COTTON SEED PLANT PROCESSING DESCRIPTION

Cottonseed, as the by-product of cotton ginning operation, is covered with fibrous lint. The cottonseed is
mainly made up of inner kernel, usually called "meats". This meaty portion contains all the oil as well as
proteins, and it is enclosed in the fibrous hull. The hulls stick out over the cotton fiber which escape the
ginning and left on seeds. These cotton fibers are called "lint".

The inner kernel can be planted, fed to livestock, made into cottonseed oil for human consumption, used
for fertilizer, or used in products like lotions and soap. The lint we get from cotton delinting has wide
application in cotton blanket, sweat shirt, paper board industry and cotton pulp, etc. Therefore, the
cottonseed delinter is very essential in cotton processing.

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DELINT SECTION

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Cotton seed is first cleaned free from the foreign matters such as stones, shale, sticks, iron, earth, etc. The
foreign matter in the seed can be anywhere between 2 to 5 % depending upon the way kapasis handled at
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the fields. It is essential to remove the foreign matters so as to protect the further processing machinery
from damage and excessive wear and tear. Seed cleaning is carried out over reciprocating type sieves to
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separate unwanted matter. The seed is then pneumatically lifted to separate the heavy matters such as
stones, iron, etc. The cleaned seeds are then fed into a battery fof delinting machines in which tight rolls of
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seed are pressed over high speed circular saws. The saws scrape off the lint from the seed and the lint is
sucked pneumatically into lint beating and cleaning devices.
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The lint beating and cleaning is done to increase the cellulose content of the lint and the product is bagged.
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Delinting is generally done in two stages, in the first stage a light cut is taken and in the 2nd stage more
severe cut is allowed. The fiber length of the first lint is much longer than the second cut lint. Long fiber is
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preferred for the use in paper and artificial silk industry. The recovery of lint varies from seed to seed
depending on its original lint content, But generally the recovery is about 1.9% to 2.2% first cut and 3.8%
to 4.5% second cut.

The delinted seed is then Fed into Hullers wherein the outer hull of the seed is cracked by knife edge
mounted on high speed rotors. The mixture of hulls and meats so produced is passed over reciprocating
sieves to separate the meats from hulls. The hulls are passed through a series of separators and beaters to
ensure that they are free of entrained oil and protein bearing meats and then bagged, the meats containing
about 35 % oil and 35 % protein are conveyed to the expelling section for crushing. Some portion of hulls
is allowed to go with meats for adjusting the protein content of the final meal to the desired level.
EXPELLING PROCESS SECTION

In the Expelling section, meats are cooked in a tempering apparatus and fed into a series of expellers
consisting of heavy screws working in strong cages. The meats are squeezed with pressure as high as 5 to
10 tonnes per sq. inch. At this pressure the oil is squeezed out through the slits in the cage and the meats
pressed into oil cakes containing about 10 to 12% oil are discharged through the cage.

The crude oil obtained from the expellers is filtered through plate and frame type filter presses and then
sent to washing neutralisers before being sent to Refinery, wherein they are washed with caustic soda, which
reacts with free fatty acid content of the oil and forms soap. The soap is separated from the oil and the oil

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is the pumped to refinery for further process.

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The cake thus obtained in the expelling section is fed to the solvent extraction plant for further extraction

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SOLVENT EXTRACTION PROCESS SECTION

The process of Solvent Extraction involves the injection of hexane into the oil bearing materials resulting in
a mix of oil and solvent, called miscella. Hexane from miscella is later evaporated using Distillation unit and
resulting in unrefined oil. Hexane so evaporated is condensed and can be recycled. Our innovative design
techniques in continuous extractor and desolventiser toaster have resulted in minimum hexane loss and we
gained accolades from the clients. The by-products so obtained from the desolventiser toaster i.e. De-oiled
Cake is an excellent ingredient for cattle and poultry feed manufacturing as De-oiled cake contains proteins
and other nutrients.
Extraction being the main section is further divided into the following subsections:
• Extraction of oil from prepared raw materials

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• Desolventisation

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• Distillation/evaporation of Hexane to recover oil from miscella
• Condensation of Hexane

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Extraction section
Horizontal Continuous Extractors are employed around the globe and works on the principle of gravity
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percolation. The prepared material from the preparatory section is transported to the continuous extractor
unit using conveyor system. Extractor unit comprises of a number of solvent sprayers which sprays the
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solvent over the entire bed of raw material transporting the material from feed to the discharge end.
Extractor bed with efficient filtration system for holding the material besides providing clean miscella moves
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over the rails inside the extractor unit. Miscella is combination of oil and the solvent (mostly hexane)
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percolated through the material bed. Miscella is then subsequently taken to heaters for separating hexane
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from oil in three to four stages. Light and sight viewing glasses are provided to view the distribution of
spray inside the extractor unit.
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The wet meal from the extractor unit is de-oiled material and absorbed solvent is transported by means of
bulk flow conveyor to the Desolventising section to recover the hexane.

Desolventisation
Desolventiser-Toaster (DT) consists of a series of heating jackets mounted vertically one over the other.
Each jacket has a specially designed double bottom in which high pressure steam is introduced. Provision
for open steam is also made such that the entire surface of the material is subjected to its action.
De-oiled material from the continuous extractor unit contains 20 to 35% of solvent. This material enters
from the top of desolventiser toaster and passes from stage to stage of steam jacket while being rotated
with an agitator shaft fitted with blades. The basic principal involved in Desolventisation is direct and indirect
heating of the de-oiled material with steam to a temperature well above boiling point of the solvent and to
ensure that no solvent is left over in the de-oiled material. The material flows from one steam jacket to the
next through chutes. Solvent vapours are sent to the Condensers via a Scrubber where the solvent is washed
from any fines.

The de-oiled and desolventised meal called as De-Oiled cake is an excellent ingredient for cattle and poultry
feed manufacturing is conditioned and cooled to desired moisture level before being transported to the
bagging Section with the help of a conveyor.

Distillation
Miscella from the extractor unit contains nearly 12% to 18% of solvent in case of oil cakes or rice bran and

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up to 25% to 35% in the case of sunflower seed or rapeseed and hence the two liquids of miscella have to

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be separated. Separation of two liquids is done by the evaporation of solvent due to its lower boiling point
of 64 to 67 degree Celsius and thus leaving clean oil behind.

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Distillation process is usually carried out in three stages under vacuum condition (zero oxygen for better
efficiency of evaporation at elevated temperatures) to retain the better oil characteristics. First stage of
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distillation is carried out in Economizer followed by a Flasher to evaporate the solvent and thus leaving
practically only oil behind. Thus obtained oil is further treated with open steam to ensure that no solvent
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stays behind.
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The solvent vapours thus produced passes through an Oil Vapour separator to separate out any oil particles
trapped with the solvent vapours before passing on to a Condenser.
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The oil and solvent mixture is distilled later to recover the solvent. The hot oil from the evaporator is passed
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through a cooler to cool to room temperature, and finally transported to the storage tank and later pump
to refinery section.
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Condensation of hexane
Hexane vapours from Desolventisation Section and also from Distillation Section need to be condensed.
Condensers usually are of floating head type and with tube bundles to carry the cooling water. Cooled water
at room temperature is circulated inside the tube bundles and with vapours outside of the tubes. Thus the
solvent vapours are cooled and gets condensed into liquid. The condensate liquid so obtained is passed to
solvent water separator where the difference in densities of water and solvent and their immiscibility
accomplishes complete separation. The so obtained solvent from this tank is again fed to the extractor
continuously for the final washing of the meal bed. The uncondensed gases from the condensor are led to
contact cooler where they are washed with cold water spray.
Final solvent recovery
The air that is being ejected out of the system contains traces of solvent. In order to recover these traces, a
special final vent air stripping column has been provided. It comprises of a main Absorber to give a large
contact surface. It is partly filled with mineral oil to absorb the solvent vapors from the air.
The residual vapours from these condensers are evacuated by ejector to a vent condenser cooled by water
in close circuit. The residual air is aspirated through an absorption tower where mineral oil absorbs residual
hexane in air before being condensed using vent condenser. Providing this vent condenser we were
successful in reducing the solvent losses.

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REFINING PROCESS SECTION

The long mix plant is built up as an entirely closed system and is designed to handle vegetable oils
in the following operations:

 Neutralization, Re-refining, water washing.

 Vacuum Drying

Neutralization, Re-refining and washing:

1. Gum conditioning with phosphoric acid

2. Neutralisation with caustic soda.

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3. Rerefining

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4. Water washing with process soft water.

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The above operations form stages of continuous degumming process and the dry degummed oil
is obtained continuously after a brief residence time in plant.
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1. Gum conditioning
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Feed oil is pumped in a continuous and constant stream by pump heated to required temperature
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in the regenerative plate heat exchanger and fed to knife mixer where it is intensively mixed with
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requisite quantity of concentrated phosphoric acid dosed into the mixer by a metering pump
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2. Neutralisation
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Acid treated oil is taken to the knife mixer where in pre calculated quantity of lye is added. The
Oil is then fed to separator after retention time. In this separator the oil and soap stock are
separated and the soaps stock is pumped to storage for further processing or disposal.

3. Re-refining

Neutral oil is taken to the knife mixer where in pre calculated quantity of lye is added. The oil is
then fed to separator. In this separator the oil and soap stock are separated and the soaps stock
is pumped to storage for further processing or disposal.

4. Water Washing
Neutralised oil is heated to about 90 deg. C in the heat exchanger and pumped into knife mixer.
The oil is mixed intensively with hot water fed by pump in the knife mixer. Traces of soap in the
neutralized oil are extracted by water from the oil phase. Oil and soapy water are separated in
separator.

5. Vacuum drying

Washed oil is fed continuously to the vacuum dryer and sprayed through specially designed
nozzles. The vacuum dryer is kept under vacuum. The dried oil from the vacuum chamber is
continuously pumped out by pump to the storage tank directly through heat exchanger; this
avoids any quality deteriotion of oil.

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BATCH BLEACHING PLANT

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This process is meant for removal of colouring matter from the neutralized oil. The process

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involved by addition of Bleaching earth and activated carbon to remove colouring matter and
filtering the same.
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Neutralised oil is pumped to bleachers to desired level. The oil is dried under vacuum at 800C.
Bleaching earth and activated carbon is added to bleachers manually. The reactor content is
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pumped by filter pump to the automatic filters.

The Filtered oil is taken to bleached oil storage tank (offsites). The filters are of “Leaf type” and
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are designed for low oil content in spent earth/carbon and provided with automatic discharge
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arrangement. The entrained oil is collected in Tank and the same will be reprocessed.
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Vacuum in the bleacher is maintained by vacuum system.

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CONTINUOUS DEACIDIFYING / DEODORISING PLANT

The object of deodorisation is to remove undesirable substances which are responsible for
unpleasant favours and odours in edible oils. These undesirable substances mainly are identified
and clarified as follows:

• Low boiling free fatty acids

• Aldehydes and ketones.

These compounds which are contained in fats and oils in very limited amounts, have a
characteristic common to all of them, i.e. the great differences in volatility between them and the
triglycerides. In fact deodorization, which is a process of steam distillation, is based on the higher
volatile properties of odoriferous compounds.

Temperature however should not exceed certain limits beyond which also the triglycerides would
distill out and polymerization phenomena could occur. Since the boiling point of fatty acids
decreases considerably with decreasing of the absolute pressure, distillation should be conducted
under a very low absolute pressure to reduce the required distillation temperature. Another
peculiarity of the distillation process is that the boiling temperature of fatty acids can be further
reduced by injecting into the mass of oil being distilled steam, which modified the vapour pressure
of fatty acids and enables the organoleptic characteristics of the product to remain unchanged.
Oil to be deodorised at a predetermined rate is pumped through Filters & Oil Heater to the De-
aerator Drying Unit. The incoming oil is heated in the Oil Heater with LP steam. The de-aerator
drying unit which is kept under vacuum is designed to remove any air and traces of moisture

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through preheated oil. Pump draws the de-aerated and dried oil from De-aerator Drying Unit and
pumps it through the Interchanger, inbuilt Interchanger in Deodorising tower to recover the heat
from the deodorised oil and pass through final heater before entering into Deodorising Tower.

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The heated oil enters the first tray of the Deodoriser Tower and overflows from one tray to the
next tray located below. All the trays are equipped with Thermic fluid heating coils and sparging
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steam facility. The volatile materials sucked by the vacuum system passes through the Vapour
Scrubber. Vapour Scrubbe is designed to scrub all the distilling compounds (fatty acids,
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tocopherols, aldehydes, ketones etc.). The pump draws the cooled condensed product through
PHE and sprays it to the Vapour Scrubber. The finished oil leaving the Deodoriser Tower passes
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through heat exchanger to heat the incoming oil. The oil is cooled in Heat Exchanger and further
cooled by water cooler and finally passes through Polishing Filter before going to storage.
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ACID OIL TREATMENT PLANT

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The object of acid treatment is to split the soap stock with sulphuric acid to obtain acid oil.
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The process is batch process. The soap stock is pumped to reaction vessels by offsite transfer
pump. The soap stock is heated with open steam to the desired temperature and required
quantity of acid is added to from sulphuric acid tank. Hot water washes are given to remove the
free mineral acidity from the acid oil. Hot water tank is provided with open steam for heating the
water to the desired temperature.

The water from is drained to Oil-Water separator manually. The Acid Oil is pumped to storage
tank by pump.
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