In a sunflower or soybean oil plant, more than three-quarters of the steam is drawn by the roaster, desolventizer-toaster (DT), and miscella distillation; since these machines require 10 bar g steam, the oil plant steam boiler is selected in the 12 bar class. The deodorizer in the refinery heats the oil to ≈ 250 °C: since doing this with saturated steam would require ≈ 63 bar g, the final heater is fed by a separate thermal oil boiler. In an olive oil plant, steam is not required; a hot water boiler is sufficient for the malaxer and decanter water.
How much steam does each machine draw?
Values were calculated with the wizard’s calculation engine, using typical inputs for each machine, and for a single machine.
| Machine | Typical capacity | Steam / heat | Pressure / temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roaster / conditioner (cooker), 20 → 105 °C | 500 t/day sunflower | 2,325 kg/h (≈ 112 kg / t seed) | 10 bar g |
| Soybean conditioner (→ 65 °C) | 1,000 t/day soybean | 2,178 kg/h (≈ 52 kg / t) | 10 bar g |
| Expander (soybean) | 600 t/day | 768 kg/h direct (≈ 31 kg / t) | 10 bar g |
| Desolventizer-toaster + dryer-cooler (DT + DC) | 1,000 t/day soybean | 4,870 kg/h (DT 4,130 + DC 740; ≈ 117 kg / t) | 10 bar g |
| Miscella distillation + stripper | 1,000 t/day soybean | 2,325 kg/h (≈ 56 kg / t) | 4 bar g (ejector 8–10) |
| Neutralization / degumming | 300 t oil/day | 312 kg/h (≈ 25 kg / t oil) | 3 bar g |
| Bleaching (vacuum bleacher) | 300 t oil/day | 272 kg/h (≈ 22 kg / t oil) | 3 bar g |
| Deodorizer final heater | 300 t oil/day | 363 kW ≈ 312,500 kcal/h thermal oil (without economizer ≈ 3.4 times) | thermal oil 280 °C supply |
| Deodorizer stripping + vacuum ejector | 300 t oil/day | 631 kg/h direct (≈ 51 kg / t oil) | 10 bar g |
| Winterization / dewaxing | 200 t oil/day | 33 kg/h | 3 bar g |
| Oil tank heating (coil) | Ø12 × 10 m tank | 34 kg/h insulated · 280 kg/h uninsulated | 3 bar g |
| Olive oil malaxer | 5 t/h olives | 76 kW hot water | 60 °C supply |
| Decanter dilution water (3-phase classic) | 5 t/h olives | 74 kW (≈ 4.7 kW in 2-phase) | 60 °C supply |
| Pomace oil extraction | 400 t/day wet pomace | 1,733 kg/h | ≈ 2.6 bar g |
Example: 500 t/day integrated sunflower oil plant
“Integrated sunflower · 500 t/day” template in the wizard: 500 t/day sunflower pre-press and hexane extraction, 200 t/day continuous (with economizer) refinery; 24-hour operation. Defaults: line loss 5%, condensate return 70%, growth margin 10%, fuel natural gas.
| Machine | Input | Included in calculation | Pressure / temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roaster (cooker) | 500 t/day, 20 → 105 °C, 2% drying | 2,325 kg/h | 10 bar g |
| DT + DC | pre-press cake (0.50 t / t seed) | 1,645 kg/h | 10 bar g |
| Miscella distillation | 500 t/day | 578 kg/h | 4 bar g |
| Neutralization | 200 t oil/day | 208 kg/h | 3 bar g |
| Bleaching | 200 t oil/day | 181 kg/h | 3 bar g |
| Deodorizer stripping + vacuum | 200 t oil/day | 421 kg/h | 10 bar g |
| Other consumptions (≈ 3%) | — | 160 kg/h | 3 bar g |
| Deodorizer final heater | 200 t oil/day, 25,000 kcal/t | 242 kW thermal oil | 280 °C outlet |
- Steam: simultaneous machinery demand 5,519 kg/h; line loss +276 kg/h, deaerator steam +617 kg/h, growth margin +641 kg/h → 7,052 kg/h → recommended steam boiler 8 t/h.
- Boiler operating pressure 11.5 bar g (10 bar g + 1.5 bar margin), design pressure class 12 bar.
- Steam boiler thermal power ≈ 4,615 kW ≈ 3,968,000 kcal/h; natural gas at full load ≈ 523 Sm³/h.
- ≈ 31% of the steam is direct steam (DT sparge, stripping, vacuum ejector) and does not return to the boiler; deaerator and water treatment are sized accordingly.
- Thermal oil: deodorizer 242 kW; with line loss and growth margin 280 kW (≈ 240,600 kcal/h) → 250,000 kcal/h thermal oil boiler, 280 °C outlet, ≈ 21 m³/h oil circulation with ΔT 25 K.
- Industry supply ≈ 278 kg steam / t seed; consistent with the published range of 200–330 kg/t.
Other templates: 1,000 t/day sunflower + 300 t/day refinery consumes 10,622 kg/h process steam and with margins 14 t/h · 12 bar is recommended; it reduces to 12 t/h without growth margin and deaerator (Çiftel Kazan’s reference installation of this size is 12 t/h · 12 bar). 1,500 t/day soybean + 500 t/day refinery consumes 18,544 kg/h → 24 t/h (20 t/h without margin) and 700,000 kcal/h thermal oil. 100 t/day press plant + 30 t/day batch refinery requires 0.8 t/h steam and 125,000 kcal/h thermal oil. In olive oil, 2 × 5 t/h classic 3-phase plant requires 300,000 kcal/h hot water boiler, 400 t/day pomace plant requires 2.5 t/h steam.
Boiler type and pressure for oil mill
In the crushing and extraction plant, the roaster, DT trays, expander, and vacuum ejectors require 10 bar g saturated steam; the boiler operates at 11.5 bar g and is selected as 12 bar class. Up to 6 t/h, package type and hybrid type are suitable; for larger plants, a header type water tube steam boiler is suitable; an economizer is added from 2 t/h upwards. If sunflower husk, cottonseed husk, or spent pomace is to be fired, a stoker fired water-tube boiler is preferred.
Why is the deodorizer heated with a thermal oil boiler?
Deodorization holds the oil at 240–260 °C under vacuum. In the final heater, the heating fluid must be ≈ 30 K hotter than the oil; for 250 °C deodorization, ≈ 280 °C is required. Saturated steam reaches 280 °C only at ≈ 63 bar g (even if the approach difference is narrowed and reduced to 260 °C, ≈ 46 bar g is needed). This is far above the 10–16 bar steam boilers used in refineries and means high-pressure boiler, piping, and valves; ≈ 837 kg/h of such steam would be needed in a 300 t/day refinery. A thermal oil boiler, however, delivers 280–300 °C at low pressure. The recommended setup is: 12 bar steam boiler for neutralization, bleaching, stripping, and vacuum; separate thermal oil boiler for the deodorizer final heater.
The capacity of the thermal oil boiler depends on the heat recovery of the refinery. In a continuous refinery with an economizer, final heating is ≈ 25,000 kcal/t of oil (15,000 kcal/t with advanced heat recovery): 100 t/day → 121 kW, 300 t/day → 363 kW. In a batch plant without an economizer, the load is ≈ 3.4 times higher (≈ 86,000 kcal/t); even in a plant with an economizer, the load briefly rises to this level during heating as the economizer is not yet operational. Deodorization above 260 °C increases GE and 3-MCPD formation, so the design temperature should be kept below this limit.
In an olive oil mill, the malaxer jacket requires 35–45 °C, and the decanter dilution water requires ≈ 28 °C; a hot water boiler with 60–80 °C outlet is sufficient, a steam boiler is not needed. In a pomace oil mill, extraction operates with ≈ 2.6 bar g steam; the drum dryer should be directly fired and not included in the boiler load.
How to calculate?
hfg is the latent heat of vaporization at the operating pressure; for thermal oil, cp ≈ 2.5 kJ/kg·K, ρ ≈ 780 kg/m³, and the outlet-return difference ΔT ≈ 25 K is taken. In DT, ≈ 74% of the steam is sparge (direct) steam; the expander, stripping, and vacuum ejector also do not return condensate, so the makeup water and deaerator are sized large. Since the plant operates continuously for 24 hours, simultaneity is generally taken as 100%; the wizard adds line loss (5%), deaerator, blowdown, and growth margin (10%), assuming 70% of indirect condensate returns.
Use the wizard at the top of the page to calculate with your own machine list; Boiler Capacity Calculation for all sectors.
The wizard’s results are estimates intended for preliminary guidance; boiler selection must be finalized by on-site inspection and engineering calculation. Contact us for free preliminary engineering support.