Before an edible oil lands on supermarket shelves, it runs through several process steps to achieve the desired quality. Undesirable components such as suspended solid particles, water and waxes are filtered out of the oil. This is done using filter aids in precoat filtration. With JELUCEL®, JELU-WERK offers a renewable filter aid that has ecological and economic advantages for edible oil filtration.
Renewable filter aid based on cellulose
JELUCEL is an organic filter aid created from cellulose fibres and is available in different grades. For vegetable and edible oil filtration, we use JELUCEL® FM, a lignocellulose. The macro- and microfibrils of the cellulose fibres increase the filter cake’s filtration surface, resulting in a higher filter efficiency. This leads to better filtration results and a clearer filtrate. Our filter cellulose removes any suspended solid particles, such as phospholipids and waxes.
JELUCEL® is also very well suited to filter out water while cold pressing olive oil. Thanks to their hygroscopic properties, the cellulose fibres bind the water contained in the oil-water mixture.
Picture: © Valentyn Volkov – 123rf.com
Advantages of JELUCEL®
- Sustainable
- pH-stable in the range pH 6 to 11
- Approved for foodstuffs
- High capillary effect
- Cost-efficient disposal
- Compostable
- Non-abrasive
- Powerful
Clear edible oil: high demand on filtration
Phospholipids and waxes are a minor component of vegetable oils. They can cause the edible oil to become cloudy during longer periods of storage or when stored at lower temperatures. Even though the turbidity doesn’t pose any risk to health, many consumers consider it to be a sign of degradation. With its excellent binding properties and high permeability, JELUCEL® ensures optimum clarification results during degumming and winterisation.
The filter cake’s porosity decreases during the manufacturing process, caused by the gums and waxes that clog the openings in the cake. Since the JELUCEL® filter aid consists of cellulose fibres, it is especially permeable for the unfiltrate. When using JELUCEL®, the unfiltrate isn’t only filtered through the porosity of the cake, but also through the fibres. The result is a higher filter capacity and a longer service life compared with conventional mineral filter aids.
Economical filtration of edible oil
With JELUCEL®, you can decrease the cost of edible oil filtration. The filter cellulose isn’t only cheaper than mineral filter aids with regard to its acquisition. Even the usage and subsequent costs due to maintenance and disposal are lower because JELUCEL® is characterised by a low wet cake density and high permeability. In addition, our filter cellulose is kind to the production facilities due to its non-abrasive properties. Cost savings are achieved by:
- Lower consumption amounts
- Less product loss
- Reduced service and maintenance requirement
- Lower ash content
In harmony with humans and nature
JELUCEL® is an organic cellulose that we produce from renewable resources. The cellulose fibres are approved for foodstuffs and are harmless to humans. Since our JELUCEL® filter cellulose is 100% biodegradable, it doesn’t pose any risk to the environment. It can be composted and incinerated without any problems. Moreover, it’s approved as a feed additive and can be sold to farmers and feed manufacturers. Thanks to the filtered solid particles, the filter cake contains valuable nutrients for livestock.
Different grades
We offer two different filter aids: JELUCEL® HM and JELUCEL® FM. The fibre length of the filter aid determines the filtration task. To filter edible oil, JELUCEL® FM 25 is used. Refer to the following table for an overview of the grades and filtration tasks:
| JELUCEL® FM | Fineness of grinding and filtration task | JELUCEL® HM | Fineness of grinding and filtration task |
| JELUCEL® FM 12 | Very fine; for rolling oils | JELUCEL® HM 30 | Super fine; for cosmetic oils |
| JELUCEL® FM 25 | Medium; for edible and vegetable oils | JELUCEL® HM 90 | Very fine; for special cooling/cutting oils |
| JELUCEL® FM 25 M | As JELUCEL® FM 25; improved flowability in silos | JELUCEL® HM 150 | Fine; for regular cooling/cutting oils |
| JELUCEL® FM 25 HA | As JELUCEL® FM 25; shorter wetting time | JELUCEL® HM 200 | Medium; for regular rolling oils |
| JELUCEL® FM 50 | Coarse; for degumming | JELUCEL® HM 300 | Coarse; for regular rolling oils |
| JELUCEL® FM 80 | Very coarse; for sludge filtration | JELUCEL® HM 1000 X | For oil seed pressing |