Cotton Seed Oil Mill Plant Setup Guidance

Commercial scale cottonseed oil mill plant generally adopts solvent extraction method, mainly includes cottonseeds pretreatment and prepressing workshop, cottonseed cake solvent extraction workshop and crude cottonseed oil refinery workshop.

The main products of the cottonseed oil processing plant are cottonseed oil, cottonseed meal, cottonseed hull, and soapstock.

Cottonseed Oil Project

Read more about cottonseed oil mill project cost >>

Features of Our Cottonseed Oil Production Project Plan:

• High automation degree, continuous operation, saving labor.
• The pre-pressed cake has low residual oil rate and is easy for solvent penetration.
• Low residual oil rate in the meal, good oil, and meal quality.
• Adopting negative pressure evaporation system, saving energy and reducing steam consumption.

Cottonseeds contain a toxic pigment which called gossypol, of which the content is 0.15%-1.8%. Cottonseed kernels contain 0.5%-2.5% of gossypol. After processed by the cottonseed oil refinery plant, the gossypol content in the oil is less than 0.01%. 

The followings are about cottonseed oil manufacturing process and equipment.

Cottonseeds Pretreatment and Prepressing Workshop


Cottonseeds Delinting: If your cottonseeds are with lint, then you need to add cottonseed delinting machine in the cottonseed oil plant.

Cottonseed Cleaning: Cleaning is to remove the various impurities in the cottonseeds by cottonseed cleaning equipment. Cottonseed cleaning equipment for the cottonseed oil plant includes winnower, vibrating screen, magnetic separator, etc. The winnower can remove light impurities and dust as well as heavy impurities like stone and metal in the cottonseeds; The vibrating screen is to remove the large and small impurities; The magnetic separator is to remove the metal impurities in the cottonseeds.

Cottonseed Dehulling: Cottonseed contains 40%-55% of hulls and the hull contains only 0.3-1% of the oil. Cottonseed contains 14%-25% of oil and the kernels contain 30-40%. In addition, the hulls also contain brown pigment, pesticide residue, wax, and lint. Hulling cottonseeds can increase the handling capacity of oil press and increase oil yield, improve the quality of crude oil and meal. Cottonseed hulls can be used for cultivating mushroom and used as livestock feed, etc.

Toothed roller crusher is the common selection for cottonseed oil mill plant. It has the features of large capacity, low power consumption, easy maintenance, high hulling rate, low fines content, high whole kernel rate and the kernels and hulls are easy to be separated.


Kernel and Hull Separation: The effect of kernels and hulls separation can affect the oil yield and the quality of oil and meal. Vibrating screen is adopted in the cottonseed oil mill plant to separate kernels and hulls. The hulls are further processed by the hull beater to separate the kernel pieces in hulls.

Flaking: Flaking process makes the cottonseeds into flakes and destroys the cell walls, which can largely shorten the oil path so that to increase the oil-yielding speed and oil yield. Cottonseed oil processing plant adopts hydraulic flaking roller which can guarantee the uniform thickness of the cottonseed flakes. The roller has high hardness and stable performance.

Cooking: Cottonseed oil processing plant adopts vertical cooker for the cooking process. The flakes from the flaking roller enter the vertical cooker. By high temperature and high moisture cooking, the temperature and moisture of cottonseed flakes are adjusted, the free gossypol content of the crude oil is reduced and the quality of the crude oil is improved.

Cottonseed Oil Pressing and Filteration

Prepressing: Cottonseeds can be once-pressed and then sent to the cottonseed oil refinery plant directly. For the capacity of more than 20 tons per day, usually, solvent extraction method is adopted with cottonseed oil pre-press used to extract part of the oil. The machine has a large capacity and the cake has low residual oil rate and is easy for solvent penetration.

Filtration: The oil residue is separated from the oil by the oil residue scraper, and then the oil is filtered by the leaf filter. The filtered oil is pumped into the crude oil tank. The pre-pressed cake is sent to the solvent extraction workshop. The leaf filter used for the cottonseed oil processing plant has the features of high precision, easy to discharge the residue.


Cottonseed Cake Solvent Extraction Workshop

Cottonseed Oil Extraction: Oil extraction is using the organic solvent to extract oil from the pre-pressed cake inside the oil extractor. Multiple oil extractors such as loop type extractor, rotocel extractor and towline extractor can be used for the cottonseed oil extraction plant. After oil extraction, miscella and the solvent containing wet meal are obtained. The miscella is pumped into the hydrocyclone to remove the fines and then the miscella enters the miscella tank in the cottonseed oil extraction plant. (Related Post: How to make cottonseed oil in small scale? )

Desolventizing: The wet meal from the oil extractor enters the DTDC desolventizing the cottonseed oil extraction plant.

Solvent recovery: The solvent vapor enters the condensing system. The solvent recycled enters the solvent holding tank for circulation. The wastewater is discharged into the water seal tank. The vent gas in the cottonseed oil extraction plant enters the mineral oil system for further recovery of solvent. Solvent recovery can reduce solvent consumption and ensure safe production.


Crude Cottonseed Oil Refinery and Fractionation Plant

Oil refining plant generally includes process of degumming, de-acidification, bleaching and deodorization (details of cottonseed oil refining process). Cottonseed oil fractionation plant can obtain liquid oil and solid fat by cooling crystallization and solid-liquid separation.