The Pre-Pressing and Solvent Extraction Process for Sunflower Oil

Sunflower seed oil is extracted from sunflower seeds, specifically the seeds used for oil production, known as oil sunflower seeds. Unlike edible sunflower seeds used for producing nuts, oil sunflower seeds are a crop dedicated to sunflower oil production. The finished sunflower oil has a golden color, a fragrant aroma, is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and various vitamins, with linoleic acid content reaching 70%, and low cholesterol content. It is one of the top-selling edible oils. In industrial production, edible oil processing technology is determined by the type of oil crop, production volume, and customer needs, adopting pressing methods or solvent extraction methods.

Oil sunflower seeds have an oil content of 45%–60%, meaning that theoretically, one pound of sunflower seeds can yield 4–5 ounces of oil. Single pressing or extraction cannot fully extract the oil in one go, so large edible oil processing plants often choose a pre-pressing and extraction method to produce sunflower oil. This process requires the use of pre-treatment equipment, pre-pressing equipment, complete solvent extraction equipment, and refining equipment as the main processing machinery. First, pre-treatment equipment is used to clean, shell, and crush the sunflower seeds, followed by pre-pressing to extract most of the oil.

The pre-pressed sunflower seed cakes are then crushed and sent to the solvent extraction equipment to extract the residual oil. Solvent extraction thoroughly extracts and collects the remaining oil, leaving the residual oil rate in the meal at very low levels. The pre-pressing and extraction process is unsuitable for small and medium-sized edible oil processing plants due to high production requirements and significant equipment investment costs, and is mainly used for large projects processing over 30 tons per day.

The crude sunflower oil obtained from pre-pressing and extraction is refined according to the grade required by customers. After degumming, deacidification, decolorization, and deodorization, healthy edible oil is produced. For different grades of sunflower oil, there are standards for refractive index, relative density, iodine value, saponification value, unsaponifiable matter, fatty acid composition, etc. To meet the standards for pressed sunflower oil, suitable machinery must be used.

Huatai Oil Machinery customizes solutions according to production needs, providing oil plant designs and production line designs. It equips oil plants with suitable production lines and offers oil production processes. The factory ensures the quality and technology of oil equipment, recommends suitable equipment and processes based on the characteristics of different oil crops, and helps oil plants produce healthy edible oil that meets standards.