Making Rapeseed Oil
Find innovative production technology for making rapeseed oil and connect directly with world-leading specialists
The rapeseed flower evolved high concentrations of substances that are anti-nutritive at best and toxic at worst. But new varieties developed in the 1970s lowered the content of glucosinolates and erucic acids. From then, the use of oilseed rape spread to several applications, from edible oil to biofuel to animal feed. Rapeseed oil processing technology has thus become foundational to industries spanning food production, energy, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
Stories about rapeseed oil
Select your rapeseed oil process
Tell us about your production challenge
Specialized rapeseed oil processing technology maximizes crop yield
Before the oil extraction process can take place, processors ensure that the seeds are of the desired quality. Breeders select the appropriate parent seeds to develop a foundation lot for growers.
Oilrape seeds undergo a process cycle to ensure that the sown material generates the highest yield. The main stages in the process are drying, threshing, sorting, and coating.
Apply mild drying to safeguard the germ
A new seed lot is brought in for processing directly after harvest, so it typically has a high moisture content. That wetness risks activating the embryo prematurely or developing microorganisms that spoil the lot.
But if the drying process is performed too aggressively, it could damage or kill the embryo. Drying is the longest step, but a gently-dried seed is well worth the wait.
Calibrate the threshing equipment to the rapeseed oil properties
Rapeseed has about 10 times more plant material than seed. Threshing cleans the seeds to a high degree, although not completely. Threshers may be considered part of the pre-cleaning phase.
Threshing equipment has a revolving arm that applies slight pressure to release the seeds. But care must be taken not to crush the seeds, so calibrate the speed accordingly.
Sort the seeds for viability
Not all seeds are equal. Some harvested seeds may not be viable or can vary drastically in size. Sorting equipment uses a range of techniques to separate them into groups.
Optical sorters scan the lot for mismatching colors, whereas air separators distribute seeds according to weight and density. A sieve system grades them for size and shape, but it also performs a cleaning process by letting debris and small particles fall through.
Ensure a uniform layer of treatment to protect oilrape seeds from pests and diseases
Sown seeds are susceptible to attacks from pathogens and insects. Treat your lots with a specialized blend to protect your yield.
There is a variety of coating techniques developed to apply the formula homogeneously. Rotary systems are better suited for film coatings and pour the mixture from a spinning disc onto the revolving seeds. On the other hand, a drum coater sprays the treatment directly on the seeds and is more regularly used for entrustments.
Extracting rapeseed oil in cold-pressed or hot-pressed method
The traditional method to extract oil from rapeseed is by cold-pressing. In fact, extracting oil from all types of seeds usually involves cold-pressing. This means that you clean and press the seeds without adding heat and chemicals like solvents. After filtering out the impurities, what remains is only the rapeseed oil. This method retains most of the rapeseeds’ nutrients.
The other method commonly occurs in commercial production and requires multiple processes resulting in a heavily processed rapeseed oil. To start with, heat and press the seeds and add a solvent called hexane to the remaining solids to extract more oil. Then wash the oil by adding caustic soda and spinning it at high speed using a centrifuge to separate the natural impurities. After that, cool the processed oil at low temperatures to thicken the wax and remove it from the oil. Then, finish the process with a bleaching process to lighten the color, and steam injection to remove unwanted odor. The result is processed rapeseed oil ready for packaging.
From rapeseed plant to cooking oil and other industrial oils
Between both rapeseed oil processing types of extraction, the cold-pressed method is healthier since it doesn’t undergo multiple processes such as high-temperature refining and the addition of chemicals. This method, however, can only extract around 70% of the oil from the seeds. Refined or hot-pressed rapeseed oil, in its turn, extracts up to 98% of it. But this process removes some of the nutrients that are naturally present in the seeds.
Rapeseed oil is one of the major vegetable oils available in the world. It comes from rapeseed plants, and these plants are extremely vulnerable to pests and diseases. And, while you need to treat them with fungicides and insecticides to protect it, this may also harm pollinating insects and other wildlife. Alternatives such as palm oil and olive oil require less pesticides for their plants. Palm oil has better yield and has the least amount of chemicals used in growing. But it also requires a huge land area that can cause destruction of natural habitats.
Regulations in rapeseed oil processing
Some rapeseed plants come from genetically modified (GMO) seeds. In European countries, farmers cannot grow most GMO crops. However, countries like US, Canada, Japan, and China allow GMO crops. Another regulation to consider is the amount of erucic acid in the oil. It is a monounsaturated fatty acid which is deemed detrimental to health at high levels. Depending on the country, rapeseed oil is known as “canola oil” when used for cooking. To be safe for this activity, though, the erucic acid level should be around 2% or less. It is also possible to use rapeseed oil for automotive and chemical industry applications such as lubricants and biodiesel.
Processing steps involved in rapeseed oil making
Which rapeseed oil technology do you need?
Cold press for extracting vegetable oils
In industries such as food, cosmetics, and bio-energy, producing high-quality oils...
Screw press for mechanical oil extraction
High demand for feed in the animal husbandry sector necessitates efficient proce...
Large insulated oil storage tank
In industries requiring large-scale oil storage, maintaining consistent temperatures to pre...
Complete bottling lines for beverage industries
When producing a large quantity of bottled beverages, maintaining high eff...
3-phase liquid separation solution
Industries processing liquids such as oils or biofuels often require efficient separatio...
Industrial oil degumming process
In the edible oil industry, the removal of impurities such as phospholipids, which can affe...
Oil neutralizing technology for chemical refining
When refining oils, particularly in chemical refining processes, one ma...
High-volume oilseed extraction system
For processing facilities dealing with large volumes of vegetable proteins, wood chip...
White flake desolventization for oilseed processing
In oilseed processing, maintaining the integrity of white flakes duri...
Flash desolventization system for oilseed processing
In oilseed processing, traditional desolventization methods can ofte...
Industrial grain flaking solution
In industries such as animal feed production or oilseed processing, efficiently flaking s...
Cracking mill for oilseeds and feed
In the oilseed and feed industry, the challenge of optimizing throughput while maintain...
Vegetable oil separator for high-quality oil processing
In the vegetable oil processing industry, ensuring high yield and...
Decanter centrifuge for vegetable oil clarification
In the edible vegetable seed oil industry, maintaining high efficienc...
Centrifugal oil filter for removing oil impurities
In industrial oil production, achieving clean, impurity-free oil is a ...
Automatic processing line for field crop seeds
The quality of field crops (ROW crops) is determined by their seeds. The br...
Linear automatic bottling machine for liquids
Autonomous filling systems are a very widely utilized solution for the consi...
Wrap-around case packer for cans or bottles
When it comes to beer packaging, most of the manufacturers use plain box carto...
Refining plant for vegetable oil and animal fats
The main problems arising from refining process of vegetable oil and anim...
Oilseeds preparation plant
When producing customized flakes, pressed cakes, or other oilseed products, the oilseed preparati...
Sunflower oil extraction plant
Extracting sunflower oil using an organic solvent, usually hexane, has a big environmental im...
Industrial bottle washing machine
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and glass bottles are widely used in the beverage indust...
Industrial liquid filtration system
Systems for the filtration of liquids with suspended solid contents can be challenging ...
Industrial bottle sterilizer
Sterilization is an important process in the beverage industry to kill microorganisms. It is im...
Vacuum based homogenizer
When producing liquid and viscous products such as mayonnaise, sauces, dressings and ketchup it’s vi...
Organic soybean oil pressing plant
Soybean oilseeds are usually processed through extraction methods using hexane or other ...
Pilot extraction plant for natural ingredients
Before purchasing a full-scale extraction plant you need to exactly determi...
Top loading arm
Load or unload liquids from the top of the tanks safely and securely for trucks, railcars, small or big contai...
Folding stairs and safety cages
To ensure the safety of operator while working between a loading platform and road or rail t...
Marine loading arm
A hose or loading arm is needed when you load or unload fluids from a ship or transfer fluids between vess...
Bottom loading arm
Bottom loading/unloading arms are designed to be connected on the side or on the rear of the tanker and so...
Continuous homogenizing system
Certain mixing tasks present unique challenges and manufacturers need equipment that is speci...
Vertical pressure leaf filters
Reliable and low maintenance filtration of fluids with high dirt load is essential to many in...
Horizontal pressure leaf filters
Reliable and low maintenance filtration of fluids with high dirt load is essential to many ...
Horizontal plate scavenger filters
Reliable and low maintenance filtration of fluids with high dirt load is essential to ma...
Pilot multi-stage distiller
If generating an scalable data and bring in results with small sample quantities of high-boiling...
Pilot short path distiller
Generate scalable data and results during the pilot tests with short path distillation, distill o...
Horizontal thin film evaporators
Horizontal thin film evaporators can increase the residence time of the product and achieve...
Filter pressure leaf
From chemical processing, to energy production, to edible oils production, product quality is often depe...
Optical fill level controller
Accurate fill level inspection for transparent, opaque and foaming liquids, that makes sure th...