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Hexane Loss
Hexane Loss
GREEN
PRODUCTIVITY
Green Productivity Demonstration Program (GPDP) in Soybean Processing Industry (M/s Rama Phosphates Ltd., Indore, INDIA) (March 2002)
Prepared by
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Sponsored by
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Inadequate DTDC
High bed thickness Inadequate Design Insufficient contact between DOC and steam Less heating surface area for indirect steam
Man
Work instruction not duly followed Negligence of plant periodic maintenance Shortage of skilled manpower
Improper Extractor
Less drainage time for miscella
Inadequate Vacuum
Improper Condensation
Air ingressment Absence of rotary valve at out let Fouling of condenser
Insufficient plasticity Considering average thickness instead of standard deviation Faulty quality control of flake thickness Improper flaking Worn out flaker rollers
Hexane Loss
Hexane retention by residual oil
Method
BACKGROUND: India is the fifth largest producer of Soybean in the world. However, India's share in world production of soybean is only 3%. It is evident from the statistics, that the specific raw material and chemical consumption in Indian Soybean Processing Industries is very high compare to developed countries. This resulting in high production cost which is great bottleneck for the survival in the competitive international market. Looking in potential of improvement in this sector, Asian Productivity Organisation, Japan entrusted a project titled "Green Productivity Demonstration in Edible Oil Industry in India". Subsequently, M/s Rama Phosphates Ltd.-Oil Division (RPL), Indore was selected for detailed study. Lots of areas were identified for improvement. The hexane loss is one of the critical areas where in-depth study was carried out to identify causes for high consumption of hexane and their possible Green Productivity Measures to bring down the specific consumption of hexane to the minimum possible level.
GREEN
PRODUCTIVITY
Various tools were applied to know the causes of hexane loss in soybean processing industry to produce refined oil. The well-known Ishikawa Diagram (Fish-Bone Diagram) was prepared, as shown in figure, show the various causes and their effect for hexane loss. The outcome of the study at M/s RPL is discussed below: The hexane is used as a solvent for the extraction of oil. In India, on an average, the hexane loss is 3.0~5.0 lit/Ton of seed process. However, it can be reduced to 2.0~3.0 lit/Ton of seed process. The high hexane loss results in high production cost, high fugitive gas emission, poor quality of DOC and crude oil. The major areas of hexane exits in the SEP are: (I) Carryover along with crude oil, (ii) Uncondensate vapour going through final vent of recuperation unit, (iii) Carryover with meal drying air in DTDC, (iv) Carryover with DOC and (v) hexane emission from leakages. CAUSE EFFECT ANALYSIS There are number of reasons for high hexane loss in SEP. The possible causes of high hexane loss in SEP and their effect are discussed below. PROBABLE CAUSES Inadequate vacuum in DTDC & distillation . Inadequate steam supply . Inadequate condenser cooling . Inadequate size of condenser Inadequate desolventisation in DTDC . Inadequate steam quantity & pressure . Inadequate heating surface area . Low retention time in DT Inadequate drainge in extractor . Inadequate drainage time . High hexane concentration in wet DOC EFFECTS Inadequate vacuum leads to . Poor separation of hexane in distillation & Desolventisation . The Quality of Crude Oil & DOC may further degrade due to high concentration of hexane. Inadequate desolventisation leads to . Hexane carryover along with meal dryer air, resulting high hexane loss Inadequate drainage in extractor leads to . Additional hexane carry over with wet DOC . More load to the DT
PROBABLE CAUSES Inadequate recuperation . . Inadequate absorption/release of hexane Inadequte condenser size
EFFECTS Recover of hexane from recuperation system may be poor. More fugitive hexane loss.
Inadequate crude oil stripping . . Inadequate steam & Vacuum Inadequate condenser size
Poor oil stripping leads to more hexane carryover with crude oil resulting in more hexane loss and poor quality of crude oil.
GREEN PRODUCTIVITY OPTIONS TO REDUCE EXCESS OIL CONTENT IN DOC The possible solutions for reducing high hexane loss in SEP are:
GREEN
PRODUCTIVITY
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Ensure adequate steam supply (quantity & pressure) without interruptions by providing adequate sized boiler(#) Provide cold/chilled water for effective condenser cooling Maintain optimum bed thickness and steam pressure in the desolventisation compartment of DT. Increasing heating surface area in DT by providing more limpets Increase the hexane drainage time in extractor Increase mineral oil flow rate to improve recuperation (#) Increase heating surface area of PHE to improve recuperation (#)
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Increase chilled water flow rate in vent condenser to improve recuperation (#) Install separate condenser with steam ejector in stripper to increase vacuum (#)
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COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS The Demonstration Unit (DU) in India having capacity to crush 400~450- TPD soybean seed, implemented five options (marked as #) and invested directly Rs. 1.95 lakh (US$ 4,150) in SEP and indirectly Rs. 120 lakh (US$ 2,55,360) for installing new higher capacity FBC Boiler. The unit gained financial saving of Rs. 12.7 lakh (US$ 27,000) per annum as a result of reduction of hexane loss of 12.2% (from 4.93 lit/T to 4.3 lit/T). By installing higher capacity boiler, the unit gained further in the reduction of oil content in DOC, high capacity utilisation in SEP, increase in power generation & saving in steam cost and coal. OTHER BENEFITS
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Implementation of GP options resulting in following additional benefits: Productivity enhancements as a result of low production cost. Better capacity utilisation of plant Prevention of fire hazard Higher recovery of uncondensed hexane
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