What is palm oil deodorization process?

Palm oil Deodorization is a steam distillation process carried out under under low absolute pressure and sufficiently high temperature to vaporize the Free Fatty Acid (FFA) and odoriferous compounds and carry these volatiles away from the Decolorized palm oil. During palm oil deodorization process, the steam acts as a carrier that removes the undesirable components: FFA, aldehydes, ketones, peroxides, polymers, and other volatiles. In normal conditions, deodorization is the last step in palm oil refining process. The finished deodorized oil can be classified as “acceptable” over a wide range of specifications that depend on the market likes and dislikes of the people within the particular country or region in which the products will be consumed.

In continuous palm oil refining process, the common used deodorization machine is deodorization tower, the following picture is deodorization tower:

Deodorization tower in palm oil refining process