Shea Butter Extraction Plant
Shea butter is a vegetable fat extracted from kernels of the shea tree. The shea tree grows in the so-called shea belt, which includes roughly 21 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Guinea. The largest shea butter-producing countries are Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda (Northern part).
GOYUM is committed to the research and development of oil mill machine and complete oil mill projects. With the professional technical team, we can offer turnkey Shea Butter Extraction Plant project including equipment manufacturing, process design, layout design, onsite installation and commissioning
Don’t hesitate to contact us, if you are interested to get a customised and full business plan about Shea Butter Processing Plant, detailed equipment list and price list.
Shea Butter Extraction Process
For processing Shea nut kernels, we need a combination of mechanical pressing unit ( Oil Mill ) and solvent extraction plant (SEP). The following are steps involved in Shea Butter Extraction Plant :
Seed Cleaner
Shea nut kernels are separated and cleaned to remove impurities such as dust, metal, plant stalks. The cleaning process can reduce equipment friction, ensure safe operation, reduce butter loss, improve life of wear parts, increase yield and improve butter and meal quality.
We offer a Multi-deck vibrating type Seed Cleaner complete with Aspiration System and dust collection box. It is available in various sizes and capacities that best suit the requirements of our customers.
Seed Cooking / Conditioning
The cleaned Shea nut kernels are subjected to conditioning in a vertical stack cooking kettle. The kettle uses steam for indirectly heating the Shea nut kernel. The kettle is specially designed to achieve a temperature of minimum 110°C at the outlet with a retention time of minimum 60 minutes.
The principal object of Seed Cooking / Conditioning
- Adjust the moisture content of the meal to an optimum level;
- Easy Rupture cell walls;
- Reduce viscosity of oil;
- Coagulate the protein in the meal to facilitate separation of the oil from protein.
Shea Butter Extraction Using Mechanical Press
In Mechanical Press, Canola oilseeds are pressed in a series of Screw Presses / Expellers.
The mechanical process uses no chemical and leaves about 15-18 % residual butter in the pressed Cake/Meal. This cake is then cooled down in a meal cooler before being subjected to Solvent Extraction for further Extraction of Shea Butter.
Shea Butter Extraction Using Solvent Extraction
A filter press is a piece of equipment that separates solids from crude sheanut oil.
In recent years, the Solvent Extraction method has developed rapidly, which is based on the Solvent Extraction principle and can significantly increase the yield of butter. The pressed cake/meal containing about 15% to 18% butter is then processed by Solvent Extraction to bring down residual oil content to less than 1.5%.
This De-oiled cake with less than 1.5% residual butter is used as a fuel for combustion in a boiler for steam generation. This is another speciality of GOYUM Shea Butter Extraction Plant.
The combined butter yield of the pre-pressing and solvent extraction method is much higher than the mechanical extraction method.
To improve the butter yield, we need to adopt higher pressures and steam cooking temperatures. GOYUM plants are made with advanced technology that is quite suitable for the processing of Shea nut kernels.
Shea Butter Filtration
A filter press is a piece of equipment that separates solids from crude sheanut oil.
The expelled shea butter consists of 5~10 % suspended solids (foots). This mixture is sent to the vibro separator/Screening tank for preliminary separation of foots. The separated foots are recycled back to the press. The precleaned shea butter is then subjected to final filtration using filter press / vertical pressure leaf filters (VPLF).
Shea Butter Vacuum Drying
The filtered crude shea butter is then subjected to a vacuum drying unit to bring down the moisture content to an allowable limit so as to increase the shelf life of crude shea butter.
This vacuum dried shea butter is suitable for export to the US, Canada, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden and so on.
Bucket Elevator
A Bucket elevator is a simple equipment used to transport bulk materials vertically. The most common use for this equipment is for moving canola seeds into an oil mill equipment from the ground.
We offer a variety of Belt and Chain Type Bucket Elevators which is specifically designed for handling raw materials.
Screw Conveyor
Screw conveyors are used to transfer raw materials from storage silos to oil mill equipment or vice versa.
We have successfully been affianced in manufacturing the superior quality Screw Conveyor. The offered conveyor is MS or SS constructed with the help of advanced technology under vigilant professionals’ guidance.
Control Panel
We provide Motor Control Center (MCC) panels designed for distribution of power, main incoming and motor control panels. These MCC panels are designed with utmost care and stringent quality inspection to ensure client satisfaction.
Sheanut Oil Extraction Plant Setup Cost
The cost of a shea butter / oil mill plant depends on different factors such as Plant Capacity , Selection of equipments, Automation process, etc. Please don’t hesitate to contact us so that we can provide you the best solution for your requirement.
Are You Looking to Start a New Shea Butter Extraction Plant or Further Expansion?
The shea nut oil production plant offered by GOYUM is robust, versatile, reliable and efficient. This shea butter processing plant is based on practically proven technology which is not only energy efficient & environment friendly, but also economical.
