Patent ID: 8034963

Claim:
A process for refining crude fats and oils, which process comprises: (i) heating cold crude fats and oils to a bleaching temperature and cooling hot refined oils from step (v) by heat recovery in a heat-exchanging zone, and pumping the cooled refined oils to storage or reheating the cooled refined oils by heat recovery in a heat-exchanging zone with hot fatty acid distillates from scrubbing section; (ii) mixing the heated crude fats and oils with phosphoric acid, citric acid or mixtures thereof to treat phosphatides, gums and impure materials; (iii) adsorbing the treated phosphatides, gums and impure materials by the adsorbents in the bleaching section under vacuum; (iv) removing by filtration the adsorbents and adsorbed materials in the filtration section; (v) deaerating and heating the bleached fats and oils from step (iv) by heat recovery in a heat-exchanging zone with the hot refined oils from step (vi) and cooling the hot refined oils from step (vi) in the heat-exchanging zone; and (vi) heating and refining the oils from step (v) in a deacidification/deodorization section with a heating medium to a deacidification/deodorization temperature and distilling off fatty acid distillates, volatiles, and odoriferous matters.