Solvent Extraction Method

Solvent extraction is a process which involves extracting oil from oil-bearing materials by treating it with a low boiler solvent as opposed to extracting the oils by mechanical pressing methods (such as expellers, hydraulic presses, etc.)

The purpose of solvent extraction is to remove most of the oil contained in a seed. Extraction is conducted on prepared seeds or, generally in the case of high oil content seeds, the cakes obtained by the pre-pressing.

The solvent extraction method recovers almost all the oils and leaves behind only 0.5% to 0.7% residual oil in the raw material. In the case of mechanical pressing the residual oil left in the oil cake may be anywhere from 6% to 14%. The solvent extraction method can be applied directly to any low oil content raw materials. It can also be used to extract pre-pressed oil cakes obtained from high oil content materials. Because of the high percentage of recovered oil, solvent extraction has become the most popular method of extraction of oils and fats.  The hexane thus recovered is reused for extraction. The low boiling point of hexane (67°C / 152°F) and the high solubility of oils and fats in it are the properties exploited in the solvent extraction process.

KMEC supplies the most advance,high performance solvent extraction plants  for our customers. Solvent extraction system is designed to process seeds like soyabeans,sunflower,cotton seeds,rapeseeds and floury material like rice bran etc.

Industrial plants using solvent extraction require equipment for carrying out the extraction itself (extractor) and for essentially complete recovery of the solvent for reuse, usually by distillation. We are dedicated to design, supply and serve the solvent extraction plant and systems, we can provide turn-key oil projects from 100t to 6000t per day.