Degumming of Oil

DEGUMMING
OF OILS
SUBMITTED by:-
RICHA GUPTA
3 rd B.TECH OIL
TECHNOLOGY
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVE
GUMS
GUM CONTENT OF VARIOUS OILS
MECHANISM OF DEGUMMING
TYPES OF DEGUMMING
VARIOUS PROCESSES FOR DEGUMMING
INTRODUCTION
DEGUMMING is defined as the treatment of crude
oils with additives that are used for the removal of
gums and other impurities in oil
Additives are water, dilute acids, or alkalis
Process involves the conversion of the phosphatides to

the hydrated gums that are highly insoluble in oil and
are quickly separated as the sludge
OBJECTIVES OF DEGUMMING
Removal of lecithin
Improves yield of oil
Reduces oxidative degradation of oil
Provides better colour

INTRODUCTION TO GUMS
GUMS are simply phosphatides
Similar to oil molecules except that they are

phospholipids products
One of the three fatty acid chains are substituted by a

phosphatide
Formed when the oil absorbs water that causes some

of the phosphatides to become hydrated and thereby
insoluble
FORMATION OF GUMS
CH2OOCR1 O
CHOOCR2 + HO-P-OH + HO-CH2-CH2-N-(CH3)3

OH OH
CH2OH (CHOLINE)
CH2OOCR1
O (LECITHIN)
CHOOCR2
CH2 O POCHO2CH2N(CH3)3
TYPES OF PHOSPHATIDES
Forms in which phosphatides exist:

i. Phosphotidyl choline (PC)
ii. Phosphotidyl inositol (PI)
iii. Phosphotidyl ethanolamine (PE)
iv. Phosphatidic acid (PA)
. Only phosphotidyl ethanolamine is weakly soluble

in water
TYPES OF GUMS
Except phosphotidyl ethanolamine, the other three are

very soluble in water giving rise to two types of gums:
1.HYDRATABLE GUMS
2. NON-HYDRATABLE GUMS
1.HYDRATABLE GUMS:
Soluble in water
Phospholipid is attached at alpha and alpha(dash)

position
Easily removed as there is no problem of stearic

hindrance in them
Removed by normal settling and water degumming

2.NON- HYDRATABLE GUMS:
Insoluble in water
Phospholipid is attached at beta position
Difficult to remove because of stearic hindrance
Requires the use of acid to convert them to hydratables

for complete removal
Can be removed by either acid or enzymatic

degumming
GUM CONTENT OF VARIOUS OILS
OIL TYPE PHOSPHATIDES PHOSPHORUS

(%) (ppm)
Coconut 0.02 0.05 10 20

Corn 0.7 2.0 250 800
Cottonseed 1.0 2.5 400 1000
Groundnut 0.3 0 .7 100 300
Palm 0. 03 0.1 15 30
Rapeseed 0.5 3.5 200 1400
Soyabean 2.0 3.0 400 1200
Sunflower 0.5 1.3 200 500
MECHANISM OF
DEGUMMING
FIG-2
FIG-1
FIG-3
TYPES OF DEGUMMING
1) Dry degumming
2) Water degumming
3) Acid degumming
4) Enzymatic degumming
5) TOP degumming
6) Special degumming
1) DRY DEGUMMING
Involves removal of gums through precipitation by

acid conditioning and via filtration during bleaching
process,not via centrifugal separation
Used for low phosphatide oils
Eliminates bleaching as separate processing step

PROCESS STEPS
Heat low phosphatide oil to 90-100C
Mix oil with phosphoric acid and bleaching earth in a

mixer
Bleaching is done under vacuum
Filtration is done to separate spent earth
Dry degummed oil is obtained

2) WATER DEGUMMING
Removes gums through precipitation by pure water

hydration of crude oil via centrifugal separation
Used for extracting gums for production of

lecithin,soybean oil and for crude oils with 200 ppm
phosphorus content
Can be carried out in batch or continuous procedure

PROCESS STEPS
Mix oil with 1-3% water at 60-80C
Gums become hydrated and insoluble in oil
Hydration mixing is done for 30 minutes
Centrifugal separation of hydrated gums
Vacuum drying of degummed oil

3) ACID DEGUMMING
Gums are preciptated by acid conditioning process

and removed by centrifugal separation
Gums can be hydrated at temperature higher than

40C
Process may lead to dewaxing

TYPES OF ACID DEGUMMING
Acid degumming are also of two types:
Dry acid degumming- mainly used for

processing oils with low gum contents such as palm
oil, coconut oil.
Wet acid degumming-Initially oils with higher

gum contents are similarly processed as in dry acid
degumming. However, to achieve gum hydration
water is added following acid apportioning.
PROCESS STEPS
Heat oil to 40C
Acid addition and mixing
Heat upto 60-70C
Mixing for 30 minutes
Centrifugal separation of hydrated gums
Vacuum drying of degummed oils

4) ENZYMATIC DEGUMMING
Uses food grade enzymes

Mainly used for soybean and rapeseed oil
It can be divided into four different steps:

(i) The adjustment of the optimal conditions ;
(ii) The addition of the enzyme solution;
(iii)The enzyme reaction;
(iv) The separation of lysophosphatide from the
oil at about 75 C.
PROCESS STEPS
Bring the phospholipids to the water/oil interface
Add citric acid to chelate the metals
Emulsify the mixture
Enzymatic reaction
Convert phospholipids to the lyso form
Centrifugation to remove water and phospholipids

COMMERCIAL DEGUMMING PROCESS
It includes :
Special degumming
TOP degumming (Total Degumming Process)
Special degumming process :

It has its origin in the linseed degumming process. It
was published by Alfa-Laval in 1985 as a method to
minimize residual gums.
PROCESS STEPS
Heat oil to 60C
0.05- 0.2% phosphoric acid with intensive mixing
Neutralize with lye
Addition of water
Mixture is reacted for 30 minutes
Gums centrifugation
Oil drying
TOP DEGUMMING
Oil is heated and mixed with acid and reacted for 3-4
minutes
Concentrated caustic soda is added to partly
neutralize the acid
The mixture is then blended with recycled heavy-
phase effluent from second stage and separated in
the first centrifuge
More oil separated with heavy phase.This oil is
recovered as heavy phase is recycled to the first
separation stage
VARIOUS PROCESSES FOR
DEGUMMING
1.BATCH PROCESS
MOTOR
Steam is passed
from top GEAR PUMP
STEAM
Water is passed INLET
from bottom
60 rpm motor is
WATER DIRECT
used
BY PASS
Direct by pass valve is
opened in the beginning
Trap allows water to come
but retains steam TRAP
FIG-DEGUMMER FOR BATCH PROCESS
STEPS FOR BATCH PROCESS
1. Oil charge is taken in oil tank equipped with heating

arrangements and stirrer.
2. 15% diluted Orthophosphoric acid (0.5-1 kg per ton of
oil)is added slowly to oil charge within 10 minutes at
40C with continuous stirring and heating.
3. Heating is carried to 70C with continuous stirring.
4. When gums start settling down, heating is stopped
and 10% boiling water is added which takes gums
along with it.
5. Gums are allowed to settle for 1 hour and after
draining gums,degummed oil is obtained
2.CONTINUOUS PROCESS
1. Oil is pumped through strainer and passed to heat

exchanger and then to mixer.
2. 10% diluted phosphoric acid is added to mixer
through metering pump where it mixes with oil.
3. Then the mixture goes to buffer tank in which
hydration is done and a residence time of 15-20
minutes is given for proper gum conditioning.
4. Then it is passed to centrifuge.
5. Due to density difference,gums and water come on
outer side and oil in the centre.
N K
H A
T U
YO

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What are gums and how are they formed?

What are gums and how are they formed?

What are the different types of degumming processes?

What are the different types of degumming processes?

DEGUMMING

Additives are water, dilute acids, or alkalis

Process involves the conversion of the phosphatides to

Improves yield of oil

Reduces oxidative degradation of oil

Provides better colour

GUMS are simply phosphatides

Similar to oil molecules except that they are

One of the three fatty acid chains are substituted by a

Formed when the oil absorbs water that causes some

CHOOCR2 + HO-P-OH + HO-CH2-CH2-N-(CH3)3

Forms in which phosphatides exist:

. Only phosphotidyl ethanolamine is weakly soluble

Except phosphotidyl ethanolamine, the other three are

Phospholipid is attached at alpha and alpha(dash)

Easily removed as there is no problem of stearic

Removed by normal settling and water degumming

Phospholipid is attached at beta position

Difficult to remove because of stearic hindrance

Requires the use of acid to convert them to hydratables

Can be removed by either acid or enzymatic

OIL TYPE PHOSPHATIDES PHOSPHORUS

Coconut 0.02 0.05 10 20

Involves removal of gums through precipitation by

Used for low phosphatide oils

Eliminates bleaching as separate processing step

Heat low phosphatide oil to 90-100C

Mix oil with phosphoric acid and bleaching earth in a

Bleaching is done under vacuum

Filtration is done to separate spent earth

Dry degummed oil is obtained

Removes gums through precipitation by pure water

Used for extracting gums for production of

Can be carried out in batch or continuous procedure

Mix oil with 1-3% water at 60-80C

Gums become hydrated and insoluble in oil

Hydration mixing is done for 30 minutes

Centrifugal separation of hydrated gums

Vacuum drying of degummed oil

Gums are preciptated by acid conditioning process

Gums can be hydrated at temperature higher than

Process may lead to dewaxing

Acid degumming are also of two types:

Dry acid degumming- mainly used for

Wet acid degumming-Initially oils with higher

Acid addition and mixing

Heat upto 60-70C

Mixing for 30 minutes

Centrifugal separation of hydrated gums

Vacuum drying of degummed oils

Uses food grade enzymes

It can be divided into four different steps:

Add citric acid to chelate the metals

Emulsify the mixture