is a by-product, which is used as an animal feed.

Fractionation of CPO and CPKO in the refinery produces the liquid stearin fraction and a solid stearin component.
Production of palm oil

Palm oil tree (Elaeis guineensis)

Oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) is a monocot of the order of Arecales and belongs to family Palmae and subfamily Cocosideae.

Since 2006, the palm oil has overtaken soybean to become the most important oil crop in the world.

In East Asian countries, palm oil is the major feedstock for biodiesel. The period from 1995-2010, palm oil production more than tripled to 46.7 million MT, with Indonesia 47% and Malaysia 38% as the main producers.

USDA estimates that world palm oil production for  2014/2015 will be 63.29 million MT.

Palm oil is used for cooking, margarine, vanaspati, shortenings, detergents and cosmetics. It is also used in pharmaceuticals industry as a source of carotenes.

Oil palm trees are capable of producing palm oil all year round, rather than during just one or two harvests.

Oil palm wood is growing in value, especially with high demand from the United States, and even the cuttings and discarded fruit husks can be used in biofuel.

The oil palm is an unbranched evergreen tree, reaching a height of 18-30 m and having a stout trunk with diameter of 22-75 cm and covered with leaf bases.

Optimal plant density is 145 trees/hectare with a distance of 10m between trees.
Palm oil tree (Elaeis guineensis)