Effect of physical properties of media slurry on oil palm kernels separation (Thai)

Abstract

The physical process by which oil palm kernels, oil palm shell and the suspension media are separated, based on the specific gravity (SG) has been studied. Analysis of physical properties of various media such as specific gravity (SG), viscosity and pH were compared. It was found that high efficiency of the separation depends on the SG of the suspension being between the SG of oil palm kernels and oil palm shell, which are 1.04 and 1.28 respectively. The suspension media should be close to alkalinity (7<pH<10) and viscosity must be as low as possible. The clay media broadly used in the industries, with a clay media per water ratio of 0.25:1, affects the kernel separation efficiency of 99.79%. Use of other media such as palm ash, rubber wood ash, clay-palm ash mixture and clay-rubber wood ash mixture with a ratio of media:water of 0.35:1, 0.30:1, 0.30:1, and 0.25:1, gave kernel separation efficiencies of 95.82%, 97.65%, 97.93%, and 99.38%, respectively, close to the clay media separation efficiency. Moreover, adding Sodium Silicate (Na SiO ) as a dispersant gave higher separation efficiency.