Double-Step Inerting for Olive Milling Oxygen Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for regulating oxygen content in olive paste during the milling process are inefficient, leading to prolonged oxidation and deterioration of olive oil quality, as small gas bubbles rise slowly to the surface, requiring excessive time to reduce oxygen levels and impacting the production of Volatile Organic Compounds and phenolic compounds crucial for the organoleptic and nutritional properties of Virgin Olive Oil.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a double-step inerting system in the milling machine, with a first injection of neutral gases like nitrogen, argon, or CO2 at the hopper-grinder transition to limit oxygen intake to 0-5% and a second injection with controlled oxygen levels (5-15%) in the transportation pipe to the malaxation step, maintaining ambient temperature and facilitating enzymatic reactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If small gas bubbles are allowed to rise slowly to the surface during kneading, then the atmosphere composition can be maintained, but the time required to reduce oxygen levels exceeds the time needed for oil oxidation and deterioration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by injecting inert gas (nitrogen, argon, or CO2) into the olive paste during the milling operation, before the kneading process begins. This pre-treatment reduces oxygen levels in the paste beforehand, so that during subsequent kneading, the oxygen concentration is already at acceptable levels, preventing oxidation without requiring extended kneading time under controlled atmosphere.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts oxygen from the olive paste by introducing inert gas that displaces and removes oxygen during the milling process. The inert gas injection system extracts the harmful oxygen component from the paste matrix, replacing it with inert atmosphere, thereby preventing oxidation during subsequent processing steps.
2Ease of manufacture
If the press operates at atmospheric pressure, then the process is simple, but oxygen dissolves in the olive paste at concentrations that produce oxidation effects and impair oil quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates an inert atmosphere environment by injecting inert gas (nitrogen, argon, or CO2) directly into the olive paste during milling. This establishes a protective inert environment that displaces oxygen throughout the paste, preventing oxidation reactions while maintaining the simplicity of atmospheric pressure operation. The inert atmosphere is formed in-situ within the paste rather than requiring pressurized systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The inert gas acts as an intermediary substance that mediates between the atmospheric oxygen and the olive paste. By introducing this intermediate inert gas phase, oxygen is excluded from contact with the paste without requiring complex pressurized systems or vacuum equipment, thus maintaining process simplicity while eliminating oxidation hazards.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach effectively reduces oxygen levels in the olive paste, minimizing oxidation and enhancing the synthesis of phenolic compounds, thereby improving the quality and shelf life of olive oil while maintaining the 'cold extracted' label.
Implementation Method 1
a first gas injection is implemented at the level of the neck of the hopper providing the olives to the grinder, the gas or gas mixture used for the first injection being neutral, made for example of nitrogen, or argon, or CO2, or a mixture of those gases, allowing to limit the residual oxygen downstream the hopper and particularly in the grinder in the 0 to 5% range
Implementation Method 2
The oxygen, moreover, in the case described here is also contained in the atmosphere present in the press and consequently in the small bubbles incorporated in the paste-like fluid. These small bubbles release oxygen to the paste also after pressing
Implementation Method 3
a second injection, located in a transportation pipe connecting the exit of the mill (grinder) to the next process step of the plant i.e to the malaxation operation... facilitating enzymatic reactions
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
A process for producing olive oil, comprising an operation of pressing the olives in a grinder (1), with the aim of forming an olive paste (9), operation of pressing followed by an operation of malaxation of the olive paste, wherein the olives are charged in a hopper (2), and allowed to be transferred from the hopper to the grinder, passing or not through a screw able to transfer the olives from the hopper to the grinder, characterized in that a first gas injection (5) is implemented at the level of the neck of the hopper providing the olives to the grinder, the gas or gas mixture used for the first injection being neutral, made for example of nitrogen, or argon, or CO2, or a mixture of those gases, allowing to limit the residual oxygen downstream the hopper and particularly in the grinder in the 0 to 5% range and in which a second gas injection (6) is advantageously performed in a transportation pipe connecting the exit of the grinder to the malaxation operation, wherein the gas or gas mixture used for the second injection is made of a neutral gas, for example of nitrogen, or argon, or CO2, or a mixture of those gases, and contains a certain amount of oxygen, amount located in the 0%-15% O2 range.