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Filtration & Purification of Jatropha Oil
Before technical use, the oil should be cleaned of all particles > 5 μm. After extraction from seed, Jatropha oil contains 1-13% solids by weight. These solids need to be separated from oil. The filtration stage of Jatropha oil achieves this objective.
The solids can be separated from the oil by means of sedimentation, filtration or centrifugation, or by a combination of these processes.
Jatropha oil filtration process could comprise one or more of the following steps:
- Filtration
- Clarification
- Sedimentation
- Centrifugation
Filtration can be achieved by allowing the oil to stand and then filtering the clear oil by gravity through fine cloth. A better but more expensive method is pumping the crude oil through a filter press.
The basic principle of filtration is blocking any particle in the oil against a membrane. The easiest way of filtering is using a cloth.
Using filter cloth in home made devices can give very good filtering results. As the filtering processes are not pressurized, purification is very good though speed is low. For home users and small factories (up to some liters per hour) this can be an attractive low-cost option as the process can run unattended without purchasing special hardware. It is recommended to sediment the oil for some days before filtering to avoid short changing interval of the filter cloth.
While filtering using a filter cloth is a fairly simple and cost-effective method, it might not be suitable for large-scale producers.
The professional and organized sector in the jatropha oil industry today uses filters that are more automated. These are called filter presses.
Filter Press
Filter presses are separation devices used for solid or liquid separation. These work on feed pressure or squeeze pressure to filter solid content in a product.
The filter presses also use filter cloth for the filtering process, but they are far more mechanized than manual filtering using filter cloth alone.
The professional and large-scale oil processors use more efficient methods - filter presses using plate or leaf filters.
Plate Filter Presses
Plate filter presses are the most widespread types of filter presses used despite their relatively high investment cost.
A filter comprises a set of vertical, juxtaposed recessed plates, presses against each other by hydraulic jacks at one end of the set. The pressure applied to the joint face of each filtering plate must withstand the chamber internal pressure developed by the oil pumping system.
This vertical plate layout forms watertight filtration chambers allowing easy mechanisation for the discharge of solids. Filter clothes finely or tightly meshed are applied to the two grooved surfaces in these plates.
Orifices feed the crude oil to be filtered under pressure in the filtration chamber. They are usually placed in the center of the plates allowing a proper distribution of flow, right pressure and better drainage of oil within the chamber. Solids gradually accumulate in the filtration chamber. The filtrate is collected at the back of the filtration support and carried away by internal ducts.
Plate filters are flexible and can be extended by adding more frames for bigger capacities. Filtered cake discharging can be manual or automatic.
Features of Filter Presses
Capacity
The widely used filter press has a capacity of filtering oil from 1 ton to 50 tons a day.
Pump
Special plunger pump is used for transfer of oil from storage tank to filter press.
Filter Cloth
Filter cloth includes special polyester filter cloth which does a fine filtration of oil.
Plates
Adjustable plates are used so that filter cloth can be cleaned easily.
Related Links
- Introduction to the Biofuel Industry
- Properties of Jatropha
- Characteristics of Jatropha
- Extracting Jatropha Oil
- Pre-extraction of Jatropha Oil
- Extraction of Oil from Jatropha Seed
- Filtration & Purification of Jatropha Oil
- Clarification of the Oil
- Getting Clean Jatropha Oil
- Refining the pure Oil
- Typical Processes & Equipments for Jatropha Oil Refinery Plants
- Removing the toxins from the Meal
- Uses of Jatropha Meal
- Properties of Jatropha Oil
- Global Biodiesel Production and Capacity
- Global Market View on Jatropha
- Strategies for Financing
- Status of Jatropha in Asia
- Status of Jatropha in Europe
- Status of Jatropha in Africa
- Status of Jatropha in South America
- Status of Jatropha in North America
- Status of Jatropha Oil Production in India
- Genetic Engineering in Jatropha
- Status of Genetic Engineering of Jatropha in India
- Present Market Scenario for Jatropha
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