Armfield, the UK processing equipment manufacturer, has teamed up with US counterpart RBD Technologies of Los Osos, California, and compatriot Ebortec, to offer a full range of small scale edible oil processing equipment.
The partnership means that Armfield - a specialist in small-scale engineering - is now able to offer the FT86 small scale oil refinery developed by RBD Technologies and designed to fully refine (degum/neutralise, bleach, strip and deodorise) a 20 kilo batch of any type of oil and fat under a wide range of conditions, in as little as four hours.
It will also be able to supply the FT87 loop hydrogenation plant from Ebortec, which uses the pumped loop system of agitation widely used in industrial scale plant and accurately reproduces industrial performance.
The FT88 dual purpose hydrogenation and inter-esterification plant is similar but provides for trans- or intra- esterification of different oils and fats using sodium methoxide as a catalyst. The process allows for small-scale production of products such as cocoa butter substitutes and zero trans fatty acid hardstocks for margarine production, Armfield said.
In addition to these standard products, Armfield can now offer a custom design service for plant capacity up to 250 kilos.