Neutralization

Abstract

The process of neutralization, deacidification, is also called caustic refining and physical or steam refining depending on the process used. In the United States, caus- tic refining means treatment of an oil or fat with an aqueous alkali solution includ- ing water washing. This may be confusing, because the term refining is also used to describe the entire process involved in making final products from crude fats and oils. In this chapter we will be discussing caustic refining of soybean oils, using both batch and continuous systems, followed by a brief description of physical or steam refining of soybean oil.