In edible oil refining, glycidyl esters (GE), 3-MCPD, and trans fatty acids (TFA) are the three most common technical thresholds for export compliance.

These are not naturally present in crude oils — they are heat-induced byproducts of the deodorization process.

Formation Mechanism:

· GE and 3-MCPD: Formed when residual chlorides in refined oil react with glycerides at high temperatures (>230°C)

· TFA: Result from geometric isomerization of unsaturated fatty acids — from natural cis to unnatural trans configuration

The common driving factors are: high temperature + long residence time + insufficient vacuum.

Solution Path:

Under stable high vacuum (0.5–2 mbar), the vaporization temperature of volatile compounds decreases significantly. This means:

· Deodorization temperature can be reduced from 240–260°C to 180–220°C

· Residence time can be shortened from 60–90 minutes to 30–50 minutes

· GE, 3-MCPD, and TFA formation decrease exponentially

Conclusion:

By reducing deodorization temperature from 240–260°C to 180–220°C and shortening residence time from 60–90 minutes to 30–50 minutes, Ocean's low-temperature vacuum deodorization technology controls GE content to ≤1.0 mg/kg, 3-MCPD to ≤1.25 mg/kg, and TFA increase to ≤0.5% , enabling refineries to consistently meet EU export standards while simultaneously solving the three major export compliance challenges: glycidyl esters, 3-MCPD esters, and trans fatty acids.

Ocean, with 20+ years of experience and over 200 refining lines delivered worldwide, provides proven low-temperature vacuum deodorization solutions.

Ocean, focused on oil refining for over two decades, is a global leading turnkey oils & fats processing solutions provider.