French Oil Mill Machinery

Elastomer and Polymer Processing Systems, Bulletin MPR 76,1976, Pre-Press, Bulletin FO 175 and French Dual Cage Screw Press, Bulletin OP8130,1981, The French Oil Mill Machinery Co., Piqua, Ohio. 

Figure 1. Hydraulic press. Courtesy of French Oil Mill Machinery Company.

The American company, French Oil Mill Machinery Company of Piqua, Ohio, developed continuous solvent extraction plants starting in 1939, using a multistage BoUman-type percolation extractor (3). Soon thereafter, the Belgian Company, Extraction De Smet, started manufacturing continuous multistage belt-type extractors in 1945. V.D. Anderson of Cleveland, Ohio, joined the solvent extraction equipment supply market in 1948 with continuous HUdebrandt-type immersion extractors (5). 

The latest extractor to be developed for mainstream oleaginous material extraction applications is a rotary-type extractor with fixed slotted floor and bevel gear drive trademarked as the Reflex Extractor. This extractor was developed by Kemper et al. (15) of the French Oil Mill Machinery Company in 1995 and patented in 1997. The Reflex Extractor is an improvement on the Rotocel Extractor. One of these units installed at the Louis Dreyfus solvent extraction plant in Argentina has processed in excess of 9000 metric tons of soybeans per day, making it the world s highest capacity extractor. 

A modification of this type of extractor is the stationary basket extractor (Fig. 11.14), such as was manufactured by the French Oil Mill Machinery Co. (Piqua, OH). Unlike other extractors, the solids do not move. Countercurrent solvent-to-flake flow is accomplished by rotating the flake inlet, the solvent and miscella sprays, the miscella collection cells, and the marc discharge. The bed is divided into cells or baskets to prevent back mixing of oil-lean miscella with oil-rich miscella. Typically the bed depths used in this extractor are much deeper than those of the chain extractor. The drained marc discharges when an opening in the bottom screen and the discharge hopper rotate into appropriate positions. To the author s knowledge none of this type of extractor has been installed for over 12 years, but they do exist in the industry. 

Fig. 11.14. Depiction of a deep-bed, stationary-basket extractor (provided by French Oil Mill Machinery Co., Piqua, OH, rights now owned by Desmet Process and Technology, Marietta, GA).

FIG. 18-155 Cross section of screw press used for fruit juice (32) (f) hopper, (2) perforated sheets, (3) main shaft, (4) perforated cage, (5) draining cylinder, (6) cone, (7) hydraulic cylinder, (8) draining cylinder oil, (9) gearbox. Courtesy of the French Oil Mill Machinery Co.)... 

Fig. 1. Phantom view of four-high stack cooker. Courtesy of the French Oil Mill Machinery...

FIGURE 10.3-5 French stationaiy basket extractor. (Reproduced by permission, French Oil Mill Machinery Co.)... 

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