Optimizing oil & fat processing operations: improving efficiency, productivity, and process performance

As an industry at the heart of efforts to sustainably power the planet into the future, while also feeding its growing population, any advances in oil and fat processing operations can have significant and far-reaching consequences. 

Even minor technological tweaks that improve efficiency, yield and quality in any branch of this sector can have a major incremental impact if adopted across this processing landscape. 

And if new full-blown innovations come on the scene that radically change the game and deliver previously undreamt of results, then this can be truly transformative and be of huge benefit to the world and its people. 

That’s why processing experts like Alfa Laval leave no stone unturned in their drive to optimize operations and find solutions to the processing challenges that face us. 

Alfa Laval works closely with its customers as an expert partner on many different fronts in this battle; from producing more sustainable fuel from non-edible oil seeds or collected used cooking oil (UCO), to rendering more nutrition from meat fats; and from increasing the yields of super-refined oils and health supplements to finding new ways to extract vital ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry. 

The industry is broad, and while Alfa Laval brings years of experience and expertise to the two fundamental areas of operation – processing animals and seeds for fats and oils – it also has the flexibility, dynamism and people talent to be at the head of the game in newer areas such as alternative meats, and the processing of raw materials such as yellow peas and even insects. 

Fuelling up 

When it comes to fuel, the world has long been reliant on fossil-based sources to keep homes powered and engines running, which is increasingly problematic with the geopolitical issues around supply and the climate consequences of use. 

But with every advance in sustainable biofuel production from vegetable oils, the stranglehold of fossil fuels can be slowly released. 

By bringing together the very latest hi-tech components, Alfa Laval engineers are developing technologies and mechanisms that have the potential to transform the sustainable biofuel industry, with significantly increased yields and much improved purity. 

All of this is underpinned by a drive to use less energy and water, which is supported by using the very toughest, hard-wearing materials in construction for the higher corrosion resistance required for applications like biofuel pre-treatment.

Sticking to the fundamentals 

It is by sticking to these fundamentals that Alfa Laval stays at the forefront of the drive to optimize oil and fat operations. Get all the right pieces in place, and the whole will deliver the solution – maximizing yield, minimizing losses and improving quality, while saving on water, energy and cost.  

And as a trusted expert partner, Alfa Laval is always keen to be on hand to ensure that its processing solutions – whether it is a single component or an entire line – are working at their best, with a team of specialists that can tweak and refine in real-time to optimize operations. 

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the work it does with olive oil producers, where the drive to optimize yield is an ever more pressing requirement as climate change impacts harvests and water availability, while consumers demand higher quality products, even richer in anti-oxidants, polyphenols and vitamin E. 

For an industry that has fallen back on traditional methods for centuries, continued profitability is reliant on input from expert partners like Alfa Laval, who can bring knowledge from other parts of the food and beverage sector, and other industries entirely, to sharpen up operations. 

It did so as long ago as 1928, as the first company to introduce high-speed separation to the processing, the first to use decanter centrifuges in 1946 and into the modern day, the vacuum technology of the Olive Oil Booster is improving the extraction yield and quality of oil.  

Working with a combination of thermal and separation solutions, the Booster offers a mechanical turnkey solution and achieves optimum processing power by de-aerating the olive paste while controlling the temperature, without the use of additives or solvents. 

Meanwhile, when it comes to processing fats, the supply of raw materials is generally less unpredictable than edible oils, but the requirement for top-tier efficiency and performance is just as urgent. 

From farm to plate, meat processing, for instance, has traditionally generated a high percentage of waste and demanded significant energy and water resources, and with global meat consumption projected to rise by 73% by 2050, solutions are urgently required to minimize waste and mitigate against environmental impacts. 

Whether it’s fats from land-based animals such as cows, pigs or chickens, or work in the production of fish oils, Alfa Laval’s technology boosts yield, quality and efficiency, combining industry-leading application expertise with an extensive product portfolio to deliver the best solutions for all stages of animal fat processing – from extraction to downstream refining. 

Meeting ever higher standards 

With standards and regulations in fat processing becoming tighter all over the world, it is imperative that producers have the very best equipment to offer reliability and certainty. Alfa Laval’s AFPX separator series is one such example. 

The AFPX separators are used in the meat and fish processing industries to purify and enhance the recovery of valuable fats and proteins. These robust centrifuges are specially designed for extremely demanding separation duties, handling intermittent solids discharge while separating immiscible liquid phases with different densities.  

This ensures that demanding quality and hygiene standards can be met, and with an AFPX separator, the customer can achieve exceptional, high-quality fats with 99.7% purity. 

Focusing on processing performance 

Whatever the raw product used, one thing is crystal clear in the modern oil and fats industry: businesses must have a laser focus on the performance of their processing to maximize efficiency and productivity.  

As new markets open up, processing customers demand the very best – such as technology that refines animal fats, and vegetable and fish oils with a deeper removal of contaminant for health products, or producing new speciality fats for use in confectionery and baking. 

It requires precision, innovative thinking and a deep understanding of the processes and challenges involved – and for its customers, Alfa Laval ticks all these boxes.