Smart Degumming® - a new solution for degumming process optimization through automation and digital tools.

The competitive vegetable oil market urges highly optimized processes, demanding even higher yields from oil producers. The automation of enzymatic degumming lines controlled by artificial intelligence rises as the solution to deliver the best possible yield, adjusting process parameters in real-time for every slight change in the incoming crude oil.
The traditional vegetable oil process optimization steps can be time-consuming and onerous, in addition to being susceptible to intervening changes in the incoming crude oil and other external parameters, which can skew the course of the optimization. Smart Degumming technology consists of NIR sensors placed at strategic points in the line (crude oil, degummed oil and gums) to provide real-time component measurements of key factors such as phosphorus, free fatty acids, moisture, oil content, etc. While the use of NIR technology is well known and practiced in the industry, the innovation is the use of this real-time data to automatically optimize the operating parameters of the enzymatic degumming process through an advanced process control model. The key parameters controlled are water and caustic inclusion, enzyme dosages, reaction temperature, agitation, and centrifuge settings. By eliminating the time between raw material change and process correction through a highly accurate control model, Smart Degumming can provide added value and achieve maximum oil yield, with the secondary benefit of enhanced final quality adjustment.
The Smart Degumming technology was tested at Cereal Group soybean oil and biodiesel producer in Rio Verde-GO, Brazil. The plant crushing capacity is 2000 TPD and it currently uses standard Enzymatic Water Degumming technology with Quara® Boost enzyme.
This technology provides a tool for the industry to operate more efficiently and to help producers run at the lowest possible cost. In this presentation, the results and key learnings from the full-scale implementation of the Smart Degumming solution will be shared