Processing of Edible

Oil (Palm Oil)

CHAPTER 3
3.3 : Bleaching
 Learning outcomes
Students should be able to
• Concepts of decolorization of an oil or fat
• Describe removal of pigment such as carotenoids, chlorophyll, residue
phospatides, soaps, trace metal, hydroperodxides and non volatile
matter.

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 Introduction To Bleaching
• Edible oil bleaching can’t used air or chemicals
• Using solid absorbents such as bleaching earth or activated charcoal

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 Bleaching

• Natural bleaching clay was added to hot oil with the sole
objective of removing colouring pigments.
• Bleaching has become a critical process in edible oil refining to
remove impurities (soaps, phospholipids, oxidation products,
trace metals, contaminants etc.) from edible fats and oils prior
to deodorisation.

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 Impurities in Fats and Oils

• They can be minor ingredients naturally contained in the oil or

degradation products produced with abuse of the seed, fruit, or
extracted oil.
• Technically, some of the impurities are compounds produced
by the oil plant and should be called by-products rather than
impurities.

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• The aim of the bleaching process is to remove the unwanted
impurities listed in Table 9.1 without changing the triglyceride
molecule.
• During bleaching, the oil is treated with a chemical and an
adsorptive material to remove all of the undesirable impurities
present except for those captured by the deodorization process.
• The bleaching process must be controlled to prevent the
development of other undesirable impurities.

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 Adsorption Theory for Bleaching
 Bleaching is an adsorptive process.
 Depending on the chemical and physical properties of both the
compounds to be adsorbed and the adsorbent, the adsorption
process may proceed through the following mechanisms: physical
adsorption, and chemisorption.

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 Adsorption

• Adsorption ─ mechanism by which the sorbent binds a

contaminant. This can occur in three different ways:
1. Physically through surface attraction involving van der
Waals' forces
2. Chemically by “chemisorption” by electrochemical
bonding to the surface of the clay
3. By molecular sieves which trap contaminants under
pressure inside the pores of the clay during filtration

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 Adsorption Theory for Bleaching
 When thermodynamic equilibrium is reached between the
solution and the adsorbent, no further net adsorption occurs.
 Equilibrium is governed by the concentrations and properties
of adsorbent and adsorbate, and the temperature, viscosity, and
pH of the system.
 Several models (i.e., those of Langmuir, Brunauer-Emmett-
Teller, and Freundlich) have been developed to describe
adsorption equilibrium

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 Adsorption Theory for Bleaching
 The isotherm for this favourable adsorption process is
Langmuir Isotherm.
 For adsorption from liquids, Freundlich isotherm is applicable.
This isothermis of the strongly favourable type.
 Bleaching of palm oil falls under this type of isotherms as the
bleaching process are involving liquids (oils).

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 Adsorption Theory for Bleaching
Freundlich’s Adsorption Isotherm:

 The amount of pigment adsorbed increase with increasing

concentration of pigment in the oil
 In practice the adsorbents is mixed up with the oil in the stir vessel.

 where x is the amount of pigment adsorbed, m is the amount of adsorbent, and c is

the amount of residual pigment still in solution (K and n are constants related to
adsorptive properties of the bleaching clay).
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 Bleaching

Selection of the bleaching’s process and adsorbent depending

on:
1. Pretreatment
2. Desired quality of product
3. Filtration speed
4. Oil retention by adsorbent
Can be 50 wt % on bleaching earth
Can be 100 wt % on charcoal

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 Bleaching

 Bleaching earth can be classified:

1. Natural
2. Activated

 Natural bleaching earth-aluminum silicates contains

montmorillonite [(Mg0.33, Al1.67) Si4O10(OH)2]Na0.33 ]
 Activated-leaching natural agent by HCl, washing with water,
drying and sizing.
 This will increase internal surface of bleaching earth by
partial dissolution of the aluminium and iron oxides

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 Bleaching Earth – Introduction

• Bleaching earth is made from naturally occurring minerals such

as palygorskite, which is also known as attapulgite, sepiolite,
bentonite, and other minerals that all belong to the aluminum
silicate family.
• Bleaching earth, often called “fuller’s earth,” has been known
and used for many years.

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 Bleaching

• Condition of the process (optimum)

• Lower concentration of gum ( 0.5-1.0 %) used activated
• Possibility oxidize oil
• Temp: 100°C
• Pressure: vacuum
• Limited Oxygen

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 Bleaching

• Normally performed at two stages:

• 1st : Conditioning and adsorption at relative low
temperature 65°C
• 2nd : Elevated temperature 100°C
• Physical refining concept use citric acid or phosphoric acid to
chelate (attract) trace metals and to precipitated hydrated
phospatides.

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 Bleaching

• Activated Charcoal:
• 0.1 to 0.4 % plus bleaching earth use for hard oils/fats.
• Work as absorbent by removed polycyclic aromatic
hydrogen from oils or fats.

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 Bleaching

• Most of bleaching done:

• Continuous
• Batch
• As example of the process and sample in four slides after this.

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 Bleaching Image

BEFORE AFTER

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Figure 3: Effect of Bleaching Time on Oil Colour, Peroxide Value (PV) and Free Fatty
Acid (FFA)

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Figure 4: Effect of Bleaching Temperature on Oil Colour

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Figure 4: Effect of Bleaching Temperature on Free Fatty Acid (FFA)
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Figure 5: Effect of Bleaching Temperature on PV and AV of Palm Oil

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Figure 6: Effect of Bleaching Dosage on Colour of Palm Oil
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Figure 7: Effect of Bleaching Dosage on PV and AV of Palm Oil
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Figure 8: Effect of Bleaching Dosage on Phosphorus Content of Palm Oil

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