Vegetable oil is one of the highest calorie foods (850-900 kcal per 100 g). It is a source of vitamin E (tocopherol) and essential fatty acids for the human body, and does not contain cholesterol, unlike animal fats.

The quality of vegetable oil is standardized according to a number of indicators. Organoleptic indicators: transparency, color, smell and taste. Refined (purified) oil should be completely transparent, without sediment, light yellow in color. In unrefined sunflower oil of the highest and first grades, a light “network” over the sediment is allowed, and in the second grade, slight cloudiness is allowed. The smell and taste should be characteristic of fresh oil without any foreign smell, taste or bitterness. Deodorized oil should be without a specific odor. In second grade sunflower oil, a slightly musty smell and a slight bitter taste are allowed.

Methods for obtaining vegetable oil

Oil is extracted from oilseeds in two main ways:

mechanical, which is based on pressing crushed raw materials; used in oil mills or oil churns of agricultural enterprises; the by-product is cake, in which a significant amount of oil remains (8-10%);

chemical (extraction), in which specially prepared oilseed raw materials are treated with organic solvents; used in oil extraction plants; allows the release of oil in large quantities, since no more than 1-3% of oil remains in the waste, called meal.

Oil extraction by pressing.

The mechanical method of obtaining oil by pressing oilseed material that has undergone preliminary preparation is widespread almost everywhere, not only in oil press plants, but also in oil extraction plants, where the main technological scheme is pre-pressing - extraction.

Only continuous pressing method is used on screw presses. There are screw presses for preliminary oil removal (forepresses) and for final oil removal (expellers). The original pulp is a loose porous material. With all-round compression under the influence of applied pressure, two closely related processes occur: separation of the liquid part - oil; connection (fusion) of solid particles of material to form a briquette - cake. Screw presses have the same type of working parts and a general design and operation scheme. The main working parts of a screw press are the screw shaft and the feed cylinder. The final products of the pressing process are press oil and cake. When the screw shaft rotates, placed in a grain cylinder, i.e., in a drum assembled from slats with small gaps between them, the material is transported from the loading point to the outlet and is subjected to compression. At the same time, pressure arises in it, which squeezes the oil out of the pulp. The oil passes through the gaps in the grain cylinder and collects in the pan. The pressed oil material (cake) at the outlet of the grain cylinder meets a device that regulates its thickness at the outlet of the press.

Cold pressing only means that before pressing, a special moisture-thermal treatment of crushed raw materials is carried out under milder conditions or not carried out at all. The resulting oil retains its natural qualities: color, smell, taste, consistency, while the content of unsaturated fatty acids and vitamins remains unchanged. Cold pressing as a method of producing vegetable oils is most often used to obtain special-purpose oils from specific raw materials, for example oils from fruit seeds (apricot, peach, etc.), from pine nut kernels, etc.

Forpressing - extraction is used for the final extraction of oil from the prepress shell (cake). Solvents used to extract vegetable oils by extraction must meet the requirements imposed on them by the technique and technology of the extraction process. In general, these requirements are determined by the desire to obtain the highest oil yield during extraction, to ensure the best quality indicators of the finished product - oil and meal, to avoid the harmful effects of the solvent on the human body and to ensure the safety of working with it. In the practice of extracting vegetable oils, aliphatic hydrocarbons, in particular extraction gasolines, hexane, and nephrases, are most widespread. Previously, the cake undergoes appropriate processing, the purpose of which is to create an optimal structure for extracting oil with a solvent, for which it is crushed in crushers (hammer and disk), conditioned in vat braziers, and petaled on roller flattening machines. The shape of the material particles in the form of a petal (plates of material approximately 0.4 mm thick) allows the extractors to have a mass of material that is easily permeable to solvent. From under the flattening rollers, conveyors send the petal to the extractor - the main apparatus of the extraction shop, designed to extract oil into the solvent through countercurrent contact. Gasoline with a boiling point of 65...68 °C is used as an extraction solvent.

In continuous screw extractors, a counterflow of petals and solvent heated to a temperature of 50...55°C is created. The resulting solution is called miscella, which, after extraction, is filtered on special filters and poured into miscellaneous collectors. To separate the oil from the solvent, the miscella is sent first to the preliminary and then to the final distiller, where it is treated with hot steam using a vacuum until the solvent is completely removed. The filtered solid part in this case is called meal. After extraction is completed, the meal contains about 1% oil and 40% solvent; it is treated with live steam using a vacuum to evaporate (distill) the solvent, dried, cooled and crushed.

Direct extraction of raw mint is used mainly in the processing of low-oil raw materials: soybeans, coriander waste. Extraction of oil-bearing material is carried out without preliminary removal of oil. It consists only of moisture-heat treatment followed by flattening to obtain a petal that goes into the extractor.

Purification of vegetable oils

The purification of raw oils from various impurities is called refining, and oils that have not been subjected to any processing after receipt other than filtration are called raw. They contain a variety of impurities, including unwanted and even harmful ones. Impurities include substances of various natures and origins. However, in addition to unwanted or harmful impurities, fats always contain accompanying substances that are not only useful, but also necessary for the normal functioning of the human body. Such substances include, for example, fat-soluble vitamins (K, E), carotenoids, sterols, etc.

Refined fats are more easily spoiled, since natural antioxidants (phospholipids, tocopherols) are removed from them during refining. Therefore, they strive to conduct the refining process in such a way that, while removing undesirable impurities, the beneficial properties are preserved as much as possible. For the same purpose, the depth of oil purification is limited. Depending on the origin of the impurities, on the state in which they are in the fat (in the form of a coarse suspension, a colloidal-dissolved state or in a true solution state), and also depending on the purpose of the oil, different refining methods are used.

The sequence of refining processes and the resulting types of oils

In accordance with the mechanism of the processes, refining methods are conventionally divided into physical, chemical and physicochemical.

Physical methods. These include settling, filtration, centrifugation. Using these methods, mechanical impurities and partially colloidal dissolved substances, such as precipitated phospholipids and water that got into the oil during the extraction process, are removed from oils.

Mechanical impurities(particles of husk, cake) not only deteriorate the presentation of the oil, but also cause the occurrence of enzymatic, hydrolytic and oxidative processes. All these processes worsen the organoleptic characteristics and physiological value of oils. Therefore, mechanical impurities are removed immediately after obtaining oils.

Chemical methods. These include alkaline refining or neutralization. Neutralization is the treatment of oil with alkali to remove excess fatty acids. During the neutralization process, soaps are formed - salts as a result of the interaction of fatty acids and alkali. Soaps are insoluble in neutral fat and form a sediment - soapstock. For alkaline refining, industrial enterprises use NaOH solutions of various concentrations, Na 2 C0 3 solutions, and sometimes KOH.

Physico-chemical methods. Using these methods, impurities that form true solutions in oils are removed from oils without chemically changing the substances themselves (coloring, flavoring and odorating substances, etc.)

Hydration of phospholipids- treatment of oil with water when heated to release phospholipids, protein and mucous substances, and mechanical impurities. As a result of hydration, phospholipids and other impurities lose solubility in the oil and precipitate, which is filtered off.

Freezing out Sunflower oil is processed to remove waxy substances. The presence of waxes in oil impairs its presentation. To release waxes, the oil is subjected to special treatment before or after alkaline refining. First, the oil is cooled (“frozen”) to 10… 12 °C and maintained at this temperature, slowly stirring, until wax crystals form. The oil is then filtered to remove wax crystals. Filtered oil is transparent and does not become cloudy when cooled even to 5 °C.

Oil Bleaching- the process of extracting coloring substances from oil by treating it with adsorbents. When bleaching, there are various bleaching clays, which are called bleaching earths or bleaching powders, as well as activated carbon. The bleaching process involves mixing the oil with an adsorbent for some time in special devices and then filtering it. In this case, bleaching powder remains on the filter along with adsorbed dyes, and the clarified oil passes through the filter. This oil is used for the production of margarine, mayonnaise, confectionery fat, etc.

Oil deodorization- This is the process of distilling off volatile substances that give the oil its smell and taste. Deodorization is carried out in order to obtain “depersonalized” (almost completely devoid of the smell and taste characteristic of this type) oils, as well as to extract foreign tastes and odors from oils. Deodorization is based on the difference in the evaporation temperatures of volatile aromatic substances and the fats themselves (triacylglycerols). Vegetable oil is placed in special devices - deodorizers, and at high temperatures (210...230 ° C) under vacuum, volatile substances are distilled off, giving the oil smell and taste. Deodorization is the most reliable way to remove toxic chemicals from oils, since under these conditions they are completely destroyed.

The main goal of entrepreneurial activity is to make a profit with relatively small investments. The production of vegetable oils as a business idea is perfectly suited for a businessman who wants to open his own business in a sought-after area.

Vegetable oil production as a business strategy

In Russia, about 50% of oil is produced in medium-sized or even small (home) enterprises and factories. This statistics is due to the small costs of the entrepreneur in the early stages of running a business producing oils of vegetable origin and quick payback. Volumes can be limited only by the amount of initial raw materials that the company is able to purchase.

How profitable is it today to invest your capital in the production of vegetable oil? What equipment will be needed at the initial stage of production and how much will it cost?

About the production of vegetable oil

Nowadays, without exaggeration, vegetable oil can be considered an essential product. Almost no dish can be prepared without using a sufficient amount of vegetable oil. But cooking is far from the only area consuming vegetable oils. They are indispensable in production:

• canned food (from vegetables and fruit to fish and meat),
• soap,
• paints for repairs,
• medications (creams, ointments),
• cosmetics (creams, lotions, powders, lipsticks).

Vegetable oil is called because it is made from leaves, seeds, nuts or fruits of various types of plants: olives, corn, sunflower or flax seeds, cedar or macadamia nuts. There is also animal fat, obtained from the organs of any animal or fish: goat, goose, cow, bear, badger, fish, whale.

Depending on the raw material, vegetable oil is divided into:

• flaxseed,
• mustard,
• corn,
• olive,
• sunflower, etc.

Oil can be solid or liquid.

Varieties of vegetable oils depend on the raw materials from which they are made

Based on the purification method, the following types of vegetable oils are distinguished:

• unrefined (mechanically purified) have a characteristic natural smell and taste, as well as a light yellow tint;
• refined (mechanically purified, hydrated and neutralized) have the same characteristic natural smell and taste, but less pronounced color;
• refined deodorized (fully purified, odorless and tasteless).

The chemical and physical characteristics of the oil will depend on what type of cleaning was chosen.

The appearance of the final product is also affected by the degree of refining. There are 6 degrees in total: the higher the degree, the purer the result and, accordingly, lighter.

Sunflower is a well-known source of vegetable oil. The most popular market in Russia has always been and still is the production and sale of sunflower oil. It can be obtained by cold or hot pressing. Hot pressing leaves the taste of the raw material (in this case, roasted sunflower seeds), while cold pressing eliminates such indicators.

Vegetable oil production process

Technology for the production of vegetable oil from sunflower seeds - A rather complex process that is divided into several main stages:

1. Purification of raw materials (sunflower seeds) from impurities (husks, sand, soil, leaves, stems). A separator is used (cost up to 45 thousand rubles).
2. Winnowing to remove minor debris and dry the seeds. Crushing-fan equipment is used (up to 75 thousand rubles).
3. Cleaning of its own husk (black shell), further grinding to an oily pulp. A roller machine is used (from 430 thousand rubles).
4. Heating in steam or fire braziers up to 1100°C. Fire (up to 83 thousand rubles) and steam (up to 350 thousand rubles) braziers are used.
5. Squeezing the raw materials and separating the cake (mint) from the oily liquid. The cake is sent for repeated spinning. A screw press is used (from 650 thousand rubles).
6. Primary filtration of oily liquid from cake residues. Specialized filtering equipment is used (about 95 thousand rubles).
7. At an additional stage, the composition can be subjected to several stages of filtration, as well as making it refined, bleached and deodorized (remove odors). At the final stage of pressing, the actual oil and cake remain, which still contains about 10% oil of its entire mass. At further additional stages, the manufacturer strives to extract the maximum possible remaining oil composition from the cake.
8. Extraction (another additional step) is soaking the residues (cake) in solvents (acetone, gasoline, hexane), which allows you to get at least 7% oil from 10%. An extractor is used (from 520 thousand rubles). It is considered a less environmentally friendly, but more economical way to obtain raw materials.
9. The finished product is poured into containers. They use a bottling device (from 400 thousand rubles).

Brief diagram of vegetable oil production technology

Companies specializing in oilseed production can use only one of the methods (pressing or extraction) or use both alternately.

The production of sunflower oil is a waste-free procedure, because the residues formed throughout the extraction process can be reused for other purposes. After extraction, almost completely defatted cake (meal) and residual oil in solvents (miscella) remain. For example, the meal is collected and sent to farms for breeding large and small livestock: where the marc is added as a nutritional supplement to animal feed. And miscella becomes the basis for paints and varnishes (drying oils) for repairs. In addition, the cake can be squeezed out again to obtain fuzz - biofuel for boiler systems.

Is it necessary to refine the finished product? In general, after primary filtration (stage VI), the oil is ready for bottling into packaging containers. However, such a product is called “raw”, since it still contains unnecessary protein compounds, fatty acids, coloring matter, phospholipids and wax, therefore, to improve the quality of the final result, secondary filtration or refining can and even should be carried out. The following refining methods are distinguished:

• physical (centrifugation, settling),
• chemical (alkaline refining, hydration),
• physico-chemical (deodorization, bleaching).

Conditions for the production of vegetable oil

Sunflower oil production is a very profitable enterprise. At the same time, the niche is quite densely occupied by already competitive manufacturers who have been able to stay afloat for several years now. If a businessman still wants to invest in this kind of enterprise, then he should carefully weigh all the pros and cons so that his business does not become unprofitable even at the formation stage.

Vegetable oil can be produced: in factories, mini-workshops, small oil mills and at home.

Requirements for the manufacturer

A future entrepreneur committing himself to the sunflower oil production business must meet certain requirements:

• have a legal status (best of all is the founder of an LLC and an agricultural producer, who receive tax advantages and benefits from the state),
• have experience in selling products for retail,
• have connections with suppliers and the sales market.

In the case where an entrepreneur does not yet meet these minimum conditions, it makes sense to start producing rare types of oil (coconut, avocado) and sell it to friends or small stores.

Vegetable oil filtration equipment

Premises requirements

Basic requirements for the premises depend on production volumes. If a businessman wants to establish a serious production of oil from vegetable raw materials, he will need appropriate premises. It should be:

• area from 1500 sq m,
• divided into several sections (production, warehouse for storing imported raw materials, warehouse for storing finished products),
• equipped with communication networks (electricity, water supply, sewerage),
• safe (protected from spontaneous combustion, with fire extinguishing means),
• comply with sanitary standards.

If the oil is produced not on an industrial scale, but in an oil mill, then the premises can be rented with an area of ​​up to 150 sq. m.

For home spinning, it is permissible to use a room.

equipment requirements

Today, almost every production process is automated. The production of vegetable oil will be no exception. The subtitle, which describes the technology for producing vegetable oil from sunflower seeds, already described in more detail the necessary equipment and its approximate cost for setting up large-scale production. To summarize, we can add that the whole process from the point of view of the hardware component will look like this:

1. Equipment for production (from 2 million rubles).
2. Devices for refining (from 2100 thousand rubles).
3. Equipment for packaging (from 2200 thousand rubles).

Thus, the cost of equipping a mini-workshop for the production of vegetable-pressed product will be about 6,300 thousand rubles.

For an oil mill, it will be enough to purchase a screw oil press and a packaging machine.

Personnel requirements

A serious creamery plant is often fully automated. Still workers are needed who will monitor production technology and make timely adjustments. What kind of personnel is needed for the production of vegetable oils?

• employees with specialized technological and chemical education (masters, technologists, engineers, chemists),
• civilian workers without bad habits (loaders, cleaners).

For large production, a workshop requires up to 50 people; for an oil mill, it will be enough to hire 7 people.

In custody

Vegetable oil production is a relatively inexpensive and profitable enterprise. But the instability of the final result and the lack of a quality certificate greatly narrow the sales markets in large retail chains and stores. Still, a home oil mill or mini-workshop would be a good start for starting a business with further expansion to a factory.

The annual volume of the sunflower oil market in Russia is ≈2.5 million tons of finished product. And not all of the assortment presented on store shelves is offered by large corporations - approximately half of the market is occupied by small enterprises and even farms. A mini plant for the production of sunflower oil can be an excellent source of permanent income for a beginning entrepreneur. What will you have to think about when launching your own plant for the production of vegetable oil?

Our business assessment:

Starting investments – from 2,500,000 rubles.

Market saturation is high.

The difficulty of starting a business is 7/10.

Relevance of the sunflower oil business

Many investors have already turned their attention to this production niche, which is understandable - the costs of organizing a workshop are relatively low, and sales opportunities are enormous. Competition in this market segment is quite strong, but with proper management and a well-thought-out marketing campaign, mini sunflower oil production will not be left without profit.

The products can be sold not only to customers in supermarkets and stores, but also to private enterprises that use oil as the main raw material. This component is used in many areas - soap making, canned food production, paint and varnish, cosmetics and medical industries. But if you fail to find “your buyer” (which is very unlikely), the oil can be supplied abroad - for example, in Turkey it is in great demand.

The next advantage of starting the production of vegetable oil is its non-waste nature. During the manufacturing process of the product, production waste is generated that is suitable for subsequent use - husks, cake, meal. These related products can be sold to third parties.

Husks are often sold to brick factories, and cake and meal are sold to farms.

The sale of waste can be counted as additional profit for the enterprise. But more often their sales are clearly reflected in the cost price, reducing the final price of the product.

Which oil is more profitable to produce?

Having decided to start your own business producing vegetable oil, you need to decide what kind of oil to produce – refined or unrefined. The main differences between these 2 types are the degree of purification of the product.

The production of refined oil is a more labor-intensive process. It is purified using many chemical-technological methods so that the output is a product of a certain degree of transparency, with the absence of foreign tastes and odors. And the production of unrefined oil is based only on mechanical filtration of the product, which gives it a specific smell and taste.

And despite the fact that the production of unrefined oil will require lower costs, you should not rely only on it - profits will decrease significantly. To promote your brand and earn more income, you should expand the range of products offered to customers. In addition, modern technologies make it possible to produce several types of oils at once on one production line.

Sunflower oil production technology

Technological scheme for the production of sunflower oil

This is not to say that the technology for producing sunflower oil is easy. Technologists here have to choose the most optimal scheme for manufacturing the product.

Without going into details, the process flow diagram looks like this:

• Sifting seeds.
• Collapse of seeds (cleaning of husks).
• Grinding the seeds.
• Heat treatment of seeds.
• Spin.
• Filtration.
• Refining.
• Bottling and packaging.

This is a general technological production process, and at a specific enterprise some of the stages may be omitted. For example, to make an unrefined product, refining is not needed. The same is with heat treatment - to reduce the cost of purchasing equipment, this stage is often eliminated. Therefore, it is important that the business plan for the production of sunflower oil must contain a detailed description of the selected technology. The choice of necessary equipment depends on this in the future.

To draw up the practical part of a business project, it is better to invite a qualified technologist.

What equipment will be needed to start the workshop?

Line for the production of sunflower oil OVOR - 450

When the product manufacturing technology is thought out, you need to buy equipment for the production of sunflower oil. There is a huge selection of equipment on the market - from low-power household units to high-performance automated lines. Which option to choose depends on the planned volume of production of the finished product.

If you plan to produce oils of more than 30 tons/day, it is more advisable to think about purchasing a fully equipped line (squeezing + refining). With less power (up to 10 tons/day), it is better to buy all equipment separately.

Average price of equipment for the production of sunflower oil, purchased separately:

• Separator for cleaning seeds – from 50,000 rubles.
• Tumbler-fan machine - from 70,000 rubles.
• Roller machine – from 500,000 rub.
• Roaster – from 400,000 rub.
• Spin machine - from 650,000 rubles.
• Filter for pressing oil (2-3 pieces required) – from 90,000 rubles.
• Refining apparatus - from 700,000 rubles.
• Filling machine – from RUB 300,000.

As a result, it turns out that you will need to spend at least 2,300,000 rubles on equipment. The figure will increase significantly if the line is expanded with additional units and automated. And equipment with a capacity of more than 25 tons/day of finished oil will cost the entrepreneur at least 7,000,000 rubles.

Without a large investment, you may want to skip the fryer at first. Also, in order to save money, the sunflower oil production workshop can be equipped with supported equipment. But such transactions are always risky.

But private home production will not require such impressive costs for equipment. The price of household devices is not so high, but they are not very powerful either. For example, a mini butter churn for the production of sunflower oil with a capacity of 5 l/h today costs from 100,000 rubles. But here, of course, we are not talking about big profits. As a family business - yes, this option has a place to be, but as production equipment in a full-fledged workshop - it is unlikely.

What kind of premises should I rent?

The main difficulty in launching food enterprises is the strict requirements for workshops and warehouses. There must be electricity, water, and sewerage. In addition, the city’s sanitary services will definitely check the premises for compliance with lighting and cleanliness standards.

As for the area of ​​premises, here you can focus on the following standards: for 1 ton of raw materials processed per day there should be at least 40 m 2 of free space. And the storage facilities should be even larger, since according to the rules, sunflower seeds cannot be stored in bulk in a layer that is too thick. Moreover, the production reserve norm is considered to be for 1-1.5 months at once. On average, warehouses should be twice the size of production workshops.

Separate premises will also be required for storing husks and meal. If there are none, then used products can be stored outside (under a canopy) for some time in good weather.

What kind of staff should you hire?

The sunflower oil production line must be serviced by specialists. And the more automated the enterprise, the less maintenance personnel will be needed.

Qualified employees with relevant diplomas will require foremen and technologists (2-6 people). Low-skilled personnel (loaders, drivers, cleaners) are recruited based on the needs of a particular enterprise.

At food enterprises, as a rule, a shift work schedule is established - 2 * 2. Salary – piecework-bonus.

Well, at home, using a butter churn, even one person can make the product.

Financial justification for the project

Every business plan should have a section dedicated to all expenses and planned profits. Without this data, not a single bank or investor will give a business loan to a beginning entrepreneur.

Taking into account how much an oil press for the production of sunflower oil and other equipment costs, we can calculate the fixed costs of organizing a small workshop with a capacity of 5 tons/day:

• Rent of premises (from 500 m2) – from 100,000 rubles.
• Preparing the premises - from 300,000 rubles.
• Purchase of equipment – ​​from 2,000,000 rubles.
• Registration of documents - from 50,000 rubles.

It turns out that the entrance ticket to this area of ​​​​business will cost an entrepreneur at least 2,500,000 rubles. And the figure will be significantly higher if the plant is equipped with vehicles for delivering products to customers.

You don’t have that kind of money and there’s nowhere to get it from? Then you should seriously think about starting home production. Choose your production methods, buy an inexpensive butter churn and get to work.

• Salary to employees – from 400,000 rubles/month.
• Rent of premises – from 100,000 rubles/month.
• Taxes – from 70,000 rubles/month.
• Advertising, transport and utility costs – from 100,000 rubles/month.

If we take as a basis for calculations that the workshop will work daily (8 hours) and produce ≈50 tons of finished oil per month, then the profitability table can be presented as follows:

The resulting figures can be corrected by selling production waste - husks, cake and meal - to third parties.

The catalog presents vegetable oil producers in Russia. Large and small wholesale sales have been established. The list includes 100 companies for 2019. Wholesale prices are set directly by suppliers.

Sunflower oil accounts for more than 80% of the vegetable oil market. It is followed by soybean, corn and rapeseed. The main share of production, from 40%, belongs to the regions of the Southern Federal District - Kuban, Rostov region, etc. Oil extraction plants produce products using the cold or hot pressing method.

Famous Russian enterprises:

• Krasnogorsk fat plant,
• CJSC "DonMasloProduct",
• Altai-Rodino Creamery LLC,
• SHP "Solnechnoye Pole"
• “Kulundinsky Creamery”, etc.

Vegetable oil producers invite wholesalers, dealers and representatives in the regions to cooperate. In order to buy food products in bulk, download the price list, contact the managers of the manufacturers on their pages. The list is updated regularly.

Choosing the right equipment necessary for the production of sunflower oil is not an easy task. Especially for a person far from the technology of processing agricultural products and oilseed crops, in particular. A mistake made at this fundamental stage of production can call into question the success of the entire enterprise, which can be very profitable if organized correctly.

Benefits of vegetable oil production

More than 40% of the total production of sunflower oil in the Russian Federation falls on medium and small businesses. The cost of entering the market is relatively low, which allows even successful farms to organize the manufacturing process. Despite high competition, the demand for vegetable oil is quite high, and the situation is developing towards increasing market demand for these products.

Even if there is no possibility of sales on the domestic market, it can always be sold abroad (Europe, Turkey), where there are no difficulties with sales. The options for using vegetable oil are quite varied and are not limited only to cooking. It is used in industries such as:

• paint and varnish industry (solvents, oil paints);
• production of cosmetics and medicine (creams, ointments);
• soap making;
• canning industry.

Another positive quality is waste-free production. Sunflower seed husks, obtained by hulling (cleaning), are used for the manufacture of building materials and as raw materials for heating briquettes and. After processing, cake and meal can be used as a valuable feed additive in livestock farming.

In addition, the costs of processing all waste (loading, transportation, storage) in the financial statements are included in the cost of the final product, that is, they are carried out as an expense part, and not as a profitable one. This allows for some tax optimization.

To obtain vegetable oil, peeled and ground sunflower seeds, the so-called mint, are used. The most inexpensive and at the same time environmentally friendly way to extract oil is pressing. A more modern, technologically advanced and cost-effective method is extraction.

Production methods:

• hot pressing;
• cold pressing;
• extraction.

The prepared mass of sunflower seeds is heated to the required temperature, then squeezed with a special oil press.

Cold pressing. The difference from the first method is the absence of the stage of heating the raw material mass. The result is an oil that retains the greatest amount of substances beneficial to humans.

However, this method allows you to obtain no more than 70% of the finished product by weight of the seeds. In addition, cold-pressed vegetable oil cannot be stored for a long time without additional processing. It quickly turns bitter, becomes cloudy, sediment appears in it, and when frying, this oil foams and smokes.

The method involves processing the pulp on oil extraction lines. During the processing process, special substances are introduced into the raw materials - extractors (extraction gasoline, acetone, hexane and some others), they come into contact with oil particles and are easily separated from the total mass, after which the extractors are evaporated and a pure product remains. The method is attractive because it allows you to extract up to 97% of the oil.

The quantity and quality of oil depends directly on the raw materials received for processing. The seeds must be ripe, fairly dry (humidity no more than 6%), and have a high oil content. The production of sunflower oil involves a number of production stages.

Preparation for pressing

Before starting any work with sunflower seeds, they must be cleaned of contaminants. The amount of foreign content should not exceed 1%. Separators are used to separate seeds from impurities. The process involves sifting the raw materials through several sieves:

• Magnetic traps are used to remove metal foreign objects;
• after separating the seeds from contaminants, they must be dried;
• Most often, drying is carried out in three stages. In the first two stages, the raw material is dried to the required humidity, and in the third stage it is cooled.

The dry seed is fed to a crushing machine, where it undergoes initial hulling (hulling). This process is carried out using disc mills, and the output is an incompletely purified seed. Final cleaning is carried out on aspiration winnowers.

The seeds are subjected to blowing with a powerful air stream, as a result of which the remaining husks and other foreign impurities are removed. The peeled seeds are sent for grinding (rolling). As a result of grinding the seeds on a five-roller machine, a homogeneous mass, mint, is obtained. When producing sunflower oil by hot pressing, before pressing, the mint is heated to the required temperature in special roasting pans.

Pressing and extraction

The heated (or in the case of cold pressing, unheated) mass, also called pulp, is sent to a screw press for extraction. The pressed vegetable oil is cooled and filtered to remove mechanical impurities. After pressing, “raw” oil and cake are obtained. The cake after hot pressing contains 10–15% oil, after cold pressing up to 30%. It can be used as a valuable raw material or further processed:

• The cake is first crushed using crushing equipment, then using a roller machine;
• after that, special substances are added to it - extractors (gasoline, hexane, acetone, dichloroethane);
• then the resulting mass is squeezed out;
• dry residue from the second pressing – meal contains 2–5% oil and can be used as a feed additive for animals;
• From the squeezed mixture – micelles, the oil is extracted by evaporating the extraction additives.

After all the above-described manipulations, unrefined vegetable oil is obtained, ready for sale as a food product. It is also the basis for the production of all known varieties of vegetable oil, obtained by additional purification of the unrefined product. These are methods such as:

• settling;
• filtration;
• centrifuge cleaning;
• alkaline refining;
• freezing;
• whitening;
• hydration;
• sulfuric acid refining;
• deodorization.

Bottling and packaging

The finished product is poured into containers and, if necessary, packaged. 200–250 liter barrels or 0.5–6 liter plastic bottles are used as containers. Products in bottles are in greater demand than in barrels, unless, of course, the company is engaged in the production of technical grades of oil.

What equipment will be required for production

To set up the production of vegetable oil, you need the following equipment:

• Scales. In order to correctly load each of the processing units, it is necessary to comply with the dosage.
• Separators and magnetic traps. They are used to clean seeds from foreign impurities and metal objects.
• Distribution bins. After cleaning in the separator, the seeds are loaded into bunkers for subsequent delivery to drying units.
• Dryer. In this equipment, the moisture content of the peeled seeds is reduced and then cooled.
• Disc mill. For initial peeling (crushing).
• Aspiration fan. Final cleaning.
• Rolling unit for grinding sunflower seeds.
• Brazier. Hot pressing involves heating the ground seeds. There are two types of roasters: fire and steam.
• Fryer for heat treatment. Does not expose mint to high temperatures. It is used for cold pressing of mint.
• Screw oil press. Extracts the prepared mass of sunflower seeds.
• Oil extraction line. A set of equipment for obtaining vegetable oil by extraction.
• Filter for removing mechanical impurities. After passing through this filter, raw unrefined oil is obtained.
• Refining line (additional purification).

Approximate prices for equipment

For production you will need the following set:

• The cost of a separator that can process approximately 1 ton of raw materials per hour is $1,400.
• A fanning machine will cost $3,000. Capacity is the same as the separator (ton per hour).
• Roller machine. Equipment capable of accepting products processed by a separator and a crusher-fan machine, $14,000.
• Fire brazier. To provide a line with the processing of 1 ton of raw materials per hour, 3 fryers costing $3,000 each are required.
• Steam fryer. $12,000. Productivity is 0.8 tons of raw materials per hour, which corresponds to a line with an initial mass of raw materials of 1 ton.
• Fryer for producing cold-pressed vegetable oil (capacity 1 ton per hour) – $14,000.
• A press for squeezing raw materials capable of processing the above-described volumes. Capacity: 20 tons of oil per day. The price is about $24,000.
• The primary filter costs $3000.
• Equipment for refining – more than $15,000.
• Extraction equipment – ​​$17,000 (productivity 0.5 tons of oil per hour).
• Line for bottling plastic bottles – $13,000 (capacity 10,000 liters per day).