Did you know???

 Volume and  weight  reduction ratio of coconuts when converted into coconut oil in the farm is quite significant.

~Coconut with husk/oil:  30:1 by volume

~Coconut with husk/oil:  10:1 by weight

~Coconut without husk/oil: 13:1 by volume

~Coconut without husk/oil: 6.4:1 by weight

 

 

LOW-COST COCONUT PROCESSING IN THE FARM

SIMPLEX EXTRACTION SYSTEM (SES)

Click for SES PDF version

Click for SES schematic diagram

INTRODUCTION
        "Simplex Extraction System", is a collection of methods, machines and gadgets developed to convert coconuts into its main items of commerce namely, oil and cake, right where the coconut comes from - the coconut plantation.
       Research work on the system, with the above idea in mind, was started in 1983. With the help of our machine shop and experience accumulated in 20 years making plastics processing machinery, a small, working coconut oil expeller was produced in 1985.
       
“Simplex Extraction System” is a result of later observations of conditions in the farm where some of our expellers were used. The expeller then became but one of other equipment designed for the system which we started promoting in 1987.
        Because of certain practical considerations on the part of the developers of the process, the number of whole coconuts involved in the system is limited to 2000 pieces or less per 8-hr day. Therefore, in this article, any reference to production capacity will mean the above mentioned figure.
       2000 nuts is equivalent to about 554 Kg dried meat which in turn is equal to about 333 Kg coconut oil and about 128 Kg coconut cake. In coconut plantation terms, area covered is from about 200 to 500 hectares (depends on density of coconut trees bearing fruit).
        Due to this self-imposed capacity limit, we have been able to give the machines a certain amount of portability. In small villages where electric power is limited or non-existent, the components can be mounted on a trailer and powered by a 6 Hp diesel engine!

THE PROCESS 
        The “Simplex Extraction System” was devised for the coconut farmer to safely and efficiently accomplishing the following tasks:
        1. Separate the fresh coconut meat from its shell.
        2. Granulate the meat into kernel-size particles.
        3. Dehydrate the coconut meat particles in a hot oil bath.
        4. Extract the oil from the dried coconut meat.

          Step 1 of the process actually starts with the harvesting of the coconut at or near maturity. After harvesting, the nuts are collected, stored for a while for further ripening and then dehusked. After dehusking, the nut is split into hemispheres or halves and the exposed meat PRIED out in chunks.
        The coconut chunks are then immediately dipped in clean water, washed, allowed to drain and sent to the next step.
       In Step 2, the meat chunks are fed into a machine that breaks or GRANULATES these chunks into corn-sized kernels. The machine is called
"SIMPLEX GRANULATOR".
          From the granulator, the material may be used directed to the next step or stored for no more than 2 hours in covered containers, protected from excessive moisture, dust, and other contaminants.
       Drying or
DEHYDRATING the coconut meat to the right moisture content is Step 3.  Any cooking vessel that effectively uses fuel available in the farm such as husk, shell, stalks, rice hull etc. may be used for drying.         However, a certain amount of control is necessary to attain the right specifications needed by the process. A machine called the "SIMPLEX DEHYDRATOR" is especially designed to accomplish the task properly, safely and efficiently.
        At the conclusion of the drying process, most of the oil used for drying is drained out on a sieve (the oil is reused in the next batch).        The drained dried meat is fed either directly to the machine in the next step or may be stored in containers with porous bottoms for as long as overnight and protected from excessive moisture, dust etc.

          Step 4 next extracts the oil from the dried meat. A machine specially designed to press out or EXPEL the oil content from the dried meat is used in this step.
        The
"SIMPLEXTRACTOR" is such a machine and is eminently adapted to perform this job at a reasonable recovery rate in a single pass.
        Oil from the expeller is allowed to flow into a tank where fines, which are unavoidable products of the expelling process, are allowed to settle overnight. The cake, in turn, is collected in sacks. 

MAIN ADVANTAGES
        From the above description of the steps of the process, three very basic and very desirable advantages of the “Simplex Extraction System" easily stand out.
        1. Freshness of the coconut products is preserved. Coconut meat is not subjected to prolonged exposure to harmful moulds and bacteria when the meat is most vulnerable - while the coconut meat is wet.
       2. Transport and storage costs are reduced to a bare minimum. With oil and cake produced at or close to the plantation, not only compact but high value items are stocked and transported to end users.
       3. Time needed to convert raw coconuts to value added products is vastly lessened. Using recommended equipment, a typical batch of 150 whole nuts takes about 1-1/2 hours from its delivery to the plant until it's oil is extracted.

  
OTHER ADVANTAGES
        Other advantages of greater or lesser significance are attributable to the "Simplex Extraction System". Some of these are:
        1. Has potential for opening other business opportunities in the countryside.  Bringing the technology to where the coconut comes from would awaken the coconut farming communities to the other products that can be derived from the coconut tree.
        2. More oil is recovered per nut. Molds, fungi and other microbial organisms feed on the oil in the coconut. So the longer coconut meat is under attack by these organisms, the less oil there is that can be recovered.
        3. Moisture content necessary for proper extraction is easier to control. In expeller operation, it is essential to have a small amount of moisture in the material being processed.
       To achieve low oil content in the cake, pressure is required but heat is formed and scorching occurs in the cake. To minimize scorching which burns protein in meal and still have high oil recovery, moisture is needed to create steam which cools the machine parts called the screw and choke.
        4.  Not weather dependent.  Processing can be done rain or shine.
        5. Contamination by solid foreign matter (tramp iron, stones, etc) is minimized or prevented.
        6. Shorter time from tree to market.
        7. Cheaper to transport (only drums or plastic containers needed).
        8. Oil is lighter in color, has a pleasant nutty smell, and is less prone to rancidity.
        9. Better quality in the cake. It is wholesome, aflatoxin-free, edible and suitable for animal feed, flour, etc.
        10. Oil produced is easier and less costly to process directly into other products such as cooking oil, soap, methyl ester (CME or coco-biodiesel), etc.


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Title


Newly harvested coconuts
(click to enlarge)


SES building in a village in Mindanao
(click to enlarge)

demeater
Prying cocomeat off its shell with a DEMEATER
(click to enlarge)

granulator
Dicing cocomeat in the GRANULATOR
(click to enlarge)

dehydrator
Feeding diced cocomeat into DEHYDRATOR
(click to enlarge)

Cocooil products
Coconut oil products using SES
(Distilled Cocowater, Virgin Coco oil and Coco Biodiesel)
(click to enlarge)

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