Oil and fat processing machinery primarily consists of equipment for oilseed cleaning and pretreatment, oil extraction, and oil refining.
Equipment for oilseed cleaning and pretreatment is designed to increase oil yield, improve the quality of the oil and the resulting meal, and ensure the safe operation of machinery. Cleaning methods typically involve screening, air separation, and magnetic separation; equipment includes flat vibrating screens, rotary cylindrical screens, and rotary drum beaters. Shelling machinery comes in various types, such as disc, blade, centrifugal, hammer, and roller models; the YBKC-series toothed-roller sheller is primarily used for cottonseed but can also process sunflower seeds, peanuts, and soybeans. Kernel-shell separation usually employs a combination of screening and air separation; the YBFZ45 combined shelling and separation unit offers high processing capacity and low power consumption. Oilseeds are typically crushed using grooved-roller or toothed-roller crushers, with double-pair roller crushers offering high processing capacity. Flaking machines include parallel-pair roller and vertical multi-roller types; pair-roller flakers are suitable for processing various oilseeds such as soybeans, rapeseed, cottonseed, and peanuts. Vertical multi-layer cookers are commonly used for the steaming and roasting (conditioning) of oilseeds; chain-type cookers, developed in recent years, offer low power consumption and excellent conditioning results.
Oil extraction equipment falls into two main categories: mechanical pressing and solvent extraction. Mechanical pressing equipment includes power-driven rotary presses and hydraulic presses, with screw pre-presses offering relatively high processing capacity. Solvent extraction equipment includes rotocel (flat-rotary), crawler-type, and loop (tank-series) extractors; extractors, desolventizer-toasters, and evaporators are core components of large-scale, integrated oil processing plants.
Oil refining equipment is used for processes such as degumming, deacidification, decolorization, deodorization, and dewaxing. With technological advancements, China is now capable of manufacturing and exporting large-scale, complete sets of equipment that encompass the entire refining process.