Seed Extraction on a Grand Scale
8 August 2007
Harburg-Freudenberger supplies giant desolventizer toaster to Hungary / Bunge Group places trust in German technology.
Hamburg-Harburg - Harburg-Freudenberger Maschinenbau GmbH is pleased to announce a new standard in oil mill construction. On the 5th of July 2007 the largest desolventizer toaster ever to be built by the company was handed over to representatives of the Bunge Group, and is to be commissioned into operation at the Martfü works in Hungary in mid-August. A diameter of 5.2 meters and a height of 23 meters make this plant for desolventing crushed sunflower seeds twice as large as conventional desolventizers.
Designed for mega processing
This exceptional plant was designed to process huge amounts of crushed seeds for extraction. The Bunge Group operates one of the world’s largest edible oil mills at the Hungarian Marfü location. Most of the plant was supplied and installed by Harburg-Freudenberger. Some 1,000 tons of different grades of edible oil are produced here each day from soybeans, rapeseeds and especially sunflower seeds. More than 2,400 tons of seeds are processed each day to produce sunflower oil. Initial pressing results in 1,350 tons of extraction stock that is extracted in the new high-capacity desolventizer and then processed into raw material for animal feed.
Less residual moisture
The client’s demand for such a large plant was not only the result of the need to deal with a very high throughput of crushed seeds for extraction, but also to meet the goal of reducing the residual moisture content of the crushed mass from the previous 16 % down to 13 % to improve the process economics even further.
Everything on a grand scale
This was quite a challenge for the development engineers of Harbug-Freudenberger, yet achievable as Project Manager Roman Zmudzinski explained: "due to the enormous size of the plant and the process technology, numerous individual components had to be entirely re-designed. The outer case was reinforced and a special jacketed heating system was developed. Moreover almost all elements, such as the agitator arms, the steam floors and the tray doors, had to be produced in XXL size design. To maintain a smooth flow of the material, the apparatus has been equipped with a powerful 300 kW hydromotor and eight internal material locks."
Super performance in eight trays
Treatment of the crushed seeds in the desolventizer concentrates the solvents and aqueous slush, thereby reducing the moisture content. In conventional apparatus the crushed mass is passed through four trays. The new desolventing plant in Hungary features eight trays to achieve the necessary throughput capacity, the required drying level, and the extremely low residual solvent content.
World-wide success
Harburg-Freudenberger Maschinenbau GmbH with a workforce of 1,100 worldwide is one of the leading mechanical engineering and service companies in the field of machinery and plants for rubber mixing, caoutchouc, and edible oil technology. With production plants in Germany, Croatia, and the US, and with representative offices throughout the world, the company generated sales of approximately EUR 200 million in 2006.
Contact Harburg-Freudenberger:
Sabine Sergel
Harburg-Freudenberger Maschinenbau GmbH
Seevestrasse 1, D-21079 Hamburg
Phone: +49 40 77 179 370; Fax: (040) 77 179 630
sabine.sergel@hf-group.com
