1. Production of Sesame Oil
Group 20
Golden Oil

2. Preston Ji, Charlotte Ntim, Emma Huynh, Maame Sarpong, Kyle Redenbach

3. Golden Oil Project Produce sesame oil from sesame seed
Produce via mechanical pressing following
by solvent extraction
Project scale: 62,000 tons/year, which is 1% of sesame oil worldwide

4. Evidence to Support Feasibility
The process removes 98-99% of oil
Sesame seed contains 49.7% oil
Comparison of cost
Seed: $1180/t
Hexane: $1690/t
Oil: $2870/t
Animal feed: $460/t
The process is profitable with scale and time
The process removes up to 98-99% of oil → count as 100%
Sesame seed contains 49.7% oil → count as 50%
Comparison of cost (average of multiple suppliers, Alibaba.com)
Seed: $1182/t
Oil: $2866/t → slightly more than twice of the seed
Hexane: $1688/t → do not need much
Animal feed: $458/t → some extra bonus
The process is profitable with scale and time

5. Important Resources Research Faculty advisor Industrial mentor
ZFS Tour
Research (library and database)
Faculty advisor → Professor Jeremy VanAntwerp
ZFS Tour → Soybean oil company, scheduled Tuesday, December 5th
Industrial mentor → Phil Bronsma, PhD Industrial Chemist

6. Design Norms Transparency
Make known information that will affect the consumer or producer
Toxicity of solvent
Stewardship
Waste Processing
Solid organic waste: animal feed
Purge gas: burn to avoid pollution
Toxicity of the solvent:
Hexane is an occupational hazard if the vapor is breathed in, but there is lack of evidence on hexane poisoning for a trace amount in food.
Hexane is widely used for edible oil process and is approved by proper authorities
Solid Waste: Rich in protein and sugar
Purge Gas: CO2 is better; does not release a lot of CO2 since most (95%) of the material is recycled

7. Engineering Analysis General process Material balance
Energy balance (the energy intensive steps that are evaluated)
Cost Estimate (report a preliminary breakeven price)
Market Research (part of cost estimate)
Explain those with the PFD on the next slide.

8. Process Flow Diagram General Process
1. Walk the audience through the overall process
2. Two oil storages
Material Balance:
1. Hexane to seed ratio: 2.5:1, based on soybean oil extraction example in textbook, scaled up according to oil content
2. Hexane recycle ratio: 20:1
3. Extracted Amount: 98% (allowing 1% loss in the animal feed and 1% loss in the purge)
Energy Balance: energy intensive steps, using heat of vaporization, use steam as our utility
1. Roaster
2. Evaporator
3. Distillation

9. Cost Estimate Item Cost, USD Capital cost $36,300,000
Annual Equivalent*
$5,800,000/yr
Utility
$507,000/yr
Labor
$730,000/yr
Maintenance
$206,000/yr
Material
$7,240,000/yr
Rate of Return (i): 15%
Payback period (n): 20 years
Cost Estimate: The study estimate, +/- 35%
Purchase Cost: Identify key equipment, estimate their capacity, estimate cost using correlations
Capital Cost: scale up for shipping, accessories (pumps, pipes, valves, etc), and plant set up
Utility: Steam
Labor: 15 people running the plant
Maintenance: 3% of purchase cost
Material: Based on material balance and market price

10. Cost Estimate Breakeven oil price: $2,580/t Market oil price: $2,870/t
(BEP is 10% lower than market price) → GREAT!
There is room for profit.
Acknowledge that many assumptions used in the current cost estimate are not verified. That need to be done in the future.

11. Major Design Decisions
Plant location:
Present case: located in industrialized world (the US)
Reason: Availability of data and good correlation for design.
Solvent selection: hexane
Inexpensive, works well (solubility)
* Research of various solvents has shown that alternative solvents for the extraction of oil can be used more effectively than n-hexane. However, n-hexane is much cheaper, $0.21 per pound, versus another quality solvent like isopropyl alcohol, $0.65 per pound, according to icis.com.

12. Summary of Current Progress
Market Research (production and prices)
General Process
Mass Balance
Energy Balance
General Cost Estimate
Feasibility Study
What has been done so far

13. Future Work
Design major pieces of equipment: type, dimension (size), operating conditions, cost
Consider seeds of different origin and oil of different type
Update material and energy balance based on detailed design
Update capital and operating cost based on detailed design
Additional case (potentially): plant located in South Sudan, 20% ~ 100% of the country’s output (depending on profitability)
Key equipment include:
1. Grinder
2. Leaching Tank
3. Distillation Tower(s) → multiple ones may be needed
4. Roaster/Evaporator
Additional case:
Note: 20% of South Sudan’s output is our current scale since the country produces about 5% of the world output.

14. Questions