The Prospects of Palm Oil as the Substitute For Crude Oil (Biofuel) in Indonesia

Demand for palm oil is increasing at the beginning of May, due to crude oil prices rising have reached its record at $ 114.83 a barrel on May 02, 2011.
If crude oil prices were high then in addition to corn, palm oil can be used as the abundant source of "biofuels" or fuel from crops. So that, the palm oil price will increase steadily.
Palm oil as a substitute for crude oil is the most efficient oil produced in the world, which only takes 0.26 hectares of land to produce one ton of oil, while soybean, sunflower and rapeseed requires 2.22, 2.00, and 1.52 hectares, respectively, for producing the same.
Besides humans nowadays want to be healthy, so they want to reduce the animal fat consumption, , palm oil is used as an alternative cooking oil, because in addition to vegetable oils, its levels of trans fat are also low.

Palm oil prices in Malaysia Market, seen rising, from the July 9, 2010 the price is only MYR 2.237, then it is constantly increasing and new record had experienced its highest price at MYR 3.766 on January 7, 2011, and MYR 3.710 on Feb. 11. It had dropped to its lowest price on March 25 2011 at MYR 3.150, and on May 2 was reached MYR 3.3293 and is predicted to rise when almost all commodities price especially crude oil price increases.
Seeing the growing need of palm oil as the substitute as crude oil, the demand from India, China and the EU will more increase.
Indonesian palm oil production, according to the Head of Marketing and Promotions Gapki (Indonesian Palm Oil Association), Susanto in a press conference at the Gapki Office, Sudirman Park, Jakarta, said that on January 27, 2011, will increase 1.5 million tons or 22.5 million tons in 2011, compared to 2010 (20 , 8 million tons).
This calculation is based on prediction of the additional production from fields planted area of 400 thousand ha in 2007, which is now entering a period of crop. With estimates of productivity 2.5 ton / ha / year, then the land can produce 1 million tons of CPO. In addition, there is still land planted in 2005 and 2006.
From the total Indonesian production of palm oil by 22.5 million tons, according to Susanto, domestic CPO consumption as much as 5.5 million tonnes while the remaining of 17 million tonnes is planned for export.
According to the survey of Indonesia's palm oil production reported by the USDA (United Stated Department of Agricultural) until the end of 2010 estimates as follows: Indonesia 23,600 metric tons and Malaysia 18,000 metric tons.
Gapki (Indonesian Palm Oil Association) based on data from January to December 2010, the volume of Indonesian CPO exports edged up by 127,498 tons or be 15,656,349 tons, compared to the previous year which amounted to 15,528,851 tons. According to Executive Director Gapki, Fadhil Hasan, national CPO export growth driven by increases in the purchase of three major customers: India, China and the EU.
In 2010, the number of CPO and its derivative products export to India as much as 5,793,077 tons of which increase from the 2009 amounted to 5,630,199 tons. Meanwhile, EU countries increase the amount of the purchase of CPO and its derivative products from Indonesia amounted to 3,728,677 tons.
Furthermore, China imported CPO and its derivatives from Indonesia amounted to 2,410,337 tons. Then, Bangladesh buy CPO and its derived products to from Indonesia amounted to 629,529 tons. USA buy CPO and its derived products to from Indonesia amounted to 172,167 tons. Then, Pakistan imported 87,379 tons of CPO. There is also, exports of Indonesian palm oil and derived products to the rest of other countries amounted to 2,889,182 tons.
Fadhil Hasan said the Indonesia national CPO export volume is still dominated by crude palm oil rather than derivative products. From the total exports of 15.6 million tons was still dominated by exports of crude palm oil (CPO), which reached 8,779,940 tons and the remaining derivative products amounted to 6,876,405 tons.
Peasant production in Indonesia increased to meet the global demand driven by demand for biofuels, so that the Indonesian government want to make Indonesia as the largest palm oil producer.
Meanwhile, to meet domestic and overseas need for biodiesel then there are some large factories biodiesel refinery, such as PT. Asianagro (biodiesel refinery), PT. Bakrie Group (biodiesel plants and new plantation), Surya Dumai Group (biodiesel refineries) and global companies such as Cargill (sometimes operate through CTP Holdings of Singapore, to build new refineries and factories in Malaysia and Indonesia, expanding the company's Rotterdam refinery to handle palm oil, plantation acquisition in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea Peninsula) and Robert Kuok Wilmar International Limited (the plantations and 25 refineries throughout Indonesia, to supply raw materials for a new biodiesel refinery in Singapore, Riau, Indonesia, and Rotterdam).
The development of oil palm plantations, is a contradiction because the dilemma of forest destruction that became the source of water and green earth (humus) so bad for global warming, and resulting in the occurrence of forest fires. The owners of palm plantation should be able to find a solution so that it remains able to develop their palm plantation. It's not an easy task, but they must to do that.

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Acrylamide: brain cancer and how to inhibit its formation?

As already known, several studies have shown that acrylamide is formed in the Mailard reaction, is carsinogenic. However, several epidemiological studies indicate exposure to acrylamide in food products is still too low to worry about. But, however the industry has been doing a lot of prevention, such as by resetting the temperature of the process used. Acrylamide is a carcinogenic compound formed by reaction between sugars and amino acid asparagine at the time of heating. Formation through the Maillard reaction is also responsible for the formation of brown color and flavor to various food products. Acrylamide issue has indeed been a lot of attention.


Acrylamide is not associated with brain cancer?
A study conducted by Maastricht University in the Netherlands concluded that the content of acrylamide in food products has no relationship with an increased risk of brain cancer. Research involving 58,279 men and 62,537 women was conducted considering the acrylamide found in many diet of Dutch society, in a certain level. The study was conducted by distributing questionnaires to estimate the amount of acrylamide consumed. Acrylamide sources were estimated coming from potato crisps, French fries, Dutch spiced cake, coffee, bread, and cookies. The result, after research during several years, obtained 216 respondents were diagnosed with brain cancer. But according to the researchers, it has no relationship with increased intake of acrylamide. The study still needs confirmation from other studies.

Inhibition of acrylamide formation
There are several methods that have been used to avoid the formation of such compounds, including the process modification through temperature regulation. Recently, a new way to inhibit the formation of acrylamide has been found, namely the use of calcium lactate based ingridient. Several companies are developing products that were claimed to reduce acrylamide in snacks to 80% without affecting taste and crispiness. Calcium is present in the ingredients are claimed to interfere with the reaction between reducing sugars and asparagine which is the key to the formation of acrylamide. This product can be widely applied, because it does not require modification of process or temperature. Not even affected by variations in pH or moisture content.

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Palm oil processing

Sterilization -in the processing of palm oil- are technically done with a steam / water vapor on palm bunches in a Sterilizer equipment in the form of a large autoclave. The purpose of sterilization in the processing or manufacture of these oils are 1) to inactivate the lipolytic enzyme, which can prevent the development of free fatty acids, 2) to facilitate the release of fruit from the bunches, 3) the softening of oil palm fruits, and 5) to coagulate gum / emulsifier to facilitate extracting the oil. Distribution of processing time for sterilization is divided into five sections, namely: 1) air evacuation, 2) time to achieve the required pressure, 3) time for the sterilization of bunches, 4) vaporization of water, and 5) removal, reduction, and reloading. Too longer processing time at the sterilization stage, so there will be much oil is lost (3%) and the palm kernel turn black (dark). When the processing time during the sterilization phase is too short, then the fruit will be difficult to be released from oil palm bunches at the next processing stage, which is threshing.

Step two: Stripping / threshing
The tools used in the processing stage is referred to a stripper (shellers), serves to release the palm fruit from palm bunches by slamming the bunches, so that sometimes this process step is called the dings phase or dings processing stage, with a range of equipment called as stripping/ threshing station. The purpose of the process of stripping or threshing or dings in the processing of palm oil is: 1) to release palm fruit from palm bunches, and the results known as “brondolan (javanese language for the palm fruits)”, 2) palm oil produced from palm oil extraction no longer absorbed by the oil palm bunches so that not to lose efficiency during palm oil processing, and 3) palm bunches does not affect the volume of material in further processing stages. Stripper must be feed with the material (oil palm bunches) continuously in accordance with the capacity of the appliance during this processing stage, because if too many palm bunches at the earlier, so the palm bunches will protect each other, so that there are still palm fruits that have not been released.

Step three: Digestion
This processing stage uses kettles (closed cylindrical tank in a steam jacket, where in the tank there are knives or rods that connect the main shaft, serves to destroy palm fruit that have been separated from the palm bunches). The purpose of digestion stage in the processing of palm oil is: 1) to release palm oil from pericarp, 2) to set up a suitable temperature for the mass of palm oil to be compressed (190 ° C), 3) to reduce the volume of material so that increasing the efficiency of palm oil processing and 4) draining the palm oil that has been released during this processing phase.
In the digester, palm fruit will be destroyed as a result of friction, pressure, and cutting. Palm oil has also begun to be released from palm fruit at this stage of this process. Oil produced during digestion come out through the hole in the bottom of the digester, then be mixed with palm oil resulted from further phase of palm processing oil which is extraction or compression phase.

Step Four: Palm Oil Extraction
In the early stages of this processing, palm fruit must had been crashed and out of the bottom of the digester in the form of palm fruit pulp. The results is then compressed in the compression equipment under digester. Generally, compression equipment used in oil palm processing company is a screw press. Roatation of the screw inside the equipment push the palm fruit pulp in the direction of cone sliding on opposite sides. Palm oil is released out of the palm fruit pulp then passes through the press cage.
Compression with a screw press in processing has the characteristics: 1) working with high pressure where the pressure is derived from the rotation of screw, 2) in the form of screw / helix that spins in container, 3) pressure on the press cake is bigger, because the distance of screw with the wall become less, 4) if the pressure is too heavy, it will result in many broken nut, and 5) this equipment is suitable for palm nut with the small percentage of nut and more percentage of palm fiber or proportion of the nut to palm fruit about 20% fruit.

Step five: Clarification
Clarification on the clarification station -sometimes referred as palm oil refining- in palm oil processing aims to clear up the oil so that palm oil is obtained with the best quality and can be marketed with a good price. The clarification in the palm oil processing industry is the filtration, precipitation, centrifugation, and purification.
Crude palm oil in the form of the mixture from digestion and compression step is flowed toward the sieve vibration (vibrating screen) to be filtered so impurities in the form of coarse fibers can be separated. Crude oil is then stored in the reservoir of crude palm oil (crude oil tank / COT), then heated to a temperature of 95 - 100oC, in order to increase difference in specific gravity between oil, water and sludge so it is very helpful in the process of settling .
Oil from the next COT is flowed into settling tanks (continuous settling tank / clarifier tanks.) Inside the tank, crude oil is separated into oil and sludge as the treatment with the sedimentation principle. Palm oil can still be extracted from the sSludge with certain palm oil processing method such as centrifugation.
Palm oil processing further through the complex stages of purification.

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Introduction to palm oil processing

The palm fruits is a popular source of vegetable fat as the high production of palm oil in Southeast Asian countries, even palm oil became the main agricultural commodities and seeded in Indonesia, next to coconut oil. This is caused by several factors, among others: 1) a source of income for millions of family farmers, 2) the State foreign exchange resources, 3) starting from the plantation, processing industry, through marketing its products to be excellent providers of employment, 4) and industrial estates palm oil processing is stimulated the growth of new economic centers, 5) driving the growth and development of downstream processing industries based on processing of CPO in Indonesia, for example: butter, cake / biscuit, glycerin, soaps, and detergents.

Palm Fruit
Palm trees (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) are much cultivated in plantations, among which is the type of Dura, Pisifera, and Tenera. Tenera is the result of crosses of this type of Dura and Pisifera, has a high oil content (22-23%) and its tree is not very high but is more earlier to bear fruit.
Palm fruit consists of exocarp (outermost skin), mesocarp (fibers, similar to coconut fibers), endocarp (shell), and the kernel (palm kernel). The processing of palm fiber (endocarp) by extraction produce crude palm oil, while the processing part of the kernel (core) produce palm kernel oil. CPO with advanced processing technology of fractionation can separate into at least two major fractions namely stearin (solid form at room temperature) and olein (liquid form at room temperature). Stearin further processing by downstream processing industries will produce many kinds of product such as margarine, soap, candles, cocoa butter substitution (a kind of substitute for cocoa butter), vegetables ghee (vanaspati), shortening, etc.., while the olein processing generally produces raw materials for the purposes cooking oil, although there are also other products such as margarine, shortening, vegetables ghee (vanaspati), fatty acids and glycerol (glycerin). Other products from palm oil processing is red palm oil, where the content of carotenoids in red palm oil to remain high during the processing. Carotene is known as functional compounds, which are as natural antioxidants as well as pro-vitamin A. Further refining process such as degumming, refining, bleaching, and deodorization, reduce the content of tocopherol. Saturated fatty acid content of palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil in a row 50, 86, and 92%.
Palm Fruit crops
Fruit development period starts from the growth, accumulation of triglycerides, maturity, period cooking, and the decomposition of palm oil. Bunches of oil palm when already mature, will be marked with orange yellow of palm fruit pericarp and partially separated from the stem.
Palm oil plantations at the age of 4 years has begun to bear fruit, and at age 25 is not economical anymore. Young plants produce bunches weighing 2-3 kg / bunch, while the old plants: 80-10 kg / bunch.
Immature palm fruit should not be much harvested, while ripe palm fruit must be harvested. Palm oil processing from immature fruit yields only a very low oil. The crops (palm bunches and fruit) are collected in the shade and easily transported. In transport, palm bunches or palm fruits should be maintained so do not be injured or bruised, because on the fruit wounds or bruises, development of free fatty acids tended to rapidly increase during oil processing. The crops should be immediately brought to the factory to be weighing and sorting bunches, as a preliminary stage prior to the processing of palm oil. Sorting aims to determine the quality of crops (raw material). Weighing aims to calculate the yield, determine the efficiency of extraction of oil processing, as well as determining wage of picker. After the sorting, spraying water is done on the palm bunches to clean soil or other dirt on the bunches.

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Sunflower seed oil

Sunflower (Helianthus annus variety macrocarpus) is an ornamental plant and includes a large family Compositae (Asteraceae). Most people love that flower because its lovely appearance give the mood booster just like a sunny day. These plants produce seeds that contain sunflower oil containing high unsaturated fatty acids that are useful for large and small industries, such as industrial butter, cooking oil, flavoring dishes, margarine and soap industries.
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an annual plant of the Asteraceae and popular, both as an ornamental plant as well as oil-producing plants. Flowers of this plant is very distinctive: large, usually bright yellow, with a large flower head (diameter can reach 30cm). The sunflower is actually a compound flower, composed of hundreds to thousands of small flowers on one head. Sunflower also have a peculiar behavior, namely the interest is always facing toward the sun or heliotropisme. The French call it tournesol or "wanderer the sun". However, these properties removed in a variety of new cultivars for oil production because it takes a lot of energy and reduce yield
In the world, sunflower-producing countries are the Russian and French major, while in Asia the main producers are China and India. In these countries sunflower seeds are processed into oil, but some are processed into food and cosmetic raw materials. Sunflower can be developed for the food industry, divided into two major groups of interest to the oil industry raw material (oilseed) and interest for a snack (Confectionery). Type of sunflower oil used as raw materials, have a higher oil content and thinner skin.
Sunflower oil is obtained from the extraction of oil from seed sunflower plants (Helianthus annus L.) and the sunflower oil used as raw or processed as feed and food products.

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Benefits of corn oil

Corn oil is rich in calories which is about 250 calories per ounce. Corn oil is cooking oil that is stable (resistant to ketengikan) because of the oil-soluble tocopherol. With winterisasi process, corn oil can be processed into salad oil and as byproducts are white butter (shortening). Salad oil plus salt and flavoring agent in the form of spices will produce mayonnaise. Sitosterol in corn oil have a function similar to cholesterol in animal fat, which can form deposits on blood vessel walls due to the ion Ca + +. The presence of essential fatty acids that can reduce the formation of Ca complexes with sitosterol, so that corn oil is much better when compared with other oil sources, especially when compared with the fat of animal origin.

In corn oil-soluble vitamins can also be used as non-food materials, such as drugs. Small amounts of crude corn oil or pure corn oil can be used in the manufacture of gunpowder, chemicals, insecticides, paint, varnish replacement, anti-rust agent and also used in the textile industry. Corn oil which has been in the sulfonation can be used as a tanner.
Corn oil contain vitamin E which is essentially supporting role as an antioxidant. Antioxidants play an important role to help the body fight free radical damage. Every day, we are exposed to a variety of free radicals, from pollutants, cigarette smoke and other toxins over time would endanger the health. Antioxidants help fight free radicals so that we are free from disease. In addition, antioxidants can help fight cancer and cardiovascular disease, two health problems most common. In addition, vitamin E helps nourish the immune system, and assist the process of DNA repair. Vitamin E is mainly found in nuts, vegetable oils and green vegetables.

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Chemical composition of corn oil

Corn oil is a triglyceride composed by glycerol and fatty acids. The percentage of triglycerides in corn oil is about 98.6 percent, while the rest are non-oil materials, such as ash, dyes or wax. Fatty acids that make up the corn oil consist of saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids.
Saturated fatty acids

Total saturated fatty acid in corn oil is about 13 percent. Group of saturated fatty acids that make up triglycerides in corn oil are:
1. Palmitic acid
Palmitic acid C atoms have as many as 16 with a melting point 62.9˚C, and the more or less about 10 percent of the weight of corn oil.
2. Stearic acid has a number of C atoms of 18 with a melting point of 69.6˚C and the amount is about 3 percent of the weight of corn oil.
Unsaturated fatty acids.

Group of unsaturated fatty acids that make up triglycerides of corn oil was about 86 percent of oleic and linoleic acid.
1. Oleic acid (cis 9 – oktadecanoic acid)
Oleic acid has a melting point of about 16.3˚C and in approximately the amount of corn oil about 30 percent of the weight of corn oil.
2. Linoleic acid (cis-cis-octadecadienoic acid)
Linoleic acid has a melting point of about -5˚C, and the amount of linoleic acid in corn oil about 56 percent of the weight of corn oil.
Besides the components mentioned above, corn oil also contains unsaponifiable matter, namely:
1. Sitosterol in corn oil ranging from 0.91 to 18%. Type of sterols found in corn oil are campesterol (8-12%), stigmasterol (0.7 to 1.4%), betasterol (86-90%) of the existing plant sterols and in the process of purification, sterol levels will drop to 11-12%.
2. Wax is one faction in the form of crystals which can be separated at the time of corn oil purification using a low temperature.
3. The most important tocopherol in corn oil is the alpha and beta tocopherol, about 0.078%. Several kinds of cluster tocopherol, ie 7 methyl tocol; 7.8 tococreena dimethyl; 5,7,8-trimethyl tocotrienol, (5,7,8)-trimethyl tocol (alpha tocopherol); 7,8-dimethyl tocol.
4. Carotenoids in crude corn oil consists of xanthophyl (7.4 ppm) and caroten (1.6 ppm) and these levels will be reduced to 4.8 ppm xanthophyl and 0.5 ppm caroten after purification.
Corn oil color is dark red and after purified, it is turned to be golden brown. Corn oil specific gravity of about 0.918 to 0.925, while the index value at 25 ° C ranged between 1.4657 to 1.4659. Corn oil viscosity is similar to other vegetable oils that is 58 centipoise at 25 ° C. Corn oil dissolved in ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and furfural.

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