Online weighing machine is  installed underneath the day bin. It is used to measure and record total feed material in the plant. 

Magnetic drum separator separates ferrous particles from feed materials to protect process equipment from damage and ensure the uninterrupted flow of raw materials in the process.

Seed cleaner is used to thoroughly separate impurities like dust, leaves and stem present in feed materials. It is composed of screens in various sizes designed to segregate different fractions. An aspiration system is also provided to remove the light particles and loose hulls.

Destoner efficiently remove stones, glass and other high-density materials from the grain stream. Oil mills processing soybeans only are sometimes provided with dry destoners. It works on the principle of difference in density to separate heavy stones from lighter seeds. It consists of a vibratory system with aspiration and works on the fluidization principle. 

The purpose of preparation is to modify the seed into a shape that is suitable for fast and effective extraction by mechanical pressing or by solvent extraction.

It is a succession of several of the following processes: 

Dehulling to increase the protein content of the de-oiled meal.

 Cracking to reduce the particle size of the seeds.

Cooking reduces the viscosity of the oil and adjust the moisture content.

Flaking to rupture the cell structure of the broken seeds.

Expanding to enhance extraction parameters.

Oilseed extraction processes are designed to obtain high-quality oil with minimal undesired components, achieve higher yield and obtain a high value-added meal. Two standard processes are mechanical extraction and solvent extraction, and also a combination of both depending on the percentage of oil in the oil-bearing material. Mechanical extraction has lower installation costs and is used for first press oils. Solvent extraction offers higher yields and is economical for OBMs with less oil content.

Mechanical Extraction 

Mechanical extraction means removing vegetable oil from oilseeds using only mechanical devices such as presses or screws that physically force the oil from the oilseed. Mechanical extraction techniques use no organic solvents to remove oil from an oilseed.

Today the expeller press is universally used for the continuous mechanical extraction of oil regardless of the size of the operation.

Solvent Extraction

Extraction is to soak oil out of small particles or flakes of material with a solvent, usually hexane. 

The seed, having been properly prepared, is separated into a crude oil fraction and a protein meal fraction by solvent extraction. 

The extractor utilizes a countercurrent, multi-stage washing with commercial hexane solvent to enable a reasonable quantity of solvent to extract a maximum quantity of oil. The solvent travels into the particles, soften up and dissolve the oil, and the miscella (the solution of oil in the solvent) then travels out of the particles and be washed away by still more solvent.

After washing, the solvent laden meal drains by gravity and then discharges to meal Desolventising and the miscella discharges to Distillation.

 A percolation-type extractor is by far the most commonly used for the removal of oil from oilseeds such as soybeans, canola, or sunflower. 

The purpose of distillation is to thermally separate the miscella into a liquid oil fraction and solvent vapour fraction. The energy efficiency of distillation is maximized through optimum use of the available heat in the discharge vapour stream from the Desolventiser Toaster

The solvent is separated out of the miscella, utilizing different vaporization temperatures between solvent and oil.

Currently, the vacuum evaporation is the main technology in oil processing, it can reduce solvent leakage and solvent consumption. The separated solvent vapour is cooled and recycled back to the extractor for recycling, so it improves the solvent efficiency.