What Real-World Oilseed Processing Projects Have Taught Me?

- Written by a Senior Technical Expert in Oil & Fats Processing, Myande Group

After years of working on oilseed processing projects, I have learned that the most meaningful engineering improvements are rarely the ones that simply look impressive on paper.

They are the ones that make a measurable difference on the production line.

In large-scale oilseed processing, a small improvement in oil recovery can mean additional tons of oil every day. In refining, better control of temperature, reaction conditions, and processing time can improve oil quality while reducing the consumption of chemicals and energy.

These are the kinds of challenges I encounter in my work, and they have shaped the way I evaluate new processing technologies.

For me, the question is not simply, “Is this technology more advanced?”
The more important question is: “What does it change for the customer?”

The First Challenge: Recovering More Oil from Every Ton

Oilseed extraction is a good example.

In a crushing plant, the objective is straightforward: recover as much oil as possible while producing meal that meets the required quality specifications.

But achieving this consistently at large scale is far from simple.

The residual oil content of the meal is influenced by many factors, including flake quality, material preparation, solvent distribution, temperature, residence time, material movement, and downstream desolventization.

This means that extraction efficiency cannot be considered in isolation.

A difference of only a fraction of a percentage point in residual oil may seem small when looking at one ton of material. At thousands of tons per day, however, the impact can become significant.

That is where equipment design and process control begin to translate into real commercial value.

Case Study: How a 5,000 TPD Plant Improved Oil Recovery

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a 5,000 TPD oilseed processing project where Myande's E-Type Extractor was applied. Working closely with the project team gave me a firsthand view of how extraction equipment design can translate into measurable improvements at plant scale.

The E-Type Extractor was developed with a clear objective: to improve extraction efficiency while maintaining reliable and energy-efficient operation. The “E” stands for Energy-saving, reflecting one of the key principles behind its design.

In this project, the extractor achieved a soybean meal residual oil content of below 0.5%, enabling the plant to recover approximately 8 additional tons of vegetable oil per day.

What stood out to me was not simply the equipment's technical specification, but the connection between that specification and the customer's actual production results.

At a processing capacity of 5,000 tons per day, even a relatively small improvement in residual oil content can translate into a significant increase in oil recovery over the course of a year.

This experience reinforced something I have learned from working on oilseed processing projects: the performance of extraction equipment should ultimately be evaluated by how effectively it contributes to the performance of the entire production process.

What the Project Taught Me About Extraction Efficiency

One lesson reinforced by projects like this is that there is no single component responsible for extraction performance.

The extractor is one part of a much larger system.

Upstream preparation determines the physical characteristics of the material entering extraction. The flake thickness and uniformity affect solvent penetration. Solvent distribution influences oil recovery. Temperature and residence time affect extraction conditions. Downstream desolventization determines how effectively the meal can be processed after extraction.

This is why engineering experience matters.

Myande's extraction solutions cover capacities from 100 to 10,000 TPD and are designed for a wide range of oilseeds, including soybean, rapeseed, sunflower seed, cottonseed, rice bran, peanut, corn germ, and tea seed.

The objective is not simply to scale up the same machine.

It is to understand how equipment, process conditions, raw materials, and plant requirements interact at different production scales.

That is one of the lessons I have taken from working on large-scale oilseed processing projects: efficient extraction is a process engineering challenge, not just an equipment challenge.

The Second Challenge: Producing Better Oil Through Greater Process Precision

Once oil has been efficiently recovered, another challenge begins: refining it into a high-quality product.

The requirements facing oil refiners today are increasingly complex.

Producers need to maintain consistent oil quality while managing chemical consumption, energy use, thermal exposure, and increasingly stringent food safety and quality requirements.

From my experience, this has changed the way we should think about refining.

The objective is no longer simply to remove unwanted components.

It is about doing so with greater precision and better control.

This is particularly important during deodorization, where temperature and treatment time can have a significant influence on the final oil quality.

Case Study

1. Rethinking Deodorization Through Precision

Myande's Large-scale Intelligent Modular Deodorization Tower, which received the Second Prize of the 2024 China Cereals and Oils Association Science and Technology Award, was developed to address some of these challenges.

One of its key technologies is a nano-cavitation reaction system, designed to improve reaction efficiency and process precision.

In practical application, the technology can reduce acid consumption by approximately 60% and alkali consumption by more than 20%. It can also reduce glycidyl ester levels in deodorized oil by more than 0.3 mg/kg.

These figures are important, but what interests me most is what they represent from an engineering perspective.

Better process control can allow a plant to achieve its quality targets while using fewer process chemicals.

That is where process innovation starts to create value beyond the equipment itself.

2. Rethinking high-temperature deodorization

Temperature is another area where precision matters.

Conventional deodorization may require oil to remain at high temperatures for an extended period. Prolonged thermal exposure can contribute to the formation of undesirable components, including trans fatty acids.

Myande's “double-zero” and “double-low” deodorization system addresses this by reducing the high-temperature treatment period from approximately 20 minutes to less than 30 seconds.

Rather than simply increasing processing intensity, the approach focuses on controlling how much heat is applied and, equally importantly, how long the oil is exposed to it.

By significantly shortening high-temperature exposure, the system helps control trans fatty acid formation and supports the production of zero-trans-fat vegetable oils under suitable process conditions.

To me, this represents an important direction for modern refining:
Precision can be more valuable than intensity.

Beyond Individual Technologies: What 1,000+ Projects Have Taught Me

The E-Type Extractor and intelligent deodorization technology address two different challenges, but they share the same foundation: experience gained from real industrial applications.

Myande has participated in the construction of more than 1,000 projects worldwide, covering oilseed preparation and extraction, oil refining, low-temperature meal processing, protein processing, oil chemicals, and fermentation meal processing.

After working with projects across different applications and markets, one thing has become particularly clear to me: There is rarely a one-size-fits-all solution in oil and fats processing.

Different oilseeds behave differently.

Different production capacities create different engineering requirements.

Different markets have different product specifications and quality standards.

Even plants processing the same raw material may require different solutions because of differences in factory layout, utilities, automation, energy conditions, or investment objectives.

This is why I believe engineering expertise comes from more than knowing how an individual machine works.

It comes from understanding how the entire process behaves in the real world.

From Equipment to Integrated Engineering

This experience has also influenced how I approach project design.

An oilseed processing plant is an interconnected system. Preparation affects extraction. Extraction affects crude oil quality and meal quality. Crude oil characteristics influence refining. Automation determines how consistently the different stages operate.

This is why Myande's engineering capabilities extend across the full oil and fats processing chain, including oilseed preparation, extraction, refining, low-temperature meal processing, plant-based protein, phospholipid processing, fractionation, hydrogenation, interesterification, biodiesel, HVO, fatty acid and glycerin extraction, specialty extraction, bulk material handling, imported grain sterilization, and skid-mounted processing systems.

From process design and plant planning to equipment manufacturing, installation, commissioning, and automation, the objective is to make these different elements work together as one system.

In my experience, this integrated approach is often what determines whether a project performs as expected after commissioning.

A technically advanced machine is important.

But the ability to make that machine work reliably within the customer's entire production system is just as important.

What Industry Recognition Means

This practical experience is one reason I am particularly proud of Myande's recent recognition at the 12th Academic Annual Conference of the Chinese Cereals and Oils Association.

Myande was honored as a “Technology Innovation Contribution Unit.”

The recognition also included two major technology awards:

🔸The Large-scale Intelligent E-Type Oilseed Extractor received the First Prize of the 2023 China Cereals and Oils Association Science and Technology Award. 

🔸The Large-scale Intelligent Modular Deodorization Tower received the Second Prize of the 2024 China Cereals and Oils Association Science and Technology Award.

For me, these awards provide valuable external recognition of the technical work behind these technologies.

But awards are not where I would draw the final conclusion.

The more important validation comes from seeing technology operate successfully in real production environments and deliver measurable results for customers.

That is where engineering concepts are truly tested.

Looking ahead, I believe the next stage of oilseed processing will not be defined simply by larger production capacity.

The industry is moving toward smarter process control, greater energy efficiency, more precise refining, higher product quality, and increasingly integrated plant solutions.

The technologies I have discussed here represent two examples of that direction.

The E-Type Extractor focuses on getting more value from every ton of oilseed through improved extraction efficiency.

The intelligent modular deodorization system focuses on achieving better refining results through more precise control of reactions, temperature, and processing time.

Both reflect the same principle that has guided much of my work in this field:

Technology should ultimately be judged by the value it creates in the real world.

After years of seeing engineering ideas move from concept and development to installation and industrial operation, I have come to believe that the best technology is not necessarily the technology that looks the most advanced.

It is the technology that solves a real problem, performs reliably in practice, and creates measurable value on the customer's production line.