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U.S. extractors, refiners updateRetrofit: a modification ofequipment to include changesmade in later productionmodels (Webster's Third NewInternational Dictionary)

The U.S. oilseed extraction and veg-etable oil refining industries continu-ally are looking at ways to make their

plants more cost-efficient."One of the reasons for requests for

retrofits is the pressure for oilseed proces-sors to make their existing plants work well.versus adding new plants;' according 10Daniel P. French, president of The FrenchOil Mill Machinery Co. Timothy Kemper.also of The French Oil Mill Machinery Co.,agreed. "Virtually no new crushing plantsare going up and so retrofitting is the drivingforce:' Kemper said.

Philip vando. executive vice-president ofDe Smet Process and Technology lnc., notedcustomers are seeking to increase capacity attheir facilities while also reducing operatingcosts. "In general. the projects are a combi-nation of increasing capacity and increasingenergy efficiency to cut costs," Vande said.

Stan Loft. executive vice-president andco-founder of Johnson-Loft Engineers Inc .•noted that for the oil processing industry."Unless customers are adding capacity. it isvery difficult to justify rebuilding orretrofitting their old processes on energysavings alone. Today's retrofits must includeadvanced processing techniques as well assophisticated control systems if they are tobe competitive."

Extraction industry trendsThe U.S. had very few oilseed extractionfacilities built in recent years. An exceptionis the recent installment of a soybean extrac-tion plant. supplied by Crown Iron WorksInc .• al Rose Acre Farms in Seymour. Indi-ana. to supply soybean meal 10 its paultryoperations. Mostly. oilseed processors con-tinue to evaluate the efficiency of existingplants and to consult equipment manufactur-ers and engineering firms on ways toimprove operations.

INFORM.Vol. 2, 00. 11 (November 1991)

The extraction industry is continuing 10consolidate, with the large companies get-ting even larger. Some of the older plants areshutting down. with major processors spend-ing capital strategically to improve existingoperations. according to Dick Gadomski ofPSI Process Systems Inc. "Cargill. ADM(Archer Daniels Midland) and Ag Process-ing continue to buy the old plants. They thenclose some of the older facilities. and makeadditions to existing facilities thai are strate-gically located. In this way. they are consoli-dating resources:' Gadomski said. "I thinkwe can expect more consolidation. Thus, the

959

In one retroftt proJtlCI, 0 1,20IHon-o-day .xtroctOl' II added 10an open-okextnxtlon or.a.

plants for efficiency, cost savings

oppcrtumnes are in retrofits andadding upgrade equipment."

ADM spokesman Dick Burkelsaid. "We're conlinuously makingchanges on our current facilities."Burkel. ADM's vice- president andassistant 10 the chairman. noted thatchanges are made when the companycan justify paybacks of such invest-menrs. Sparking retrofitting often isthe availability of improved process-ing equipment. both for refining andextraction. Burkel said. ADM'sAugusta, Georgia. facility is one Ihal

was retrofitted 10handle canola.In the oilseed solvent extraction

industry, retrcttning often entailsincremental changes, such as addingcookers/dryers. desolveml zer -roasters(DT). conditioners. grinding equip-ment and flaking mills or enlargingthe hexane recovery system. "Veryfew people have the luxury [0 install acompletely new extraction plant,"Gadomski said. Because of the cleanair regulations. it is very difficult toclear the environmental challenges ofproposing a new grass-roots extrac-

tion project. "Thus. it is much easierto add on to existing facilities,"Gadomski said.

Even adding equipment that willincrease capacity involves bureaucrat-ic red tape, however. "There's moreand more concern with the environ-mental impact. Customers have to gothrough a lengthy process to obtain apennit from EPA (the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency) to addcapacity," Vando said. explaining thisis due to EPA concerns over volatileorganic compounds (VOCs). primarilythose from hexane at oilseed extrac-tion plants.

"The [rend is toward more energy-efficient operations," George E.Anderson, vice-president of engineer-ing for Crown Iron Works Co., said."Costs are a huge reason to save onboth energy and solvent loss. and sol-vent toss is also being reduced to meetEPA regulations."

Extraction retrofittingA main aim of retrofitting in oilseedextraction has been to increasethroughput, according to Joseph Frey,product line manager for vegetable oiland rendering for Anderson Interna-tional Corp., Cleveland. Ohio.

Anderson International. whichspecializes in processing equipment,often is asked to modify expellers.first installed 30 to 40 years ago.Anderson has increased expeller presscapacity from 15 tons per day 10 25tons per day by a simple gear change10 increase the rpm of the horizontalshan. In some cases, Anderson hasalso modified the main worm shaft.Some companies have chosen toinstall additional expeller presses 10modernize their operations, Frey said.

Vando of De Smet and GeorgeAnderson of Crown Iron Works Co.noted that in some retrofit projectsmajor players in the industry haveinstalled DTDCs (desoivenuzer-toasr-

INFORM. Vol. 2. no. 11 (November 1991)

960

"They are not interested inadditional capacity but ratherare seeking energy savings andlower emissions:' Kemperadded.

Each plant has its own bottle-necks that arc energy-intensive.One aim of equipment suppliersis to help plant operators identi-fy those bottlenecks; the next is\0 suggest how these can beimproved. "Typically we lookfor the areas that are causingrestrictions. These are replacedwith larger. more efficientequipment. The remaining bot-tlenecks usually can be handled

by upgrading," Kemper said."One trend we're seeing is pur-

chases of our patented Rotating Bas-ket Bottom Screen for retrofitting intostationary basket extractors." accord-ing to French. In fact. four large soy-bean processing facilities in the Unit-ed States during 1990 purchased thescreens which replace hinged-basketbottoms. This step reduces hexane inthe spent flakes, thus saving steam inthe DT. "This also can cut down ondowntime, which can be very expen-sive," French said. Investing in therotating screen conversion pays foritself in 18 months, according toKemper.

The French Oil Mill MachineryCo. also has received a number oforders for the Enhanser Press, anextruder. "This produces a pelletwhich can increase capacity. and canmake the extractor drain better, thusreducing steam in the DT. It also low-ers the amount of solvent needed toextract the oil. saving steam in the dis-rillation process." French said. adding."It can make the preparation processless supervision-intensive or criticalby making thicker flakes. whichreduces fluker maintenance."

Modification of distillation systemsis undertaken to increase miscellaconcentrations and reduce steam con-sumption. This makes the systemsmore energy-effective. "Energywasn't such an issue 20 years ago. Wehave redesigned all our equipmentover the last five years to make itmore energy-efficient," French said.

Another step the soybean crushingindustry is taking is to install large

RETROFITTING

An EMonMf unit Is odOed 100 pl'ltPfHIlo Inc~ capacity.PItou>,.....,..., <11M F"""" Oil "'ill "' .... ,"'"' Co

ers/dryer-coolers) to replaceold-style DTs and meal dryersand coolers. Crown Iron, forexample. has installed 31Crown/Schumacher counter-now DTDCs and DTs in U.S.facilities since 1985. In addi-tion. in this time frame. Crownhas installed 16 Crown mealdryer-coolers (DCs) in U.S.plants, as well as 18 newCrown extractors which aremodular units.

"In the past five years. a lotof people have modified theirfacilities to achieve energyreduction. to improve environ-mental quality. and to gain yieldimprovements and expansion,"according to Dick Fiala, senior projectengineer for PSI. The net effect hasbeen cost reduction per unit of pro-duction. This has been accomplishedboth by installing new equipment ormodifying existing equipment. Someof the modifications have been theincorporation of automation systemsfor improved process control; theaddition of "hot dchutflngv to improveenergy use and to reduce dryingexpenses; use of "expanders prior toextraction" to increase efficiency andproduction: and unique evaporationsystem changes to enhance solventrecovery and energy usage, Fiala said.

"Some plant personnel have comeup with unique. and probably plantspecific, changes to further reduce util-ities, improve maintenance, ease ofrepair and mechanical reliability: andreduce losses-transient and sewer-by recycle techniques or designchanges, especially in crusher-refineroperations. In spite of a basic 'same-ness' in the processes today comparedwith several years ago, there has beena gradual evolutionary improvement ofsuccessful crushing and refining oper-ations over the years," he added.

A number of facilities have addedoilseed expanders or extruders to in-crease capacity. Anderson's Expand-ers, which condition oilseeds prior tosolvent extraction. produce a porouspellet which expands capacity. "Theseare very popular in the U.S .. pnrticu-larly for producing soybean and cot-tonseed meal. You can take a 500-ton-a-day plant and expand capacity by

20-40% by installing one of these,"Frey said. "This usually can be doneat a nominal cost." These also aredesigned to reduce hexane usage andsteam requirements and help relieveelectrical horsepower requirements inthe cooking/drying. flaking. solventextraction and miscella and DT opera-tion.

"Retrofitting existing oil millingoperations is a phenomenon occurringnot just in the U.S. but allover theworld:' according to James F. Craw-ford. Anderson's sales manager, whoadded, "Over the past three years. wehave installed Expander units in 43existing oil mills in 14 different coun-tries. This is a unique challengebecause each of these mills is set updifferently in the amount of preparu-uon equipment used and spaceallowed. ,. Crawford noted that theExpanders "currently are being usedin mills not having screw presses. inconjunction with screw presses, andwith the development of OUf HtvexExpander which allows oil drainage.These are reducing and, in somecases, eliminating screw press mainte-nance and energy costs as well."

Anderson this year introduced theExpeller Control System. a computer-ized system for feeding the expellerpress. This system can be retrofitted toallow eutomanc cpereucn of thechoke as well as the feeder. De Smethas had similar systems installed onRosedowns presses operating in theU.S. for two years.

Some companies modify plants for"environmental friendliness." accord-ing to French.

INFORM. Vol. 2. no. 11 (November 1991)

902

function as both a prepress andEnhanser press to make extruded pel-leis for improved solvent extraction."

Several years ago Central Soyamodified its soybean crushing facilityin Chattanooga. Tennessee, 10 alsohandle canota. However, this yearCentral Soya sold the plant 10 ADMand announced it would transfercanal a operations elsewhere. Com-pany spokesman Barry Collinsworthin September said the company hasnOI yet decided where that will be.

Although there was much interest"in anticipation" of canota processingin the United States one to two yearsago, "it was short-lived. At this limethere is very little interest," according10 Vanda of De Smet. Should canotaacreage and production increase sub-stantially in the United States, crushersmay be interested in modifying theirplants in the future. Rice bran oil pro-cessing also has been contemplated.

However. equipment manufactur-ers note there is activity 10 upgradefacilities in Mexico. Anderson Inter-national has received a number oforders to modify shafts for prepress-ing canola. During the past threeyears. Facilities in Mexico that haveprocessed saff'lowcr and sunflowerhave expressed interest in processingcanota. "They can make twice asmuch oil processing canol a as they

RETROFITTING

evaporators in the first stage of opera-tion. "This allows the company to usewaste heat as an evaporative sourcefor the miscella. The rniscella comingout is then 85% oil and 15% solvent.versus before. when it was 50% oiland 50% solvent." Kemper said. Hele-na Colton Oil facility in Helena.Arkansas, has taken this step. "Thepayback is one year. including instal-lation." Kemper said.

French also has had orders to con-vert old DT units to its countercurrentDT. designed 10 save steam and toreduce solvent loss. Also. dryer-coolerequipment, which uses air in the dry-ing mechanism rather than steam, isreplacing older technology. "The bet-rer-destgned units use hardly anysteam." French said.

Some companies retrofit their facil-hies in small increments because theydo not have the capital to do the wholeproject at once. "Also. it helps to keepdowntime to a minimum. Downtimecan cost from $1.000 to $4,000 anhour for these plants," Kemper said.

Helena Cotton Oil. for instance. isin the midst of a multi-year step-by-step plan to raise capacity from 250Ions to 600 tons per day. In the firstyear. capacity was raised to 350 tOIlS.By the end of this year, it is expectedto be 400 tons per day, with the goal10 achieve 600 tons per day in anotheryear.

Companies also are replacing sev-eral small units with one or two larg-er-capacity machines. "For instance,we have replaced eight old smallmechanical screw presses with twolarge ones. which saves the customerelectricity. maintenance. floor spaceand provides better process results."French said.

Recent modifications by French toSouthern Soya Corp.'s plant in Estill.South Carolina. originally designed 10handle 250 tons of soybeans per day.have raised capacity from 500 tons to800 Ions per day. "This also reducedenergy consumption and raised qualitylevels," French said, explaining."Newer equipment produces unifonnquality product."

One investment which equipmentmanufacturers envision will occureventually in the U.S. cottonseedcrushing industry is in equipment to

FoU" ~ soybeon proc:es$ng IocliIIft In 1M U.s.hoY. ,epkx:ed hIngecI-boIket bottoms wtIh1M ltoIating 1oIk.' Bottom SC,een 10 ,educ. hexane In 1M spent "'*".reduce the free level of gossypol incottonseed meal. 'The U.S. COtton-seed industry will need to considerfree gossypol reduction equipment inthe future so it can serve broader mar-kets." French said.

Frey noted that Anderson Intema-tiona! has received inquiries concern-ing installing prepresses or modifyingexisting presses for higher-oil applica-

INFORM. Vol. 2. no. 11 (November 1991)

Some companies retrofittheir facilities in smallincrements becausethey do not have the

capital to do the wholeproject at once,

nons. "We have installed the HivexExpander between the preparation areaand the solvent extraction plant to addthe capability of handling high-oiloilseeds such as canola and sun now-erseed. These are also designed to han-dle low-oil materials such as soybean.rice bran and cottonseed," Frey said.

French said expanding a plant'scapacity to handle other oilseeds"often entails adding machinery ormodifying existing prepresses to add adie plate. so the single machine can

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could if they processed soybeans andincrease their profits," Frey said. Mostof these plants can handle an averageof 300-500 Ions a day of oilseeds. headded.

Retrofitting a soybean extractionplant 10 handle canota can cost mil-lions of dollars, one industry spokes-man said. Companies planning 10 dosuch a retrofit must lake steps 10ensure no other ollseeds gCI mixed induring handling 10 protect canota oil'slow saturated fat content. Becausecanol a is a small seed, storage binsmust be very light. Drying and cool-ing operations require more air pres-sure. Because smaller screens areneeded in drying operations. either anew grain dryer or modifications 10the existing dryer will be needed, astep that could COSIa half million dol-lars, depending on capacity.

Also, the solvent extraction processfor soybeans will not remove all of theoil from canota. Thus. a prepressoperation must be added. In addition,traditional soy extraction systemsmust be readjusted or retrofitted toefficiently remove the oil from thecanota cake and to desclverulae thecake mote efficiently.

In Canada. processors traditionallymake a super degummed (acid de-gummed) canota oil. which is a stepbeyond the water degumming processused for soybeans. to reduce free fattyacids below 50 parts per million.Canola lecithin has no market: thus,canol a processors put the gums backinto the meal as a source of fat for ani-mal feed. Centrifuging for acid degum-ming is more complex. requiring addi-tional equipment and thus more capitalinvestment. Additional bleaching alsois needed to remove the higher chloro-phyll content in canola oil.

Refining industry trendsAlthough new extraction facilities arethe exception in the United States,there are a number of vegetable oilrefineries being built. chiefly as crush-ers look for a way to expand theiroperations. ADM. for instance. cur-rently is completing two new refiner-ies in the U.S .. as well as expandingrefining capacity at its Decatur. illi-nois. West plant. In addition. QuincySoybean Co. and C & T Refinery Inc.

One trend hos been 10odd renn.Ie, od,Ioeenllo elllting extroc:lIon Ioclllllas, weh os CargillInc:s edible 01/ reftnety (top photo) at W1chlto.lConsoa. PIItdue Form Inc:. feflnety (bottomphoto) In Sotlsbufy, Mafylond, Is equipped with computef·conhot eapobIltty.

are undertaking a joint venture thatwill build a refinery in the Midwest.

Companies previously serving asrefiners are seeing their businessreplaced by bulk refineries constructedadjunct to crushing operations by themajor oilseed processors. "Of the II to12 grass-roots refineries built in thepast ten to 12 years. all but two wereadditions to crushing plants. Thus.crushers are becoming refiners. andthe old refiners have either shut dawnor are experiencing no growth:'

according to Gadomski of PSI. Procter& Gamble. for instance. has left therefining business except for its Ivory-dale plant in Cincinnati. and Kraft shutdown its Buena Park facility, he point-ed out. Meanwhile. Cargill. CentralSoya. ADM and Ag Processing haveexpanded their relining operations.

According to Vando of De Srnet.there are a large number of agingdeodorizing plants still in operation."Customers looking at retrofittingthese plants are interested in lncreas-

INFORM, Vol. 2. no. 11 (November 1991)

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ing capacity and improving energyefficiency by adding heat recoverydevices." Under the old systems,steam was used to preheat the oil, andwater was used to cool it. The newsystems utilize the heat from thedeodorized oil 10 preheat the incomingoil via heat exchange. he said. Vandaalso noted thai the trend is 10 buildnew refineries adjacent to crushingplants.

Bill Lester. vice-president of cor-porate and governmental relations forAg Processing tnc.. noted that retro-fining is a major activity for oilseedand vegetable oil processors. "Every-body is trying to keep their refineriesand facilities up-to-dare." he said.

EMl Corp. currently is addingdewaxing and winterizing equipmentto a sunflower oil processing plantowned by SVO Specially Products ofCulbertson, Montana, according toBill McPherson, EMI president.Automated control of the process isdone by a programmable logic con-troller (PLC) with a personal comput-er-based operator interface. EMI alsoinstalled an interesterification plantwith PLC automated control forAarhus Inc. in New Jersey. This wasan addition to the hydrogenation andsteam refining deodorizer previouslysupplied by EM!.

Johnson-Loft has retrofitted eightdeodorizers in the past eight years. Thecompany also is noticing growinginterest in specialty oils. "I believe wewill see more retrofitting to handlespecialty oils," Loft said, pointing tomore interest in processing rice branoil and high oleic canola oil. Loft saidseveral companies currently are look-ing at alternative oil extraction andprocessing techniques. He predictedenvironmental concerns "will push ourindustry toward these alternate oil pro-cesses in an effort to reduce expensiveby-product treatment and disposal."

Process controlLeadership in computerized processcontrol has been shown in refiningoperations versus crushing facilities,according 10Gadomski. The main rea-son "is only because new crush plantshaven't been built and it is difficult tojustify the total changeover of existingextraction plants," he explained. In the

nt. o.s Moine., Iowg.v~ 011,.,.1*)' built by ....E. S!g'-v MClnukJeturing Co. In 19a1,and now owned by "'DM, WOI ttMo "lit .lornple of dIIIffbut.cl pmc .. control from g c.nlrtJlee..""'~

crushing industry, however. new unitsthat are added often are designed forautomation.

Norm Smallwood of The CoreTeam agreed that computerized pro-cess control in the oilseeds industryhas been slow. "The oilseed crushingindustry is very conservative andreluctant to change, although there aresome exceptions," Smallwood said.Central Soya, which he termed "veryprogressive," is one such exception;this in part may be due 10 CentralSoya having an in-house engineeringdepartment,

Computerized process controlretrofitting in oilseed crushing chieflyhas been limited to PLCs and smallmicroprocessors applied 10 specificpieces of equipment. according toSmallwood. "To my knowledge, per-haps only one company has installed adistributed system," he said, adding.however. "The major players in theU.S. oilseeds industry tend to be pro-prietary in what they do. so it is diffi-cult to know or report all that has beendone. The general trend seems to be areluctance to embrace computer sys-tems control."

One reason for such reluctancemay be that automation would meanrestructuring. "It requires training per-sons to work in a self-directed man-ner, versus a supervision-dependent

approach. The industry is reluctant tomake these organizational changes,"Smallwood said. Another Achilles'heel, he said, is that online analyzersstill must be improved 10 give reliablefeedback. "These are still nOI the mostdependable ...

Total systems process control"would be a natural fit for the oilseedsprocessing industry," according toSmallwood. noting it provides theopportunity for reducing costs throughminimizing solvent losses and CUllingenergy consumption; for improvingprocess efficiency: for increasingthroughput; and for enhancing bothpersonnel and process safety. "I thinkin the near future, someone will havethe courage to undertake a state-of-the-art computer-based control appli-cation. demonstrate the benefits andgain a significant advantage. This willencourage competitors to follow suit,"

Anderson of Crown Iron Worksnoted, "We have several extractionplants operated largely by computer.Some operations are performed by thecomputer and some are done by opera-tors at computer screens distant fromthe extraction room floor. These instal-lations have been done largely by theplant owner, This is partly becausethey are very much custom-built tosuit the specific process, site and oper-ating organization:'

INFORM. Vol. 2. no. 11 (November 1991)

efficient way to monitor material andoil now through the plant. "Consisten-cy is extremely important to controlsolvent loss," Kemper said, noting

He added, "In our experience, com-puters can improve plant efficiencyand safety if used correctly. They areparticularly good at continual moni-toring, both to provide for better con-trol response and to send an alarm 10warn of unsafe conditions. We do notconsider present technology goodenough, however, to completely re-place the operator on the floor. Partic-ularly in the area of safety, it is hard toreplace the intelligence, senses andawareness of a trained human being.Moreover, the payback-particularlyof the more COSilyoptions-is some-limes in question."

Most solvent extraction operationsnow require only one person in theplant, according to Kemper. who saidit is difficult to computerize the entireoperation. However, localized auto-matic controls are a cost-effective and

ized "across the boards. We computer-ize when it makes sense economically.Certainly more computerization isbeing used."

Fiala noted that companies install-ing new crushing systems, such aswhat is happening in the com indus-try, are considering distributed controlto bring all processing informationinto a central processing unit. "How-ever. if you look at automating exist-ing extraction operations, it's econom-ically prohibitive," Fiala said.

Norm Witte, who retired at the endof 1986 after 40 years in the technicaldepartment at Central Soya. agreedthat it is difficult to justify any sophis-ticated level of automation for exist-ing equipment. "However. if you aregoing to expand or replace majorequipment such as the extractor or dis-tillation system, you can do it as pan

"Computers can improveplant efficiency and

safety if used correctly."

that the main reason for automaticcontrol is to reduce solvent losses."Before such controls were used,you'd go into a plant and discover thateach operator had his way to operatethe controls. Things were not doneconsistently. Now, the operator servesas more of a monitor," Kemper said.

ADM's Burket confirmed thatextraction facilities are not computer-

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INFORM.Vol. 2, no. 11(November 1991)

967

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of the modification. Likewise, in thecase of oil refineries. process changesor capacity increases provide the idealopportunity for automation improve-ments. As nn example. when CentralSoya's new edible oil plant was con-structed in 1970. all valves were setup to operate remotely from selectorswitches and relays located on a cen-tral panel board. When this plant wasexpanded in 1974. process controlminicomputers had just become avail-able and several computers wereinstalled in various areas of the pro-cess. Over the years. these have beenupgraded to include color screens andmuch faster processing to enable han-dling a 101of management infcrmatlcnfunctions," Witte said.

The first big commitment on therelining side 10 distributed computerprocess control operated from a cen-tral control room was demonstrated byA.E. Staley Manufacturing Co. at DesMoines. Iowa, Gadomski said. Buill inthe early 1980s, the Des Moines soy-bean oil processing plan! now ownedby ADM was the first computer-con-trolled edible oil facility in the U.S."lt has been an exemplary success,"according to Smallwood, who wasplant superintendent for the DesMoines facility when it was buill.

PSI subsequently was contracted toprovide computer-control refiningcapability al Perdue Farm Inc. 's facili-ty constructed in Salisbury, Maryland.Cargill, meanwhile, installed FisherControls' Provox advanced digital dis-tributed process plant control and inte-grated management system at a soy-bean oil refinery it built in Sioux City,Iowa. That system controls and moni-tors the hydrogenation and refiningprocesses.

"On the refining side, there's moreneed for sophisticated control:'Gadomski said, citiryg the latest U.S.refinery brought online-Karlshamnsin Columbus, Ohio. for which PSIserved as general contractor. Loft ofJohnson-Loft agreed. "Today's sophis-ticated consumer will necessitate moresophisticated processes. thus betterprocess control." he said.

Johnsen-Loft most recently under-took several engineering projects tobuild or rebuild refineries. The Karl-

shamus refinery at Columbus. Ohio.for example. was a rebuild in lieu of aretrofit to expand production. Builtadjacent to the company's old refin-ery. it will replace a portion of thatfacility when fully operational. FujiOil's specialty oil refinery in Savan-nah, Georgia, is a new grass-rootsplant incorporating computer con-trolled process design developed by

nate waste) and limited operating mis-takes such as spills. It can yield datafor process diagnostics and trou-bleshooting, and improve yield andproduct quality. It also can controlenergy use. Computerized alarms andshutdown mechanisms help provideprocess safety.

Smallwood at that time also notedsome shortcomings. For instance, it isnot economically justifiable to designcomputer hardware and software tocover plant start-ups and shutdowns.Although fewer persons are requiredwith computer COntrol. skill require-ments are greater. In fact, it requiresclose-knit teams of multiskilled tech-nicians. Other problems included alack of consistent now-meter accuracyand tank level gauge reliability.

"The points I made in 1985 are stillvalid, and are perhaps even more validtoday," Smallwood said. noting thatcomputer process control is easier 10do now. "For instance. there has beenprogress on software offerings and oncomputer configurations." Smallwoodsaid, noting that European and U.S.industries arc at the same state inretrofitting with computer processcontrol.

Meanwhile, adjunct operations,such as packaging lines at vegetableoil manufacturing plants, are beingautomated through retrofitting. In fact.Best Foods Division of CPC Interna-tional has just completed a project toinstall an automated bulk handlingsystem for receiving packaging mate-rials at its Argo, Illinois, Mazola comoil plant. 'This is a more cost-efficientway to operate. and also a 'green'(environrnemal) project:' according toLouis Trentacoste Jr., director oflogistics management at Best Foods.

Because of the importance ofautomation in total quality manage-ment in the oilseed and vegetable oilprocessing industries, Smallwood andWitte are organizing a session on com-puter-integrated manufacturing (Cf M)for the 1993 AOCS annual meeting,slated for Anaheim. California. •

A/though fewer personsare required with

computer control, skillrequirements are greater.

Johnsen-Loft. Both the Fuji and Karl-shamns refineries have the latestPLC/computer interface control.incorporating both statistical processcontrol (SPC) and statistical qualitycontrol (SQC) capability. according toLoft.

An earlier PSI project incorporat-ing automation was undertaken in1987 to upgrade an edible oil refineryfor Wilson Foods in Oklahoma City."The goals were to make the operationmore cost-efficient and to improveyields." Gadomski said, noting thatthe resulting plant is controlled byadvanced PLCs. "What we did wasliterally put in a brand-new refinery ina plant that dated back to the tum-of-the-century."

Calling the push for automation inrefining operations "customer-driv-en," Lester of Ag Processing noted,"Quality and specifications are veryimportant to the customer, nnd you'regoing 10 be asked to verify that youarc producing exactly what they want.Thus. automation is becoming veryimportant."

In a talk at the 1985 AOCS WorldConference on Emerging Technolo-gies in the Fats and Oils Industry.Smallwood pointed out how comput-er-based process control can providemore precise endpoint control in aprocess such as hydrogenation, thusallowing more uniformity in the base-stock produced. More precise controlalso means minimum use of process-ing materials (thus helping 10 efimi-

This article was written by BarbaraFilch Haumann, senior editortwriter/orINFORM.

INFORM, Vol. 2, no. 11 (November 1991)