Palm oil is one of the world’s most versatile and widely produced vegetable oils. Its efficiency stems from a highly mechanized process. The core objective of a palm oil production line is to extract two types of oil: crude palm oil from the fruit’s mesocarp and palm kernel oil from the inner nut.

A standard palm oil production line operates through several key stages:

• Sterilization

Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) arrive at the mill and are first sterilized using high-pressure steam. This process halts enzyme activity that causes oil deterioration, softens the fruits for easier detachment, and cleans the bunches.

• Threshing & Stripping

The sterilized bunches are then fed into a rotating drum thresher. The mechanical action separates the individual fruits from the bunch, leaving behind empty bunches, which are often used as biofuel for the mill’s boilers.

• Digestion & Pressing

The loose fruits are heated and mashed in a digester to break down the oil-bearing cells. This pulp is then fed into a screw press, which applies intense mechanical pressure to squeeze out a mixture of crude palm oil, water, and solid impurities.

• Oil Purification

The pressed mixture is passed through vibrating screens to remove large fibres. It is then pumped into a clarification tank or a centrifuge system. Here, the oil is separated from water and solids based on density, resulting in purified Crude Palm Oil (CPO).

• Kernel Recovery

The pressed cake from the screw press contains nuts. These nuts are separated, cracked, and the inner kernels are collected. These kernels can be processed in a separate palm oil production line to extract a different type of oil called Palm Kernel Oil.

The efficiency of the entire palm oil production line lies in its sequential design for maximum oil extraction and quality control. From sterilization to purification, each stage is crucial for transforming fresh fruit bunches into the valuable crude palm oil used globally.