Good evening folks
Let us look at starting a small scale palm kernel oil production factory using the Nigerian built single oil press expeller (crusher), palm kernel nuts toaster (dryer), and oil filter press (for filtration).

Let us start by describing the individual machines and their uses and the processes that the kernel nuts pass as they go as raw materials to the finished products ready for sale.

In this single press system the nuts must be toasted before crushing with the expeller. The process of toasting can be done by spreading the kernel nuts in the sun for one day like from morning to the evening during the sunny dry season or for more than one day during periods when the sun is not shining well. The most common method is to use a toasting machine which can toast the nuts within an average of three and half hours depending on the season of the year or how wet the nuts are. The toasting machine is a cylindrical steel drum like tank that can contain about two and half tons of kernel nuts. The toaster machine is designed to dry the nuts and agitate the oil pores in the nuts in such a way that as the toasted nuts enter the crushing chamber of the expeller, the maximum oil in the nuts are released during the extraction process in the expeller.

Note that our system do not roast kernel nuts. Roasted or fried kernel nuts will produce black coloured palm kernel oil which is almost looking like the type our great grand mothers make in the villages and used as pomade and to rob on the navels of new born babies. The colour of your palm kernel oil is very important because the vegetable oil refineries who are the off-takers place a premium on golden clear coloured palm kernel oil (PKO)

TOASTED NUTS

UNTOASTED NUTS

God afternoon folks

Now that we have seen what toasting is all about, let use now look at the next stage of palm kernel oil production.

Crushing:
The crusher also known as the expeller is the main oil extractor
The expeller is made of the electric motor and/or diesel engine, the main axle (articulated vehicle axle like Mark, Styer or Kamaz truck axle) and the crushing chamber. The electric motor and/or diesel engine is the prime mover which propels the expeller mechanism. The axle reduces the speed of the prime mover, adjusts and transfers the speed to the main shaft which rotates inside the basket of the crushing chamber.
. At the back end is the electric motor and at the front end is the cage and bars arrangement. All these are mounted and coupled together on a rectangular main frame solidly supported by three iron blocks. On top of the machine is a hopper through which the palm kernel nuts are fed into the machine
The crushing chamber is the place where the grinding and oil extraction action takes place. The main cage of the chamber is where the crushing activities take place. The main cage is made up of a basket of strong iron bars arranged and woven together to form a cylindrical cage inside which the main shaft rotates This specially designed strong iron bars (normally made from the main springs of an articulated truck vehicle) are laid side by side, and nut spacers in between them. The cage is designed with open slots from where the expelled oil drains out. The bars are very well laid so that there would be no clogging of oil or loss of solids in the main cage.
The extra heavy-duty main expeller shaft in the cage is made from ringed iron bar worms (normally made from the main springs of an articulated truck vehicle), that are assembled sequentially such that the worms snake round the shaft from back end to the tip. The thrust of the pressure worm is taken upon a large ball-thrust bearing which makes for smooth crushing operation and alignmentt.
As the kernel nuts are fed into the expeller through a hopper (funnel) and picked up by the rotating shaft, the nuts are propelled by the spiral ringed worms on the shaft and as it moves the nuts through the tight iron cage, the nuts are crushed and the oil squeezed out from the ground and crushed nuts. An adjustable cone is mounted at the front end of the main shaft. For maximum oil yield and to obtain the desired thickness of the cake, the cone point is adjusted to the desired pressure region. For maximum performance during press operation the adjustment should be three and half threads-in of the main shaft.
The oil drips out through slits made in the basket bars of the cage while the palm kernel cake whose oil is thoroughly extracted and dried is expelled through the front end of expeller cone point. The oil collects in a through under the expeller cage from where it is channeled into the primary tank of the filter press ready for filtration. The palm kernel cake is then collected into bags measured and packed and ready for sale.

Good morning folks

Below are some videos of the locally made articulated vehicle truck axles


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz_f6J0pePw




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIG_2fBKUng

Good morning folks
After the expeller has crushed the kernel nuts and the oil expelled, the crude mud coloured oil is channeled into the underground primary tank of the Filter Press. From the primary tank the filter press machine picks the crude oil and forces it through its filtration chambers where the dirt and debris are removed and the golden clean clear palm kernel oil pushed out through its taps into a changeling trough that channels the clean oil into a secondary underground tank ready for pumping out to the storage tank

Good afternoon, folks

Filter press machines being built at the workshop

There is now a platform created to support and grow agricultural and food related brands. It is called The Chicken Farm. It is a site that connects buyers and sellers of chicken products. Products including: Poultry, Fast Food, Equipment, Manure, Feed etc can all be sold and bought on the site as long as they relate to chicken. Register with: www.thechickenfarm.com.ng/register/TCU20GOL4. It's all free.
It's for those in Nigeria.

Hello folks, good evening

Good evening folks

Good morning folks

This is what the finished and filtered palm kernel oil looks like

Hello good evening and happy weekend

more please

Good afternoon folks

This is what the final palm kernel cake (PKC) looks like
You can observe the thin flakes and dry nature of the PKC showing high oil extraction efficiency of our expellers

Good afternoon folks

Below is what the sludge oil looks like

Hello fans, good morning to you all

Now that we have seen the required machines & equipment, the sample temporary structure that a small scale investor can start with, let us look at the possible profit profile of a one - expeller factory set up

Profitability Profile:
Let us assume that we crush 2.5 tons of good palm kernel nuts. Using the prevailing prices currently,
Palm kernel nuts ………N140,000 per ton
Palm kernel oil …………N440,000 per ton
Palm kernel cake………. N38,000 per ton
Palm kernel sludge……...N90,000 per ton

Given the above prices, let us look at how it adds up.
The norm is that at 40% extraction rate, which is the convention in the industry, 2.5 tons of kernel nuts will yield one ton of palm kernel oil (PKO), 1.375 tons of palm kernel cake (PKC) and 0.1 of sludge (PKSL)

Profitability Calculation
Cost of raw materials 2.5 x 140,000 = N317,500

Aggregation of sales
Sale of PKO 1 x 440,000 = N440,000
Sale of PKC 1.375 x 38,000 N52,250
Sale of PKSL 0.1 x 90,000 = N9,000
Total Sales Revenue N501,250
Gross Profit 501,250 – 350,000 = N151,250
Let us roughly assume 50% Expenses N75,625
Net Profit N75,625

Hello folks, good morning and happy new week to you all

Goods evening, folks

Good morning, folks

Profitability Profile:
Let us assume that we crush 10 tons of good palm kernel nuts. Using the prevailing prices currently,
Palm kernel nuts ……N140,000 per ton
Palm kernel oil ………N440,000 per ton
Palm kernel cake………. N38,000 per ton
Palm kernel sludge…. .N90,000 per ton

Given the above prices, let us look at how it adds up.
The norm is that at 40% extraction rate, which is the convention in the industry, 2.5 tons of kernel nuts will yield one ton of palm kernel oil (PKO), 1.375 tons of palm kernel cake (PKC) and 0.1 of sludge (PKSL)

For 10 tons of good quality kernel nuts crushed

Yield:
PKO = 4 tons
PKC. = 5.5 tons
PKSL.= 0.4 tons


Profitability Calculation
Cost of raw materials 10 x 140,000 = N1,400,000

Aggregation of sales
Sale of PKO 4 x 440,000 = N1,760,000
Sale of PKC 5.5 x 38,000 N209,000
Sale of PKSL 0.4 x 90,000 = N36,000

Total Sales Revenue N2,005,000

Gross Profit 2,005,000 – 1,400,000 = N605,000
Let us roughly assume 50% Expenses N302,500

Net Profit N302,500

Hello fans, I wish you all a happy independence anniversary

Hello folks, good afternoon and happy Sunday

Watch out for an intensive online training on the business of palm kernel oil production for beginners and existing operators. The training will equip you adequately to start and run your factory profitably. Below is the course outline.

1. Business plan development-

2. Business Fund Sourcing

3. Equipment selection and Acquisition

4. Equipment maintenance and Optimization


5. Basics on palm kernel toasting on local toasters /dryers.

6. Yield determination of kernels.

7. Routine maintenance checklist.

8. Palm kernel nuts selection and quality checks and purchasing.

9 .Pricing and operations Model.

10. Sales of finished products

Get in touch for the date and time of the training.

Hello folks, good afternoon

Hello folks, good evening