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The right technology to produce the best oil.
Oil mills
Depending on the oil content and the desired quality of the bruised grain, one of the three main state-of-the-art oil separation methods is used: pressing, prepress extraction or direct extraction.
Extracting oils from the various byproducts produced by the cereal processing plant (for example rice bran, wheat germ oil and maize oil) substantially increases the value added by the production. Germ oil is very good for the health on account of the many different active substances it contains, and is becoming an ever more frequent part of diet programs. The pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries also use the positive effects of germ oil in the manufacture of their products.
The right technology and an efficiently designed plant are required to produce select, high-quality wheat and other germ oils for food and cosmetics at internationally competitive prices.
EPC designs oil mills suitable for extracting vegetable oils. They are implemented quickly and easily from a single source. EPC offers plants for receiving, drying and cleaning oilseeds, oil extraction plants using hot or cold pressing or extraction technologies, refining plants, tank farms, as well as the requisite ancillary and supply facilities.
Biodiesel
The many advantages and positive environmental properties of biodiesel are making it an ever more important fuel. Using non-food oil plants, such as jatropha and algae, avoids a conflict of interests with the foodstuffs industry. Biodiesel can be mixed with conventional diesel without any problems. The quality of the biodiesel produced in plants constructed by EPC meets the fuel standard EN 14214.
Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils, such as rapeseed oil. Cost-effective, efficient logistics and system structures are essential for running a plant profitably.
EPC offers plants for receiving, drying and cleaning oilseeds, oil extraction plants, deacidification and degumming plants, transesterification plants, tank farms, as well as the requisite ancillary and supply facilities.
Downstream plants for converting the glycerine phase – created as a byproduct – into pharmaceutical quality glycerine can be integrated into the plant concepts. The capacities of biodiesel plants are adapted to meet the customers' requirements. The size of the raw material and final product stores are adjusted to match the regional circumstances.
Proteins
Protein is obtained from the seeds of protein-rich legumes (lupins, peas, broad beans, etc.) as well as from the seeds of typical oil plants (such as soya, rape, sunflowers).
The value added in the processing of oilseeds can be increased by extracting the protein from press cake and extraction meal. For example, soya protein concentrate is used in a wide range of products, such as baby food, dietary products, milk and meat substitute products, confectionery and baking ingredients, as well as in aquaculture fodder.
Converting soya protein concentrate into soya protein isolate by further fractionation creates a niche product for sale in higher price segments. The foodstuffs industry is the main buyer of protein isolates, which it uses, for example, as emulsion and foam stabilizing additives in desserts and drinks.
Promoting the utilization of all the constituents of the plants is both ecologically and economically rational.
EPC offers a range of concepts to meet the extremely diverse requirements of the demanding and ever-growing foodstuffs industry.
EPC Exclusives
Scaling up pilot plants that produce, for example, xanthan gum
Xanthan is the most important, commercially used exopolysaccharide (EPS) with pseudoplastic properties. It is usually produced by the biotechnological fermentation of Xanthomonas campestris. Xanthan can be produced extremely cheaply, as the producing microorganism converts between 60 and 70 percent of the substrate when grown on glucose or saccharose.
The viscosity controlling properties of xanthan make it a preferred gelling and film-forming agent in the foodstuffs industry. Xanthan is also used in some specialist fields, such as crude oil and ore extraction. Xanthan is an approved food additive in Europe, with the assigned number E415.
EPC's specialists supervise the experimental process and optimized the plant parameters. The process is simulated in pilot scale, and the data required for the scaling up procedure are determined. The methods developed in laboratory scale can be used with a large scale-up factor for operations in the technical production plant.
Our engineers are principally involved in processes, in which the chemical, mechanical and microbiological transformation of substances is accompanied by a material, heat and impulse exchange. These processes usually behave differently at small laboratory scale than they do at large production scale; the scale-up is our expertise!
Modular plant concept for deep processing
Our unique plants take process optimization into a new dimension to make them more profitable. Well-developed technologies and efficient plant designs enable our customers to produce select, high-quality cereal products at internationally competitive prices. The planning gives top priority to the specific requirements of the demanding foodstuffs industry. EPC applies a quality management system, which is certified according to ISO standards.
Fermentation plants that conform to the requirement of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)
Fermentation technology is the part of biotechnology that develops and runs plants to produce or convert substances by biological processes. We distinguish between three types of biological processes: biochemical processing, enzyme and fermentation methods.
Whereas the enzyme method uses enzymes as biocatalysts, the fermentation method uses the natural biochemical reactions of living cells, which create and transform substances. The main priority is for all the products to be characterized by perfect quality and pioneering innovation. The EPC Group is conscious of these quality standards, and constructs fermentation plants on the basis of the latest technologies that conform to the requirements of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).
Aqueous and alcoholic methods of extracting proteins
Proteins are essential building blocks in plant and animal metabolisms. They are macromolecules composed of amino acids. Their tasks are to transport important substances, act as catalysts, and to detect and pass on signals.
As some essential proteins cannot be produced by the organism itself, they have to be added, for example, to animal feed as a nutritional supplement. The resulting high protein fodder has muscle-building and performance enhancing effects in comparison to conventional animal feed.
Vegetable proteins are mainly obtained as by-products from the press residues of oil pressing and extraction processes. Depending on the type of raw material or the use of the product, the press cake is processed by either an "alcoholic" or an "aqueous" method.
Alcoholic extraction, usually with ethanol, achieves a higher yield and a purer protein, but more apparatus is required for the more intensive purification of the protein.
Setting the pH value is crucial to obtaining optimal separation of the protein by means of acid-base washing. We offer integrated concepts for controlling the recirculation of process water and water treatment, which minimize process costs and ensure environmentally friendly operation.
The selection of the most suitable process for obtaining protein is based on our experience in the fields of plant engineering and operational management, and an evaluation of the current market situation. We collaborate intensively with experienced, well-regarded equipment suppliers and our customers to work out an optimal, profitable and goal-oriented process variant.
Energy-efficient, water-saving technology
Protecting the environment always plays an important part in our concept. We reduce the quantity of waste water substantially by purifying the process water internally, and recycling it back into the production. Our concepts do not just save water, the use of energy-efficient technologies also makes them very economical. However, such complex plants are only efficient if all parts of the plant are optimally linked energetically, have viable energy recovery, and make full use of the energy. Optimal design of the ancillary plants also increases the efficiency of the overall plant.
