Pulsating Piston Pump Olive Oil Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing olive oil extraction methods, such as those involving heating and ultrasound, either degrade oil quality, lead to emulsions, or fail to efficiently extract oil due to the variable nature of olive paste, resulting in impaired extraction output and prolonged kneading times.
Innovation Solution
The installation includes a crushing station, a centrifugation station, and a conveyor system with a pulsating piston pump and optional ultrasound treatment, which creates a 'milking' effect to break cellular membranes, reducing kneading time and improving oil extraction efficiency while maintaining quality by preventing paste stagnation and overheating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If water is added to olive paste to make it more fluid for heat exchange, then heat transfer efficiency improves, but oil quality degrades and emulsion is produced during crushing
Solution Approach 1:
Air is used as an intermediary heat transfer medium instead of water. The air circulates through the heat exchanger and contacts the olive paste surface, enabling heat transfer without contaminating the paste with water, thus avoiding emulsion formation and quality degradation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the water-based thermal conduction method with an air-based convection heating method. This substitution eliminates the harmful interaction between water and olive paste while maintaining effective heat transfer through controlled air circulation.
2Productivity
If conventional heating methods are used to improve extraction efficiency, then oil extraction output increases, but kneading time is prolonged and oil quality may be impaired
Solution Approach 1:
Heating is applied to the olive paste before crushing and extraction operations. This preliminary thermal treatment softens the paste structure, making cellular membranes more susceptible to breakage during subsequent mechanical operations, thereby reducing the time required for effective extraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system controls heating parameters (temperature, exposure time) to optimize the balance between extraction efficiency and oil quality. By precisely managing thermal parameters, the paste becomes more extractable without excessive kneading time or quality degradation.
3Use of energy by moving object
If dehydrated olive paste is conveyed through heat exchanger, then heat exchange efficiency improves, but paste stagnates and deposits on walls impairing oil quality
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic control of air flow and heat exchanger operation to prevent paste stagnation. By adjusting air circulation patterns and maintaining optimal temperature gradients, the paste remains in motion along the conveyor without depositing on surfaces, ensuring consistent flow and quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat exchanger operates continuously with constant air circulation to maintain uniform heating and prevent localized stagnation. This continuous action ensures that dehydrated paste moves smoothly through the system without interrupting the heat transfer process or causing quality issues.
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 significantly reduces kneading time, increases oil extraction output, and enhances oil quality by ensuring efficient heat exchange and membrane breakage without degrading the oil, thus optimizing the extraction process.
Implementation Method 1
The piston pump, of pulsating type, creates a pressure wave (a sequence of implosions and explosions of cellular membranes that favors the liberation of oil) that propagates in time and space to all the paste contained inside the worm conveyor.
Implementation Method 2
a conveyor device composed of a heat exchanger with air space with circulation of hot water
Implementation Method 3
The above guarantees a contact between the olive paste and the entire heating wall of the exchanger, in order to optimize the heat exchange efficiency.
Implementation Method 4
a conveyor comprising a cylindrical tubular structure with a worm conveyor axially disposed inside said cylindrical tubular structure in such a way to generate an auger conveyor
Implementation Method 5
a centrifugation station wherein oil is extracted from olive paste
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a high-efficiency installation and process for extraction of oil, which provides for transportation of olive paste from a crushing station (1) by a piston pump and a conveyor (4) towards a centrifugation station (6) where oil is extracted. The piston pump (3) feeds the olive paste to the conveyor (4) in a pulsating way.