“Cost Reduction Strategies in

Palm Oil Milling Process &

Maintenance ”

By: Sia Thiam Teck P.E., MBA

Gen.Mgr (Mills & Projects)
Southern Acids Group
Malaysia
Southern Acids Bhd (SAB) Group, Malaysia

•  Founded 1957 - small rubber estate

•  Now a fully-integrated company with:
- OP plantations & mills in Malaysia & Indonesia
- Palm Oil Refinery (1972)
- Oleochemical Plant (1980)
- Bulk Terminal handling PKE
•  Overseas markets in USA, Europe, China,
Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Australia.
Outline of my Presentation

1.  Pros & cons of certain Mill Machinery from

point of view of an Operations Man

2.  Suggested improvements to milling process

4.  Discussion & Conclusion

mills.
Wear
and
tear
of
cages
is
also

significantly
reduced.

Growing
popularity
of
FFB

A. FFB Loading Ramp/Marshalling Yard
transport
conveyors
‐
fruit
spillage

A1. Cages >10 t & Cage Indexers
is
significantly
reduced.

A2. Cage wear & tear significantly reduced

A3. Safety – no more wirerope accidents

A4. FFB Transfer/Loading conveyors:

•  Labour savings, minimal fruit spillage
•  “Ideal” chain conveyor length?
A Well-designed FFB Conveyor System in Malaysia
allowing
the
use
of
a
smaller‐pitch

chain.

The
working
load
sets
a
lower
limit

on
pitch,
and
the
speed
sets
an

A5. Conveyor chain sprockets – guidelines
upper
limit
(I
personally
would

• As big as possible given the application
keep
conveyor
chain
speeds
below

• Chain pitch vs. working load
• Chain pitch vs. chain speed
• Recommended1
m/s)
 
 Mills < 1 m/s
chain for
• Dummy driven sprockets
The
smaller
the
pitch,
the
less
the

noise,
wear
and
mechanical
losses.


Which conveyor will run smoother?
 Use
of
dummy
driven
sprockets

especially
where
long
runs
of
chain

conveyors
cannot
be
avoided,
is

known
to
prolong
chain
life.


Dummy sprocket at “work”

Dummy sprocket at rest
An example of splitting a long conveyor
into short manageable sections
use,
though
tradiIonal
Horizontal

Sterilizers
(HS)
are
sIll
the
most

popular.
Many
millers
are
sIll
wary

of
the
claims
of
higher
OER
and

B. Sterilization
lower
running
cost
of
the
CVS.


B1. Increasing use of Continuous & Vertical Sterilizers (CVS)

B2. Claims of higher OER & lower running cost of CVS

B3. Tilting Sterilizer (TS) – best of both worlds?

A modified Vertical Sterilizer in Malaysia
 advantages
of
both
CVS
and
HS

systems,
the
TilIng
Sterilizer
(TS)
is
in

my
opinion,
the
most
user
friendly
as

the
design
lends
itself
to
ease
of
steam

penetraIon
and
opImal
uIlizaIon
of

space
contained
within
the
vessel.


Tilting Steriliser in Horizontal Position

Tilting Sterilizer in
Inclined Position
 in
press
fibre.




For
ease
of
maintenance
of
the

Press,
the
Digester
should
be
offset

C.or
posiIoned
away
from
the

Pressing
centre‐line
of
the
Press.

C1. Press capacity: P15 or P20 or P25? 

Re‐introducIon
of
heat
insulaIon

C2. Press maintenance - positioning of Digester vs. Press

layer
Crude
Oil
Tank
and
associated

C3. Re-introduce heat insulation at Crude Oil Tank

piping
to
minimize
downstream
re‐
C4. Re-introduce Rotor pump for crude oil transfer?

heaIng
which
can
lead
to
oil

emulsificaIon.


 Nozzle
Bowl
Centrifuge
–
some
mills

claim
that
certain
high
capacity


centrifuge
designs
cannot
handle

sludge
with
oil
content
>
12%.

Gravity
flow
of
oil/sludge
as
far
as

D. Clarification

D1. possible
–
higher
risk
of
oil

Sizing up Vertical Clarifier Tank – bypass Oil Purifier
emulsificaIon
when
there
is
excessive

D2. Drawback of 12 nozzle 8 tph Sludge Centrifuge
pumping
especially
with
centrifugal

- cannot handle sludge with oil content > 12%

pumps.

D3. Gravity flow of oil/sludge as 
far as possible
– reduced risk of oil emulsification
Claybath
or
Hydrocyclone
due
to
lower

wear‐and‐tear
rate
(no
pump

involved!)

Whole
industry
as
a
whole
should

E. Kernel Recovery Station
work
towards
lowering
markeIng

specificaIon
of
Dirt
in
Kernel
to

E1. Reintroduce Nut Drying/Cooling
– higher Nut Cracking Efficiency & Kernel Ext Rate
facilitate
the
entry
of
its
downstream

E2. Use of Paddlewheel-type Claybath Separator
byproduct
PKE
into
a
potenIally
new

- lower wear-and-tear (no pump!)

E3. big
market
–
poultry
feed.

Use of Shaftless Nut Polishing Drum 

- lower incidence of downtime due to shaft breakage

E4. Lowering quality specification of Dirt in Kernel

- a potentially new big market: poultry feed.
Cu>ers
followed
by
Presses
to
prepare

and
condiIon
the
EFB
for
fueling
the

boiler


Upgrade
to
boilers
with
taller
furnaces

and
which
are
also
equipped
with

F. Power Station
moving
grate
to
allow
for
25%
mixing

F1. Use of EFB Shredders/Cutters followed by Pressing
of
resulIng
EFB
fibre
with

– supplementary fuel for boiler

convenIonal
process
fibre,
as
boiler

F2. Upgrade of boilers (taller furnaces + moving grate)
- 25% mixing into conventional boiler fuel

F3. Boiler Maintenance

fuel. 

- Automatic Blowdown Systems
- Quarterly/Half-yearly waterside inspection
 Indonesia,
is
probably
not
being

treated
with
respect
by
many
mill

engineers.
The
failure
to
provide

adequate
space
for
sludge
drying
beds

or
the
absence
of
con5nuous
de‐
G. Effluent Treatment
sludging
very
o`en
results
in
loss
of

G1. Continuous de-sludging of Anaerobic Ponds
retenIon
Ime
and
digesIon
efficiency,
G2. Provision of space for Sludge Drying Beds


leading
to
a
deterioraIon
in
quality
of

G3. Zero Discharge – utilization for BioComposting Plant
the
final
discharge.

G4. In-situ Desludging – yet to be conclusively proven?
 from
a
poorly
run
greasing
or

lubricaIon
program.
And
invariably,

the
primary
cause
is
the
inadequate

a>enIon
given
to
this
important

aspect
of

PrevenIve
/
Scheduled

H. Concluding Remarks
Maintenance.
Is
it
not
Ime
for
us
to

upli`
the
status
of
the
Oily
Man
?

H1. Inadequate focus on Lubrication / Oily Man? 

H2. High crop season: Mill runs 24 hrs, FFB evacuation
from estate?
involving
methane
emission
avoidance

or
reducIon
through
the
uIlizaIon
of

POME
for
the
Fibre
ComposIng

process,
with
or
without
carbon
credit.

Another
opIon
is
capturing
methane/
biogas
for
uIlizaIon
in
gas
engines
to

H. Concluding Remarks (cont’d)

produce
green
electricity.

H3. Is cost everything?
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Unfortunately,
such
environment‐
- Carbon Footprint
- reduce/avoid methane emission – Biocomposting Plant
friendly
techniques
has
been
rather

- trap & utilize biogas – electricity generation
slow
in
coming
‐
out
of
the
400+

mills

in
Malaysia,
only
4%
has
started

capturing
methane
from
the
POME

Settling Pond of a well-run Effluent Plant in Indonesia
MUCHO GRACIAS