Intelligent & Green Technologies Boosting Edible Oil Mills

In the past, the oil processing industry focused more on "output" and "oil yield". However, in recent years, the global market has undergone significant changes - intelligent processing and green & energy-efficient technology have become key factors for oil mills to maintain their competitiveness.

Whether it's palm oil projects in Southeast Asia, sunflower oil mills in Central Asia, or peanut and soybean oil processing lines in Africa, users building or upgrading production lines are all asking the same question:

💡 "How can we make oil refineries more efficient, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly?"

This article will systematically analyze why intelligent and green technologies are becoming the mainstream direction for future oil processing from four aspects: industry trends, pain points, technical solutions, and actual benefits.

I. Why is the global oil processing industry shifting towards intelligent and green technologies?

1. Environmental requirements in the international market are becoming increasingly stringent.

Countries are continuously raising their regulatory standards for energy use, emissions, and waste disposal. Outdated production lines that fail to meet these standards may not only be shut down for rectification but could also have their exports affected.

2. Rising labor costs and a shortage of skilled workers

Many oil refineries still rely on manual labor, but skilled workers are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Automated and unmanned operations can reduce labor intensity while ensuring production stability.

3. Fluctuations in raw material prices make cost control more difficult.

Prices of raw materials such as sunflower seeds, soybeans, cottonseed, and palm fruit are unstable. Intelligent processes, through precise control of process parameters, ensure that the oil value of every ton of raw materials is fully utilized.

4. Energy consumption and residual oil rate directly determine profits.

High energy consumption and high residual oil rates are two major challenges facing oil refineries worldwide. Reducing energy consumption and minimizing oil loss not only increases profits but also enhances market competitiveness.

II. What pain points can intelligentization and greening actually solve?

🔹 Pain Point 1: Energy waste and high production costs

Traditional heating systems have low steam utilization efficiency, resulting in high energy consumption per ton of oil.

Solution:

• Heat exchange system optimization

• High-efficiency evaporator

• Improved solvent recycling efficiency

• Automatic temperature control system

Actual energy saving effect: Energy consumption per unit can be reduced by 10-18%.

🔹 Pain Point 2: Difficulty in controlling residual oil content and high oil loss

Unstable pretreatment and low leaching efficiency can both lead to raw material waste.

Solution:

• Secondary shelling and crushing optimization

• Extrusion puffing technology improves leaching efficiency

• Intelligent negative pressure, temperature, and solvent ratio control

Actual results: The residual oil rate can be stabilized at 0.5–0.7%.

🔹Pain Point 3: Production data is fragmented and cannot be optimized.

Many oil mills are unable to promptly identify process deviations, and by the time problems arise, losses have often already occurred.

Advantages of intelligent data analysis systems:

• Real-time monitoring of key equipment (evaporator, DTDC, refining tower, press)

• Automatic alarm and process adjustment

• Automatic recording and analysis of batch data

• Remote monitoring enables unmanned factory management

III. QIE Group's Intelligent and Green Solutions

QIE Group has been deeply involved in the oil processing industry for over 40 years, with technologies covering the entire process from pretreatment to pressing, extraction, and refining. We provide complete intelligent and green solutions tailored to different raw materials and project requirements.

1. Pre-processing intelligent control system

• Automatically adjusts softening temperature and moisture

• Closed-loop control of crushing and rolling pressure

• Oil uniformity improved by more than 12%.
  → To create more stable feedstock conditions for subsequent pressing/leaching.

2. High-efficiency pressing and leaching processes

• Intelligent temperature control for puffing machine

• Solvent recycling optimization

• Automatic monitoring of solvent ratio, leaching time, and negative pressure.
  → Residual oil content remains stable at an advanced level (0.5–0.7%).

3. Refined Green Energy-Saving System

• Physical refining vacuum negative pressure optimization

• Thermal energy recovery systems reduce steam consumption

• Automatic adjustment of key parameters for deacidification, deodorization, and decolorization
  → Reduce energy consumption and improve oil stability.

4. End-to-end intelligent monitoring (SCADA)

• Real-time dashboards for temperature, pressure, flow rate, and energy consumption.

• Anomaly prediction and automatic alarm

• Enables unmanned night shifts and remote maintenance.
  → Significantly reduces labor costs and management difficulty.

IV. What practical benefits can oil plants gain from intelligent and green technologies?

• Cost reduction : Unit energy consumption is reduced by 10-18%, raw material utilization is improved, and labor costs are reduced.

• More stable oil quality : precise temperature control, low operational deviation, and easier to meet export standards.

• Significant environmental advantages : more efficient treatment of waste gas and wastewater, improved solvent utilization, and reduced equipment wear.

• Short investment return cycle : Most projects can recoup their investment in 6–18 months.

5. Has your oil refinery already entered the "intelligent and green" track?

The global oil processing industry will be reshaped in the next 3-5 years. Those who can upgrade their technology first will stand out from the competition.

If you are preparing to build a new oil refinery, expand production, or upgrade your production lines, you may consider:

• Can energy consumption be reduced?

• Can residual oil be reduced?

• Are labor costs too high?

• Will the equipment meet future environmental protection requirements?

• Is the data analysis capability sufficient?

If any of the above aspects face bottlenecks, then intelligentization and greening are key directions that can directly improve profits.

🟩 QIE Group: One-stop intelligent oil processing solutions

Whether you are processing soybeans, sunflower seeds, palm nuts, peanuts, rapeseed, or rice bran, we can provide customized solutions based on the characteristics of the raw materials and your factory layout:

• Production line design

• Equipment manufacturing

• Energy-saving upgrade solution

• Intelligent control system

• Overseas installation and commissioning

• Long-term technical support

It helps you achieve more efficient, greener, and more stable oil production.

Has your oil refinery already taken solid steps towards intelligent and green production? Or are you still observing and waiting? Regardless of the current situation, implementing smart and environmentally friendly production as early as possible is an irreversible industry trend for the next few years.