Dewaxing systems
Clear, stable oils start with the right dewaxing process. Alfa Laval’s high-efficiency dewaxing systems remove waxes from crude oils, ensuring clarity and stability during cold storage. Maximize recovery, minimize losses, and consistently deliver high-quality edible oils in transparent bottles. Our cost-effective dewaxing solutions boost edible oil yield, improve efficiency, and drive higher revenues while meeting market demand for premium edible oils.
Enhance oil clarity and yield by optimizing your dewaxing processes
- Boost operational reliability and efficiency
- Optimize dewaxing and filtration performance
- Achieve maximum yield with minimal losses
- Simplify operations with full automation and control
- Deliver clear, stable, high-quality oil
Why invest in a high-performance dewaxing process
Whether dewaxing crude oil or refining dewaxed oil for final use, choosing the optimal dewaxing process ensures long-term stability and clarity. Dewaxing of crude oil is crucial for enhancing the stability of edible oil as well as preventing crystal formation and cloudiness at low temperatures. Getting the most out of crude sunflower, corn and cottonseed oils requires a system optimized to your process requirements.
Key factors to consider include feed oil quality, capacity, effluent conditions, and the specifications for the desired refined oil. For stable refined oils that pass cold tests, you can rely on Alfa Laval’s wet, dry and combined dewaxing systems. Enjoy optimized yield, reliable support, and proven performance.
How the dewaxing process works
Wet dewaxing & Dry dewaxing
In most of the cases, it is important to note that wet dewaxing alone removes sufficient amounts of wax to achieve the oil stability required to pass the 24-hour cold test; this is based on average quality sunflower oil with the wax content 600 ppm. At the same time, wet dewaxing can process oil with wax content of up to 2000 ppm; however, this impacts the results of the cold test. Dry dewaxing also has its limitations, such as a maximum wax content of 900 ppm for the feedstock to pass the 24-hour cold test. To achieve effective wax removal, many edible oil producers now combine wet dewaxing and dry dewaxing processes in their refining plants. This combination enables oil producers to pass the 72-hour cold test.
The dry dewaxing process involves mixing the oil with filter aid powder, followed by cooling and maturation. Slow cooling ensures that any crystals formed do not prompt blockage of the filter. Dosing the filter aid powder acts as a control for seeding for crystal growth. Because phosphatides promote crystal growth, bleaching to remove these compounds takes place before the dry dewaxing process.
The filter aid powder is a consumable that cannot be reused, and the amount of filter aid is related to amount of wax in feed oil. The dosing ratio varies, and the amount of filter aid required can be up to 10 times the amount of wax. Spent filter aid contains up to 60% oil, making proper dosing of the filter aid powder key to process optimization.
The removal of wax and filter aid powder takes place in pressure leaf filters, which are automated and require minimal operator attention. Combined with PLC-supervised filter operation, a special oil cooling technique allows full filter utilization, which boosts the yield of processed oil.
Systems for dewaxing process of edible oil
Alfa Laval dewaxing systems effectively remove waxes from crude oils through physical refining processes using cold enzymatic degumming or cold chemical refining processes that combine wet dewaxing, such as multi-wax and combi-wax systems, with a dry dewaxing system.
Alfa Laval Cold Enzymatic Degumming system
This physical refining process uses two inline centrifugal separators and involves enzymatic degumming to agglomerate gums, followed by wax crystallization at low temperatures (dewaxing/winterization) to remove the waxes along with phosphatides precipitated from the oil by a separator. A second separator is used for oil washing to improve phosphatides reduction.
Alfa Laval Multi Wax system
This chemical refining process combines the high-efficiency neutralization refining techniques of the Alfa Laval Multi Mix process with subsequent oil cooling, wax crystallization, cold washing and wax removal with water. These techniques are similar to those developed by Alfa Laval for fractionating palm oil. Using three inline separators, this process results in a well-refined oil with reasonable losses for high free fatty acids containing oil.
Alfa Laval Combi Wax system
This chemical refining process combines wet dewaxing using two inline separators with cold neutralization and simultaneous wax crystallization, followed by wax and soapstock removal.
Key edible oil processing equipment used in our systems
Elevate the performance of your edible oil refining systems
Resource-smart production is essential as edible oils play a critical role in global food security. Optimize your processes over the entire lifecycle of your edible oil systems with the Alfa Laval service portfolio.
Leverage our full range our services - from system design, precision engineering, and effortless installation to commissioning, cost-effective operation, routine maintenance, and system upgrades.
With tailored service agreements, you can reduce waste, safeguard product quality, simplify operations, and maximize your return. Focus on the growth of your business while our global network and local providers take care of the rest.
Webinar for the Edible Oil industry
Our experts share know-how to optimize edible oil refining processes, remove impurities and volatile components for better product quality, safety and yield.
