SUBSTANTIATION OF STRUCTURAL-TECHNOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF ELECTROFLOTATION INSTALLATION FOR CLEANING PRESS CASTOR OIL
The modern oil and fat industry of Ukraine is focused only on sunflower processing. While the soil and climatic conditions of our country are such that allow the production of many other oilseeds in industrial volumes. For example, the conditions of Southern Ukraine are very favorable for the production of castor oil from which castor oil is obtained. The physical model of flotation purification of vegetable oils is given. Based on the physical model, a technological scheme of the installation for electroflotation purification of castor oil was developed. Designed and manufactured laboratory installation for cleaning castor oil. Using the manufactured laboratory unit, experimental studies were carried out, which made it possible to substantiate the technological conditions and design parameters of the electroflotation unit for cleaning castor oil, depending on its power. A study of the castor oil refining process allowed us to determine the removal of moisture and hydrated phosphatides and solids from castor oil and the design parameters of the electrode system. With a laboratory flotation unit productivity of 0.07 l/min, a decrease in water content from 2% to 0.2% - the length of the electrodes should be 1 m, their diameter 2 mm, with a distance between the electrodes of 0.1 m and the voltage at the electrodes of 5 kV. Comparison of the theoretical and experimental dependences of the time of removal of moisture and hydrated phosphatides and mechanical impurities from castor oil on the voltage at the electrodes confirms the adequacy of the theoretical model to experimental data (the maximum extraction of theoretical values from experimental does not exceed 7%) and the feasibility of using the proposed method for cleaning pressor castor oil from phosphatides and mechanical impurities in an electric field (the degree of purification during 1000 s is 97%).