Development of a new process for palm oil refining based on supercritical fluid extraction technology

Abstract

This work describes the conceptual development of a new process for palm oil refining using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) technology. The first step was to model the phase equilibrium behavior of a crude palm oil (CPO)-supercritical CO2 mixture. Next, a new flowsheet structure was synthesized to recover highpurity palm oil and its minor components. The new SFE process was finally simulated using Aspen Plus commercial process simulator version 10.2.1 based on the Redlich-Kwong-Aspen (RKA) thermodynamic model. The results obtained were in good agreement with the pilot plant data reported in the literature. It is envisioned that the development of a new, intensified palm oil refining process that is based on SFE technology can make the refining process drastically simpler and overcome the limitations of the existing technology for palm oil refining.