Cutting Edge Separation Technologies to Process Renewable Resources
GEA provides state-of-the-art separation solutions for starch, gluten and related by-products, and for edible oils, from a wide range of renewable resources, from wheat, rice and tapioca, to olives, palm fruits and soy beans.
Hybrid solution for starch washing
The quality and value of the starch end product is determined largely by the washing of the crude starch. High quality starch can only be obtained if residual small fiber fragments, lipids, proteins and dissolved substances, are washed out efficiently. The combination of GEA’s nozzle separator and hydrocyclone technology provides the ideal solution, as customers benefit from the maximum yield enabled by the separator, and from the respectively lower maintenance and investments costs of a hydrocyclone unit.
High yields, zero waste, minimal water consumption
Our separating systems for the recovery of olive and palm oils enable the valuable raw materials to be utilized with virtually no residue, which guarantees manufacturers long-term cost effectiveness. It was GEA’s drive to develop systems that reduce the use of water that, decades ago, led to the development of a two-phase separation process for the olive oil industry. This process set new standards, particularly in Spain, and, when compared with the traditional three-stage process, reduced water consumption by 90%. This innovative water-saving technology has since been adopted by the palm oil industry in South East Asia.
Separating process lines for efficient processing of vegetable oils and fats
Vegetable oils, biofuel oils and biodiesel fuel may have completely different uses, but they all have to meet stringent quality requirements. GEA provides a range of customized separation solutions for small oil mills as well as for large volume streams in refineries. Our high performance centrifuges support both chemical and physical refining methods, by efficiently removing unwanted substances from the pressed and extracted vegetable oils.
Future-proof solutions oil separation
GEA’s portfolio of separators and decanters can extract gums, free fatty acids, water and solvents from different process stages, to help ensure the production of high-grade oil. Our technologies are used in multiple stages of vegetable oil processing, for press oil clarification, degumming, neutralization, dewaxing, washing, fractioning and soapstock splitting.
The recycling of vegetable oils and fats for applications outside of the food industry also presents a wide range of opportunities for developing new products from renewable resources. GEA actively supports the non-food sector, with efficient and future-proof centrifuges for the production of biodiesel – particularly in transesterification – the processing of fatty acids and fatty alcohols, the production of glycerine, mono- and diglycerides, soaps as well as epoxidized oils.